Oh, the joy

I'm astonished that I am enjoying this year in Marathon Makeover as much as I am. For two reasons. I remain proud of myself that I am exercising regularly, striving for a goal, and getting fairly fit. And, this is a BIG thing as, when I don't have someone to meet, or a reason to exercise, I usually DON't. For the first 50 years or so of my life this was my pattern.

And, the second thing that is so fun and good for me? I love all the new people that I am getting to meet and know. People who I probably never would have had the opportunity to ever be around even though we most all live in this metropolitan area. And people to meet and exercise with and go out to eat with and be friends with. And be a support group with. Oh, what bad grammar I am using--my old English teachers would certainly not be proud.

I actually am and was a VERY shy person. As a child I was painfully shy. I'm better now but still not too good at making conversation with people I don't know. But, somehow, knowing that we are all part of this marathon family, I feel like we all have something in common and are all rooting for one another and there for one another.

For some reason, today's run wasn't too bad, I didn't think. 8 miles still isn't anything to sneeze at but it seemed quite doable compared to last week. Several of us did the run at the Rez, and it sure was nice to be finished when we got back to the Y rather than having to go another 5 or so miles up to Campfire Circle and back! And, I switched back to my 2:1 interval because my back was sore before I even started, and I did NOT want a repeat of last week's physical challenge. Jody, Suzanne, Debra, and I sat down in the grass at the Y and stretched and talked for a few minutes and then went for breakfast together which was nice. And, we three girls are going to meet in the morning to ride bikes which will be a treat. You see, I've never had anybody to ride bikes with before, and I usually will not go to the trouble to take my bike out to the Rez to ride although it is a much more protected place to ride than in my neighborhood. Because, once I leave my immediat neighborhood, I have to share the road with cars and trucks and that is scary!!!!

Enough going on and on. But, isn't it impressive now that we not only say and think that 8 miles is a short run but that it seems "easy" compared to that 13 miles we did last week and the 15 we gotta do next week?

And now we have to listen to Mark and Clark fight for bragging rights about their butts.

We are living in a time of awesome developments

Now I will pontificate on things TOTALLY unrelated to marathon training. One of the things that I think is awesome in our lives is the internet and the ability to research and learn about almost anything. And look at how all of us are able to communicate with each other even in Marathon Makeover. I also just read here at work (yes, I'm still here) about an unresectable lung tumor that will be treated with radiofrequency ablation--zap it without surgery which this patient would not be able to tolerate. But, the real reason for the blog is about insulin and all the stuff I learned today. And, I am a doctor but obviously rusty since I work for Social Security Disability. Boy have things changed! Indeed, my brother does have to take insulin but it is so much easier than is was years ago that it almost seemed like a breeze. An injectable multidose pen with a teensy needle and the stuff doesn't even have to be refrigerated any more. I am so relieved and the doctor thinks he is going to feel much, much better once his blood sugar is under better control. He had been totally against going on insulin and all of us have been worried about it for all the reasons I had mentioned in my prior blog. But this amazing little gadget is easy to use even for someone whose manipulative skills are a little impaired from the Parkinson's. The doctor we saw today, Dr. Dyess was awesome and I am forever grateful for his help and explanation of all this. And all sorts of new ways to take insulin are on the horizon, and there already is inhalable insulin but he felt that this pen was so easy and pain free that it would be best. So enough rambling on for me but I am pleased for all the diabetics in this world that their lives have been made easier by this Insulin pen and by the easy diabetic monitoring meters that are available now.

I think I got my MoJo back

Now, I don't know what Mojo is but I like the sound of it. If it's something nasty, y'all just let me know. But, after feeling like my marathon running days were over while struggling on Saturday and being a fine couch potato for most of both Saturday and Sunday, I was pleased as punch to have a good run today where I did not feel like I was gasping for breath--and my back wasn't hurting. Now, mind you, I was sort of okay for the first five miles on Saturday, too, but I was definitely encouraged by being able to run without feeling like a beached fish on its way to dying.

