FitPoint Assessment and New Shoes

Did my FitPoint Assessment at Lifetime today. Apparently my body age is 27! Cool! I wonder if I can start telling people I'm 27 when they ask my age??? I did great in the Cardio and Body Comp assessment. VO2 approx 46. That's supposed to be good, I'm told. Body fat 13% and BMI of 18.8%. My strength was above average, but not super, but where I really tanked was flexibility. It was rather embarassing. Sitting down with my legs straight out in front of me, I was supposed to reach as far forward as I could. Well, I made it less than 4 inches!! Ack! The trainer was shocked! He thinks I should do Yoga or Pilates. hahaha! Not in a million years. If he can find me a class that includes stretching and flexibility training without the mind, soul and spirit crap, then sign me up. Otherwise, I'm not interested. Anyway, overall, I did really well! He got me more interested in heart rate based training, but that would take a significant $$ investment in a monitor, so I'll have to start saving up!

Getting new running shoes is always exciting. I was so thrilled when I found Brooks Adrenaline GTS 7s on sale for 40% off. I'd run in the GTS 6 before and they were great. I tried on the 7s and they felt good running around the store (I got lots of funny looks - it wasn't a running store), so I picked them up. Gotta save money when you can, right? Well, I was sorely disappointed. Good thing I tried them out on the treadmill first. The left shoe felt great but my right foot was not comfortable at all. I had read reviews about the GTS 7 not living up to the previous model year, and I guess they were right. I should have listened to the Runner's World reviewers! ha! Anyway, I took my supposed money-saving shoes back and found some Brooks Infinitis at the local running specialty store. They have been awesome! Yay! The Infiniti is much more cushioned, especially in the forefoot, where I need it with just a touch of medial stability. Just perfect! I'm a happy runner again.

Paula the Fitness Freak

I probably overdid it a bit today, but I was having fun at Lifetime. I ran over 7 miles on the treadmill, then did some weight training, then did 12 min on the rowing machine, and finished with 20 min on the bike. Oh, then when I got home, I practiced some chin ups on our new chin-up bar that hooks onto a door frame ("as seen on TV", haha! - but it really works!). The chin-up bar was a mutual gift to each other for Christmas. We're loving it. I know, we're fitness freaks. We'll freely admit it. It's our own type of health insurance since we can't afford real health insurance (without completely changing our lifestyle, which I personally am not willing to do). I realized another reason I spent so much time at Lifetime today is that I'd have been home alone with no excuse not to clean otherwise. hehehe!

Since I posted recently on how spoiled I've been since joining Lifetime, I thought I'd post this quote from runnersworld.com. It makes sense and also makes me feel less guilty. After all, the weather really has been crappy the past week. Here it is,

"...there's a point where running outdoors in extremes is more about ego than wisdom, and the marathon gods don't care much about ego."

I bow to the marathon gods. I will choose wisdom over ego and run on a treadmill when the weather stinks!



Lastly, here's a photo of the super special gift I got Matty for Christmas. The one I have been teasing him about relentlessly. He is "giddy" about it (Matt-ism).

My Review of The North Face Cascade Full-Zip Hoodie - Women's

Originally submitted at REI

Keep comfortable in cool climates with this lightweight hooded top from The North Face.

The North Face Cascade Full-Zip Hoodie - Women's

Stylish, Practical Fleece with Many Uses

By lvt4cats from Rochester Hills, MI on 12/25/2008

 

4out of 5

Gift: No

Chest Size: Feels true to size

Sleeve Length: Feels true to length

Pros: Stylish, Warm, Dries Quickly, Lightweight, Breathable

Cons: No chin guard for zipper

Best Uses: Casual Wear, Travel, Running, Cold Weather, Hiking and Camping

Describe Yourself: Casual Adventurer

I run between 30-40 miles a week even in cold weather. This fleece is perfect as the outer layer on dry days when the temperature is between 20-40F. The hood fits perfectly even without drawcords, so I don't need to bring an extra hat. The inside pockets are nice and deep to make sure nothing bounces out of them. I also wear this fleece casually frequently. I just love it!

(legalese)

Spoiled

I'm already starting to feel spoiled. We've been twice to Lifetime Fitness now. I haven't run outside since I opened my gift (which, granted, was only two days ago and the weather has been crappy!). However, I would have run outside despite the weather if I didn't have the membership, so I am definitely getting soft! haha!

