The old ticker should make it to the finish line!

Well, today I spent 3.5 hours at a heart clinic at St. D's getting a nuclear stress test done. I was a little anxious about the results because heart disease is the bad boy in my family. A recent heart screening showed a lipid profile out of whack and they put me on a low dose Crestor to lower the cholesterol. Since I am training for a marathon, and because of my "age", the cardiologist recommended that I have a nuclear stress test done. I am happy to report that the Dr. said I passed it with "flying colors"...he said it was almost perfect! He seemed surprised. I am sure my previous training for this marathon is the reason I did so well. That treadmill for 10 minutes was a piece of cake! Yes, they had it inclined to the max, but still, piece of cake. Exercise is SO GOOD for us. Thank you again Mark, Robin, and Matt, for taking the time to make such a difference in these strangers' lives.
Going upstairs to do the elliptical for XT. Hope everyone is having a good week!

Tipper, Chewie, Hilda, Carla, Bob, Morticia, Meanie, Sam

Just got back from a 4-day R&R. Hubby and I went to a fantastic B&B on Mobile bay in Fairhope, AL. We had spa services on Friday and Saturday, read books on the pier overlooking the bay, fished, ate, drank, and yes, wogged. Ten miles...afraid not. We did 7 miles and ran out of time because of the spa appt. We took too long socializing after breakfast before we hit the road and then realized we could not finish the 10 miles...bummer. I felt like I could have gone on and on. Those endorphins were pumping. There was such a nice breeze off the bay and a beautiful place to wog. On Sunday, well, we were just slugs. New leaf upon return...I WILL TRAIN EVERYDAY THIS WEEK.
On Friday, we fly off to NC for a week to visit family and friends. My husband's best friend has an aggressive type of Leukemia so we are afraid this will be our last visit with him. So sad. My uncle who is 73 is building an airplane from scratch so we have to go see his big project in progress. It is a one-seater...just as well...who would go for a ride in a plane a 73-yr. old built! Guess that is ugly of me. Sorry.
I hope to rekindle a broken friendship with my best buddy of the last 40 years. We have been estranged for the past 5 years and it is like a huge thorn in my side. We are wasting precious time. It was my fault...I was neglectful of our friendship and did not give it the priority it deserved. It is more challenging to nurture a long distance friendship, but I am not giving any excuses. DON'T NEGLECT YOUR FRIENDS. She was always the one who called, who reached out to me and I did not always reciprocate. I also neglected some important events in her life. Boy, do I regret it! The last event that I did not acknowledge was the straw that broke the camel's back and caused her to "wash her hands of me". Although I have reached out and apologized, she is still hurt and is not ready to mend the fence. I am not giving up. But this trip may be my last attempt. Sorry to bore y'all, but writing about it is therapeutic for me.
Kristy and Steven are going to NC the same week, but we will see them just on the day we go see Uncle Jim's plane. They will spend the week at a beach house there, whereas hubby and I will be packing and unpacking all week staying with different friends and relatives each night. I will need a vacation to recover! Gotta figure out a place to do my LSD when I get there.
Oh, the title above are names of various animals that lived or visited on a regular basis at the B&B. They were a wild black crow that would eat out of Becky's hand (not mine), 2 huge geese that hiss because Morticia is laying eggs, a duck, a dog, the pier cat, the treehouse cat, and a seagull. Becky, one of the B&B owners, had conveniently placed 3 ft. sticks with orange plastic fringe on the end all around the property to use for "shooing" away the hissing geese...she called these sticks, GOOSE BUSTERS. LOL.

10.6 Miles---wa-hoo!

Yep, Kristy and I decided we wanted to be SuperWomen and went beyond the pail on Saturday. Well, the truth is, we made a wrong turn and went all the way to Palisades Main entrance which was 1.6 miles off our 9 mile track. Robin was so sweet to come looking for us in her truck and offering to give us a ride back, but we declined her offer and kept on truckin'. We had our water, we had our gels, why, we were like girl scouts we were so prepared! To say the least, we feel VERY CONFIDENT we can do 11 miles, now. Of course, we realize we had "the best" of conditions...low humidity, cool temperature, cool breeze, it was delightful out on that REZ. Maybe Chicago will be that nice. I am not happy to report that I was pretty much out for the rest of the day as far as being productive on Saturday. I heard Kristy did significant house cleaning and had guests over on Saturday night. Youth definitely has an edge!
Today, hubby and I played mixed doubles tennis so I got my XT in. I am looking forward to doing 1:2 intervals tomorrow. Hope everyone has a good week of training.