We ran into Shannon and Debra Milstead today running at the reservoir so now there are several of us out there early in the morning if anyone else is game and tired of fighting the afternoon heat. They started at 515 I think and we started at 530 this morning which is our usual starting time except for every other Thursday when Sally has an early meeting at work. I'll try to remember to post on here when we are starting before the sun comes up! Meeting my two diabetic brothers at the endocrinologist in a little while so everybody keep their fingers crossed that my brother who has been so sick doesn't have to go on insulin. The reason we are so worried about this is that he lives by himself and, as far as I know, can cook only microwave popcorn. We joke that the only time that his oven has ever been turned on is when someone's butt accidentally hits the knobs while they are standing in the kitchen talking! But, we are working on educating him on easy, healthy things to fix and how to grocery shop.

The first Annual Simpson Half Marathon

Just finished reading the blogs from people who finished their first half marathon yesterday and to all of you, including those who haven't blogged, CONGRATULATIONS! I thought it might justg be old hat to run 13.1 miles again, but running it with such a fun and nice group of people and in such a festive way ending with much-needed chairs and Baptist water made it quite memorable. And, I love my medal. Somehow both this medal and the one from the infamous Goat Milk Half two years ago in Utica or Raymond (I can't remember) are more special to me than the fancier ones from Chicago. I guess because they came from Mississippi? Or because they were hand made by Mississippians??? I don't know. But, I'm proud to have it.

The stars didn't line up just right for me yesterday and I just couldn't get it all going. Short ness of breath and bad back pain hampered me all along the way. I thought about quitting when we got to Lakeshore Park at eight miles--I think I would have if the water stop had been in the parking lot but decided to carry on since the water was along the path. I think maybe I have a little virus as I wasn't very hungry Friday or yesterday. But I am going to survive because I'm back eating today! Although very sore and tired. Slept in this morning which felt great. In fact, I'm still in bed although I have been up and down with the dogs and read the paper and eaten breakfast.

The party was fun--we sure had no shortage of food, did we????? The Lake Caroline clubhouse was a great place for the party, finally, we have all seen Clark's butt!!!! And, I'll just leave it at that. We should share some recipes, either on this Blogger or on the MM site where we post! And, who knew that Matt could sing??? Or that water had a religion?

Aren't we proud to have our aches and pains and black toenails and blisters today? And only five more long runs until the real thing!!!! Now you know you can do it. Despite enduring heat and pain, you finished the half and you will be able to use this same inner strength to finish the whole in October!

I need to get up and do some yardwork but I'm not sure it's gonna get done today. Maybe this week deserves an extra rest day, huh Homer and Robin????

You might be a Mississippi marathoner if. . . . . . . .

. . . . you think sleeping until 6 am is getting to sleep late.

. . . . you'd rather run at 5 am than 6 am just to avoid the heat.

. . . you are so dumb that you can't buy a bottle of tequila to go in the bucket of frozen margarita mix.

I went to Sam's last night and bought 2 buckets, one for me and one for Sally to bring to the party--thinking one sure won't be enough. Then, went in the liquor store right by Sam's to buy the tequila. There were two large bottles, two different flavors, and I picked the original lime flavor. Went home carefully measured out 750 ml of the "tequila" to go into each bucket, stirred it all up, and then noticed that the bottle said "margarita" and not tequila. This was a bottle of ready to drink margaritas--I've never seen nor heard of that. So, hopefully I will manage to get by the liquor store today to buy a REAL bottle of tequila to add to the mixes or we will certainly not got tipsy on these. Probably better anyway, considering the law enforcement!!!

And, on another note, still doing the back exercises. Getting carpet burn on my knees and elbows from doing them and glad that no one is at my house to watch this. Some of these moves are a bit suggestive!