Today we did some strength training right after running. They sure have some nice equipment and it is laid out well. All the chest equipment is in one row, all the shoulder equipment in another and so on... Of course, they also have free weights, barbells, dumbbells, you name it. It was awesome.

All members get a free fitness assessment which they can periodically redo to see how they are progressing. It includes a health/fitness history, body composition, VO2 assessment, strength and flexibility assessment and I think a nutrition assessment as well. We made an appointment for our "Fitpoint" assessment for Monday. I'm actually looking forward to it. I know I'll rock the cardio fitness assessment considering my running training, but the rest of it may be eye-opening. We'll see!

Christmas Present Early!

Matty's been bugging me to open his gift to me early for the past week, so today I did. He got Lifetime Fitness memberships for the two of us! Cool! Now, Lifetime is one of those expensive, snooty gyms, but since the economy is in a downturn (to put it mildly) right now, they are bleeding members. The employees are always ordering pizzas from Matt's restaurant, so he's over there often delivering. When they offered a great deal for super cheap memberships, he jumped on it! We went for the first time today. Neat place! The only thing they are missing is an indoor track - we had to use treadmills. But that's better than nothing. And after my last run in the frigid temperatures and arctic winds, the treadmill was heavenly.

Tempered Obsession

That was beyond crazy. It was bordering on stupid. Ok, ok, it was flat out idiotic. Never, never, ever, never will I go running again in 14 degree weather with arctic winds blowing hard enough to nearly knock me over with snow drifts up to my knees. It was a good workout though. ha!

Kathy, if you read this, believe me, if you thought we were nuts for our "snowy run" a few weeks ago, this was MUCH crazier. Muchisimo estupido!!

After my wave of craziness passed, I spent the rest of the day hanging out with Matty at his pizzeria, drinking cokes and beers and eating subs and pasta... Mmmmm...

Snow and Cats

Well, today wasn't exactly condusive to a trip to the park for a running session because it snowed. Actually, it stormed. We got dumped on. Not quite a blizzard, but close. Soooo, I stayed home all day and cleaned. And it's about time. This dumpy place needed it and I've been lazy. I guess my butt needed a good snowstorm to get it in gear. Now the castle is clean! The cool part is, the President's Challenge has "household tasks" as an activity so I can get credit toward my silver award! ha! Hey, cleaning can be hard work! I even had to take two Aleve halfway through! I never need Aleve after running! So I must have been working muscles that needed working!


No news yet on the status of Wiggles's adoption. Think happy thoughts.


Just started reading about Dewey, the late, great library cat from Spencer, Iowa (Yay, Iowa!). I'm only a few chapters in but it's a very cute story! How come I had never heard of him??? I even lived in Iowa during 3 1/2 of his later years. Seems that Dewey was to rubber bands as Newton is to Q-Tips!! Obsessed cat!!




Speaking of Newton. He could have been a library cat too. See, he's literary! (Just don't point out to him that the book is upside down! Thanks.)

Wiggles Adopted?

Maybe! There is someone filling out an application to adopt him today!! This lady brings her cats to our clinic and I know she takes good care of her kitties. I hope it all works out! I'd miss the little bugger, but he is causing a lot of stress in the household due to his inability to get along with Belle.

This hat was on sale at PetSmart today and I couldn't resist. Isn't Newtie so cute!? He did not exactly appreciate the hat. I can't imagine why.

Viruses, Movies, X-mas Cards, oh my!!

I am NOT getting sick. Mind over virus!!! I do NOT have a sore throat!!!

We'll see if that works.

Saw The Day the Earth Stood Still today. It was okay, just like everyone kept saying. Not super, not bad, just okay. I like Keanu Reeves and Will Smith's kid is super cute. Plus I like watching most any movie involving lots of destruction and fire. hehe.

When we walked in the movie theater, it was perfectly dry outside. When we walked out, there were 2 inches of snow on the ground. The Cricket got us home safely!

Lindt chocolates are heavenly.



This is our Christmas card this year. It's the first time we've done a photo card. It was all Matt's idea and doing, though I heartily approved. It's hilarious. Don't miss Wiggles hanging up there in the top right corner!

Oh, and we did run today. I was lacking in energy so what was supposed to be a speed workout turned into an easy 6 miles. Oh well. Just hafta listen to my body sometimes. I suppose the little bugger virus that may (or may not --see above) be attacking my body at the moment could have had something to do with it. Grrrr!!!

Lazy December

No posts lately since not much of posting-interest has been going on. I'm still running, and still running in the snow and cold. Today's run was very much like the one described in the last post except no Matty - I was all alone. I passed one other runner and maybe 3 walkers, one of whom was walking a beautiful Irish Setter who badly wanted to be my friend!