Buddies are beautiful

Went to Strawberry Patch Park before work this morning and Ann was getting there at the same time. So we buddyed up and walked the first mile to warm up and did 3 subsequent miles at 1:2 intervals. We exercised a total of 60 min. What a breeze it was! I never realized how great it is to have a buddy during the week...I know how valuable Kristy is on the long distances. Ann and I are going to try to meet at least once a week and train together. I have felt so good all day long and now feel "enthused" about training again. I had not done 1:2 intervals for a whole 3 miles before but I sure was able to with Ann. So now I feel like I can run some in Chicago and can get done before they take those barriers down...I am really hung up on that story of the lady getting lost because they took those barriers down!! I THINK I am looking forward to Saturday...at least I KNOW I am looking forward to seeing everyone there!

Mind Game

I am not playing the mind game too well these days. Previous marathoners tell me that at least half of the success of completing a marathon is between the ears, meaning mental determination, of course. On Monday, I just did not make myself go out and do 50 minutes, plain and simple. I am not proud of it, I am ashamed. Yesterday, I planned to do 50 minutes to make up, but ended up only doing 30 minutes. I ran some but am not sure how much since I had no watch with me. Told myself I would do elliptical when I got home from homeowners' assoc. meeting last night, but nope, I didn't...did not even remember that I was going to do this. For whatever reason, I have these ebbs and flows of enthusiasm, not so enthused, determination, not so determined, etc. I am looking forward to the enthusiasm returning.

I think I need a vacation and I will have one coming up soon. My hubby and I are going to a B&B in Fairhope, AL for 4 days over Memorial Day. It is a cool place on the water with hammocks, a convenient spa, a large pier for crabbing, fishing, bicycles, great restaurants nearby (maybe not an asset), beautiful landscaped gardens with seating for that perfect reading nook, and we plan to totally "veg out for 4 days"...except for doing probably 10 miles of wogging on Saturday, riding bikes on Sunday, and the 50 min. on Monday!

Jewel of a husband

I have been bad this week with regard to my training. Only trained Monday and Tuesday and missed Saturday LSD because I was out of town at a wedding. So-o-o, I knew I HAD to do the 9 MILES today. Boy, was I dreading it. Could not fathom doing that distance alone. I asked my husband about walking with me and bless his heart he said OKAY...maybe it was because it is Mother's Day, I don't know, but at 12:00 noon we struck out from Lakeshore Park. Since it was the hottest part of the day, and since I had had little training this week, I decided that I would walk the whole way, which I did. My husband brought his "camel pack" which is that backpack thingie that is insulated and holds water with a tube that functions as a straw. I love that. The water stayed nice and cold. It has a compartment that holds cell phone, car keys, etc. I am going to have to get one of those. With our water breaks and one bathroom break we walked the 9 miles in 2 hrs. 55 min. Not great time, but hey, after all it is suppose to be long, SLOW, distance. I was just proud to have completed it because, I was REALLY getting tired. I have felt pretty decent, not been "wiped out", since getting back home, just mildly tired...I know it is because I did not run. I am wondering if I will be able to run any in Chicago...I sure hope so, because they will take down those barriers for sure if I walk the whole thing.

I have thanked my husband over and over since we got back for walking with me. He did this out of love for me...nothing else. We have been married for a very long time and are still so in love with each other...I am SO BLESSED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I have had a great Mother's Day today. My older son, who is living with us now that he is on short term disability, and my husband brought me a delicious breakfast in bed this morning...a veggie omelet, fruit, and toast, plus Starbucks coffee! Tonight my husband, two sons and Kristy prepared a wonderful dinner. We sat out in the backyard afterwards since the weather is so nice and enjoyed chatting and watching the boys' black labs, Colby and Reilly play-fight. What a great day this has been and I thank God so much for my family.