I need to try and figure out why my thumbs keep going numb after each run. It's weird and makes it hard to type!

Today I visit Mom and pick up Matty's awesome Christmas gift which I had mailed to her place because it is much safer (ie. less likely to be stolen off her front porch). I can't wait to see it!

Snowy Run

Matt and I drove out to Stony Creek Metropark again for our run this morning. It was about 22F and snowing - a lot. Snow. Lots of it. I have proof. We brought a camera. Now you can see how obsessed we are. Snow, shmo! I am running! I even had icicles on my eyebrows at the end. I wish we had thought to take a photo of that! Oh, I almost forgot to mention. The snow was blowing UP at times. I swear to god, UP. The snow was literally defying gravity. Weird.

We met another Stony Creek Running Club member. Morry. At least I think that's how he spelled it. He caught up with us at about mile 4 1/2 out of 6, so we jogged and chatted for a short time. Anyway, he got us thinking about joining up with the running club again. I think Matt is motivated to get up early tomorrow and join the group at Stony Creek at 8am. It's bagel Sunday, so if we do it, we get free food and coffee! Woo! That always helps in the motivation department.

Fartlek Fun

Matt and I drove to Stony Creek Metropark this morning to run. We did a little speed work today. One of my fav ways to do that is a fartlek - which I learned is Swedish for "speed play". It is basically an unstructured type of interval training where you occasionally pick up the pace for a certain distance, recover and repeat. Speed and distance of the intervals can be totally random. It's way more fun than the structured stuff, though I see the value of structured interval runs where you can more easily measure how you are progressing. Today I picked the "pick-ups". Matty had no idea when I was going to speed up or slow down. He said that was half the fun. I think next time we should take turns.

Bayshore, Bayshore, Bayshore.... :-)))))

Snowy Trails!

Just got back from one of the most beautiful and fun runs to date! Matt and I went to Bald Mountain North (which is a state recreation area) and ran 7 miles on the snow covered trails. It was quite a workout dragging our feet through deep snow in some places. Snow weighed down many of the branches and several trees had fallen across the path. We had the entire woods to ourselves. It was perfect.

Bayshore Registration

"Thank you for registering for the 2009 Traverse City State Bank Bayshore Marathon."

It's official! I am registered! No turning back now! *big smile*

Snow!

I think it is safe to say that today is the first official "snow storm" of the season. It is beautiful yet treacherous out. Beautiful when one is sitting safely in her living room staring out at the lovely whiteness. Treacherous when one contemplates driving (or having a loved one drive) in it. I got my AWD Subaru just in time. Make me proud, Cricket.

I ran with Matty this morning. He ran to work (10.5 miles) and I turned around at the six mile mark which totaled a 12-mile long run today. I got in minutes before the snow started. Not sure how Matty will get home tonight. Maybe his Grand Cherokee is at the store and he can drive home. If not, I hope he gets a ride or calls me.

Could this little red-head have exercise-induced asthma. Coughing and wheezing have been a slight problem upon finishing runs. It used to occur occasionally during the warmer months but now happens regularly. It also is happening during random times during the day, especially when the white-trash smoker lights up inside the condo below us (he's too wimpy to go outside now that it is cold out) and the smell permeates our walls. I really hate this condo. I love Lake Orion, but I would give most anything for a house! Sharing walls with people who have no concept of common courtesy is driving me to madness.

Gault Screwed Up

Matty did what I should have done - he emailed Gault Race Mgt., the company in charge of race timing at the Turkey Trot, and asked them if they did a chip start or a gun start. Apparently they meant to do a chip start but one of the start mats was malfunctioning. They said they'd adjust our times if we told them how far back we started. Matt told them our own watch times and they actually did what they said they'd do. It made a HUGE difference in our placement. I'm glad they adjusted the time, but what really annoys me is they did not place any kind of disclaimer on the result listing. So they only adjusted times for people who thought to write them and complain. C'mon, people, take responsibility! Anyway, my new time is 43:27 which I'm so thrilled about!!

Turkey Trot - New 10K PR!!

The Turkey Trot went great!! I got a new PR. The official results are not online yet, so I'll have to update this post a little later. My watch has me at 43:31, which is nearly 3 minutes faster than my previous best. Yay!! I know I was top 100 (women) because I got a Turkey Trot fleece scarf at the finish line. Matt is jealous. hah!!

I went out really fast and with about 2 miles to go, I started wondering if I went out too fast. But I tried mind-over-body and told myself that pain is temporary - the race will be over in a matter of minutes. That worked. So much of running is mental.

Some poor guy did push too hard. With the finish line literally in sight, I saw him veer off to the side, put his hands on his knees, and just as I was passing him, I heard him lose his stomach contents! Thank god I didn't see it actually happen. Hearing it was bad enough! Poor dude.

Oh, and I actually saw Mark (see Nov 23 post) at the race! He passed me at about the halfway point and recognized me. What are the chances??

When you run a Turkey Trot, you can stuff your face at dinner and not feel guilty about it. It's a win-win situation.

Edit: Well, not sure why, but my official chip time is much slower than my watch time. The only way that could have happened is if they didn't have a chip start. But they did have a mat! *shrug* My time: 44:07 (7:07 pace)

Random Stuff

Registration for the Bayshore Marathon begins in 5 days!!! Then it will be official!!

Turkey Trot tomorrow! Woo!

We had all of ONE appointment at our clinic this afternoon, so instead of working my typical 11.5 hour Wednesday, I got the entire afternoon off. That's good and bad. Good that I got the afternoon to bake my chocolate pecan pie and chocolate chunk cookies (mmmmmmmm.....) for T-Day tomorrow instead of doing it late tonight. Bad because that means our clinic is still slooooowww. C'mon people, bring your kitties to their vets! They need preventative care! :-)

Will the Lions be 0-12 tomorrow??

Cricket now has his new homelink, auto-dimming mirror with compass. While it was being installed on Tuesday, they lent me a brand new silver Outback with black leather seats and wood grain accents with all the works. I didn't want to trade it back for my Impreza! Oops, did I say that? Sorry, Cricket, don't take it personally. It's just that Outbacks are WAY cool. After only a week, I do love the Cricket. Driving it is so much more fun than the crummy Jeep!

Honey Stingers - Bad, Motivation - Good

Honey Stingers = YUCK!!! So much for that idea. Now what!? Maybe I'll try Swedish Fish. hehe!

Had a motivating thought today. I'm not so much the type that needs fluffy stuff like this, but here it is anyway... I ran into this guy (Mark) on the Paint Creek Trail today who was running at about my pace. We started chatting and it turns out he is running the Turkey Trot this Thursday as well. He mentioned he'd run it in the past so I asked how many people usually participate. His staggering response was 10,000!!!! YEEESH! This'll be the biggest 10K I've done. I told him I was hoping to get a PR in the race, so he said to try to get as close to the front as I dare, even moving up past my expected pace or I could kiss my PR goodbye. That got me wondering if I'd be disappointed if I didn't PR in the race and I realized that I wouldn't. The reason is that I can still vividly remember when it was terribly difficult to run a mere 3 miles at one time!!! This was less than 2 years ago! Now I can do 15 (and probably more) with little trouble. Anything I accomplish in a race at this point is amazing considering how far I have come!!

Just run...

Edit: Just registered for the Martian Half-Marathon in Dearborn in April. It's about 6 weeks before Bayshore so it should be a good gauge for what to expect for the "Big One"!! Plus the race shirt is so ridiculous, I just had to participate. Ha! To see it for yourself, visit the race's website: Martian Marathon

Brutus Mauled by Zoo Wolverines

I saw this today in the Oakland Press, our local newspaper, and thought it hilarious. I'm not even a big college football fan, though I'll put the game on if I'm at home on Saturday and bored, which doesn't happen often. There was a little blurb about the wolverines at the Detroit Zoo. They got to tear apart a piñata shaped like the OSU mascot, Brutus. The piñata was filled with meaty treats. It was a very symbolic moment set up the day before the Michigan/OSU game. GO BLUE!!

Bronze Award!

You've won the following award(s):
President's Champions - Bronze 11/21/2008

I'm so proud. :-)

The Cricket Arrives...

My new Subaru is safe at home. I've named him Cricket. Perhaps I will get some photos up soon, but it is after dark right now!

Speaking of after dark... Matty and I went for a night run tonight. Matt got a spiffy new super-bright headlamp from REI today and we tried it out on the Paint Creek Trail tonight. It worked great! We did a really quick 4 miles. Felt great!

I hope I don't regret not picking up those Brooks Adrenalines from REI today. They were on sale for $65. They usually sell for $95.

Matty's Gift!