Last night my son was not feeling well so I took his dog for a walk to get some of his energy OUT. He is a lab puppy who is 4 mos. old and does well on a leash, but, he IS a puppy who wanted to explore constantly. Consequently, my plans to do intervals and push myself were out the window. Tonight, I had some personal things to do and XT got pushed aside, I am afraid to say. Tomorrow aft. I was planning to go to Ridgeland High School and wog with Cathy, but decided to go either in my neighborhood or the park because they are closer and will give me more time to get some things done before leaving for the weekend on Friday. Good night all.

I have been looking forward all day to my "park time". I did 3:1 intervals with the 3 being walking, of course, and it did not exhaust me. I did 52 minutes of this without stopping. I am going to try doing 1.5 running and 2 of walking for the 30 min. tomorrow. Mark said to push yourself on the short days so I will see if I can do that interval. As long as I don't launch into a full-blown , stretched-out run, I think I can do it. I will not be at our Saturday 9 miler so I will have to get it in on Sat. aft. I guess. Going to a wedding on Friday night and will return home sometime around noon on Saturday. Depends on how "lively" the reception gets as to my ability to wog 9 miles on Sat. afternoon! Hope everyone had a good Monday.

Just got back from Pensacola...visited my mom and attended a tea with her at Church. I did not get my XT in today---bummer. Not a lot of folks have blogged since the Saturday mileage but from the few that I have read, it sounds like it went well. I think I am glad I missed the mud, rocks, etc. Kristy and I were good little marathoners and did our 8 miles at the Rez trail on Friday. We took Mark's advice and did long SLOW distance. We walked and ran but did not run as fast...definitely jogged or as I call it, trotted. It was amazingly easy!! AND I was not exhausted the rest of the evening and was NOT SORE the next day even after driving for 4 1/2 hours! Now, of course, even before I started this training, I was a little slow getting out of the car after sitting for a few hours and a little stiff, but not any more so after completing the 8 miles. This is exciting...seeing progress. I think I was so exhausted last weekend because I pushed myself a little too much by running a little too fast. Just taking it easy and getting a rhythm going is the secret to running, I think. It went by so fast talking with Kristy the whole way. I enjoy being with her not only for the training but we are getting to know each other better as well...she has been my daughter-in-law for only the past 10 months. What a great experience to be doing this together and her husband/my son has registered for the Chicago marathon as well...a family affair!

Wogged at Strawberry Patch late this aft. Walked for one mile at 17 min. pace and wogged the 2nd mile at 14 min. Have not had a chance to check out speed walking tips from the website yet. It is really interesting how you get new aches and pains that just show up out of the blue and then go away just as quickly. When I feel a new pain I start to get very anxious thinking I have an injury and then poof, it's gone...that is a very good thing! For some reason, I had difficulty motivating myself to go to the park today. I used to look forward to going, but not lately. The thing that pushed me out to the park is our INCREASING mileage and I want to keep up so I can DO IT. I have bought a nifty timepiece that is suppose to do everything under the sun and I can not even figure out how to enter the interval info. I am determined to figure it out for myself and do not want my son to just do it for me. I am calling the "800 number" tomorrow for help...that is somehow different than asking my son. I am so not a techie and am such a wanabe techie. I will have it all figured out by October!

I originally had planned to do the Sat. morning mileage and then drive to Pensacola, FL afterwards. After reconsidering and remembering how exhausted I was after only 7 miles last Saturday, I have decided that if I sat in a car and drove 4 hours afterwards, that it would take the jaws of life to remove me at my mom's house! So I will do 8.5 miles with Kristy at the Rez on Friday afternoon. Then on Sat. morning I will drive to Pensacola...makes more sense, but I sure will miss out on all the excitement of doing the Cannonball. I will also miss the next Saturday because I am going to a wedding in New Orleans. I love getting together with y'all on Saturdays, so it is a downer to miss the opportunity! Hope some MM'ers earn some medals Saturday!