I got Matty's Christmas gift today! He's going to LOVE it!!! Too bad I can't post about it cuz I know he reads my blog. Haha! Nice try, Bear! But believe me, it is WAY cool!

I am very close to winning my Bronze Award in the Presidential Champions program. If you're unfamiliar with the program, see my list of links on the right side of the webpage about halfway down (President's Challenge). It's a great program that I wish they promoted more! I just happened across it one day online and decided to check it out.

Another awesomely awesome long run today. A new distance record for the redster - 15 miles! Woo! I did it in 2:05. Not too shabby! If I can keep up that pace, I'll end up with a Boston Qualifier at my first marathon. Now, that'd be cool! I still absolutely refuse to make that an "official" goal for my first marathon. Too much pressure. I just wanna have fun!

Registration for the Bayshore Marathon starts December 1st. My credit card is ready!

My New Subaru Has Arrived!!!!

It's in!! WOOO!!! Now I have to wait until Tuesday before I can pick it up. Tick...tock...tick...

Great Long Run Today!

Awesome long run today! I ran later in the day than usual since we stayed the night at my mom's last night due to too much wine on hubby's part! :-) I took my water bottle (w/ hand strap) with me filled about halfway. I also took a package of Luna Moons (yum!) and had them at about mile 7. I felt SO much better on this long run than I did last week when I stupidly didn't take any water or fuel. That water bottle does tend to bug my shoulder after about 8-9 miles, so I'd still like to try a fuel belt especially as my long runs get loooonger.

My Luna Moons got very cold and extra chewy by the time I ate them! It was about 38 degrees and snowing just slightly today. The temperature was perfect, except when it came to my poor moons. It took too long to chew them. I absolutely can't stand Clif or Power Gels. Someone mentioned Honey Stingers which I may try. I love honey. If they taste anything like honey, they may be workable. Really a gel would be more practical during a race, so I hope the Honey Stingers work.

Subaru News!

Scott from Subaru called today! Though my Subaru has not arrived yet, he called to say thanks for being patient and gave us an extra $500 rebate. Cool! He is hoping on Monday as an arrival date. I cleaned all my personal stuff out of the crummy Jeep yesterday in an attempt to be optimistic.

This evening Matt and I visited my mom and made dinner for her in her own home - Creamy Potato Pork Chop Bake with green beans. Mmmm... Cheesecake for dessert - not homemade, but still yummy. Matty got drunk on wine. Goofball. So now we're staying the night because I don't have my glasses and driving at night without them is not a good idea. Poor kitties won't get dinner! They'll survive.

stuff

Poor Matty. Still injured. Poor Paula. Still no Subaru. (Grrrr!!!)

Matt has finally realized he will NOT be running an ultra trail marathon in December. Our final race this year will be the Turkey Trot on Thanksgiving! My goal will be under 45 minutes!

Freep Certificate

Here's my nifty Detroit Freep Half Marathon Finishers Certificate. I got one for the Brooksie Way too but they screwed up the number of total finishers, so I'm not posting it. Bozos.

Edit: Brooksie Way people sent corrected certificates. That's much better, boys.

Election 2008

I voted!!

No Subaru

Still no Subaru. **sigh**

New York Marathon - go Paula!

Just finished watching Paula Radcliffe win her 3rd New York City Marathon. Go women named Paula!! :-) What an inspiration. And not just because she has a cool name. She has suffered recently from numerous injuries including a broken leg, a stress fracture, an Olympic letdown and giving birth to her daughter, yet she comes back from all that and kicks butt in New York!

We just won't mention that 2005 London incident.

Today I did my longest, long-run yet at 14 miles. It took over 2 hours! (just) It got really hard after about 11 miles. Considering I've done 2 half-marathons recently and didn't get tired during either one, it seems strange that I would start getting tired during a training run after just 11 miles. I know there are good days and bad days, but still... Probably a healthy dose of adrenaline helped in the competitions. Also, I do need to get a fuel belt to try out during long runs since my hand-strap bottle just gets annoying after about 8 or so miles and I need to drink during these longer runs. I'm sure that played a part in my fatigue too.

Anyway, now that the long run is over and I'm stretched and showered I feel great!

Detroit Half Marathon Frustration

The following is a quote from marathonguide.com about the 2008 Detroit Marathon (err.. half Marathon). Anyway, this poster voiced my own frustration perfectly and more "eloquently" than I ever could. Keep in mind that overall, I had a good experience. It was still fun besides the crappy start. I still managed a PR of 1:42:28, despite not being able to run my own pace continuously until about mile 7. I do wonder what my time would have been if I could have run my own pace from the start. I bet I could have beaten 1:40 which was my unspoken goal.

I did read somewhere that the "split start" they did this year was only because of construction on the bridge. I still think the split start did more harm than good. Get all the racers of the same pace out together and they will all hit the bridge together, then even if there is a bottleneck, at least you are bottlenecked with faster people in front of you instead of walkers and slow marathoners! Anyway, here's Ronald's post:

"Does this sound like a good idea?

Have the marathoners and walkers line up on one side of the street and the half marathoners line up on the other.

Start ALL of the marathoners and ALL of the walkers. Now you have over 12,000 runners on the course.

Five minutes after the marathon and walkers' starting gun, start the 6,000 half marathoners. Of course, the walkers have barely cleared the starting line by that point.

So all the half marathoners have to run through the walkers and slower marathoners who are already on the course.

If that's not bad enough, add a course that funnels down to ONE LANE for about half a mile over the Ambassador Bridge.

What do you get? Complete chaos for the half marathoners.

As one of the faster half-marathoners, I had to run through all the walkers not to mention every single marathon pace group (I probably passed through ten). Each pace group was a "choke point" on the course as numerous runners crowded around the pacer. Good luck getting by, especially when they were going through two-lane streets in the neighborhoods or even the wider streets of Windsor or the tunnel.

People were actually forced to WALK approaching the Ambassador Bridge with too many runners trying to access just one lane. Add the faster half-marathoners trying to get through the marathoners and walkers (who, remember, started first) and it was just a complete nightmare.

Sure, accepting a zillion runners into the field makes lots of money for the race organizers (especially since they got rid of the Ford Field finish, which the runners loved but which also cost lots of money).

Race organizers need to think about the runners who train SERIOUSLY for months, only to be unable to run their pace because the race organizers have totally screwed thing up.

Come to Detroit for a "fun run." Don't bet your fall training on it."

Brrr...

It is getting cold out! Today's run was in below-freezing weather - around 28 degrees. I overdressed, as I suspected I would. I'll get the hang of dressing for the cold weather one of these days. Summer is so much easier - wear as little as possible!

Matt is injured and unable to run right now and yet he wants to do an ultra trail marathon at the end of December. He's nuts. Not only nuts, but on the road toward another injury. He won't listen to me. However, if I can't talk him out of it, I'll go and participate in the short run (10.8 miles). At least I'll have a good time and be healthy at the end of it.

The race is the HUFF 50K in Huntington, Indiana. It takes place in one of their state recreation areas. It does sound like fun! Trail running rocks. No pun intended! Ha! I wonder if HUFF is an acronym??

Only one more day til the end of the month and no word on my Subaru. *frown*

First Group Run - kinda

Matt and I met a handful of Running Club members at the post-Detroit Marathon party last week and one lady told us about the group run that takes off from the Hanson's running store near our house. It sounded fun so we got up early today and walked to the store to meet up with the group. Unfortunately, I couldn't get Matt out the door early enough to get there with enough time to talk to anyone before they started the run. We barely made it in time period! I was a little miffed.

We ended up running by ourselves, though we kept a group of gals in sight most of the way so we could follow their route. The route was great! It was on dirt back roads most of the way. We hardly saw any traffic. The sun was just coming up. We saw it rise over one of Orion's many lakes. The trees are about at peak color, so the views were fantastic. Plus, I felt great this morning so the run went really well. I felt like I could have run forever. As it was, we did about 11 miles. I intended to do about 14 today, but I'm flexible! I have many months before I need to be able to finish 26.2!!

On our way to the store this morning, a group of the elite Hanson's boys ran past us. Matt knows a few of them since they frequent his pizza place. Most of them also work at Hanson's running store. I was amazed that they all remembered Matt's finishing time for the marathon! They all congratulated him. Nice guys.

Anyway, next Sunday the group run is at the metropark. I hope we can get there in plenty of time to meet people before everyone takes off!

I also hope to have my new Subaru by then!!!!

26.2 Miles!!

I'm switching over to blogger because Yahoo wouldn't let me add that nifty "widget" above that is counting down to my FIRST MARATHON!! As you can see, I'm a tad bit excited. So most of this blog will probably be running-related. But there will also be random exclamations such as the following:

I'm getting my new Subaru Impreza Outback Sport next week!!!! Yay!!

That's all for now. It's bedtime. Tomorrow is Sunday, I may have more time to post and customize this bloggy thingy after my long run. Later!