Went to see Wayne Jimenez about my back

Well, I bit the bullet and emailed and called Wayne for help with my chronic mid back pain, exacerbated by running. Had an interesting trip from Madison to his clinic right in the middle of the rainstorm and power outage in Madison. Not only were the cops directing traffic because of the nonfunctioning stoplights, but, when I got to Lenny's to get Wayne his requested turkey sandwich, their lights were out and they could not fix a sandwich (not sure why but I guess they couldn't ring it up on the cash register). So, I left with a page full of exercise to do which I think are already helping--woohoo!!!!!! But, for some unknown reason, Jody and I had decided to run today instead of tomorrow--I think some sort of tapering for the half marathon?????? So, I had to be at the Rez by 530 for the second day in a row, run 5 miles and try to get back to my car in time to drive the Courthouse for my usual 7 am trainer session. Exhausted, sweaty, and stinky for that but I did it. Then, when I came home, I felt compelled to do the back exercises since I'm supposed to do them twice a day. I'm not sure I feel like I am tapering for Saturday!!!! But, I won't run tomorrow. May walk a few miles but will try to make myself not run. If only I could make myself go to bed early enough to get enough sleep when I am getting up at 430 am. And I am NOTTTTTTTT a morning person, believe it or not.

Walking and running in the rain

We did something we rarely do today--we walked most of our 5 miles! I have been so tired and sore and it felt so good just to keep walking and not run. We ran maybe the last two miles and it was fun to run in the drizzle which felt much better than the humid air.

And, I have a new discovery. As you may have already notice, I like to wear headbands and sweatbands. I don't like the feeling of sweat running down my face and it burns my eyes when it gets in them. I've bought a bunch of them over these three years and I do like everything I wear to match, too! Somehow they disappear--we won't go into how some of them disappeared especially during the Goat Milk Half two years ago. But often, after several miles, the sweatband makes me feel really hot and I have to take it off and tuck it in my waistband.

I was at Academy Sports the other day and on the tennis aisle which is where the sweatbands are. They had some very reasonably priced ones that don't have the Nike or Adidas or any symbol on them and they were only 99 cents apiece. But, even better than that, they are much stretchier and cooler (temp, not looks) than the more expensive kind. And they come in several colors, too!!!

Let's all pray for low humidity, decently low temp, and nice breeze for Saturday!!!! Make sure you drink a LOT during the long runs!

Yard work, DOMS

The continuing saga of my newest crosstraining activity, yardwork!!!! The lawnmower is fixed so, since I didn't have to spend a fortune buying a new one, I decided to cut loose and buy a string trimmer that I can start, a blower, and an edger. The manual edger kills my arthritic hands that don't hurt unless I try to do something stupid like that. I have a nice gas-powered WeedEater that cranks only when it decides it wants to, sort of like a cat that only lets you pet it when it wants you to. So, I decided to get electric tools. A very nice guy waited on me at Lowe's and convinced me that I should by this Troybilt fancy weedtrimmer that you could change out attachments on so it would be the blower and the edger, too. The kicker was, it was also a gas operated thing. And you guys should know already how well I do with gas powered machines, other than cars. So, I planned to devote all day Sunday to playing with my new tools and getting the yard in shape. I got up and put the Troybilt thing together, added the oil, put gas in it, and (*&%#%*&^ if it would NOT crank despite many tries and following the directions perfectly. Waited a couple of hours and tried again--no go. So I packed the whole mess up, and took them back to Lowe's and bought what I had INTENDED to buy to begin with. Only they were sold out of the electric edgers so I had to go to Home Depot. But, once I got home, I had FUN playing with them. Machines that actually turn right on when you push the button!!!! Maybe I should start a company making yard equipment for women!

On another note, I have been very fatigued the last week or so and don't know why. And, the DOMS, which is delayed onset muscle soreness that plagued me terribly the first year I trained for this, hit me in full force after Saturday's run. I felt worse this Saturday after 7 miles than I did after 12 last weekend. Go figure. I rested a lot but did go the gym this morning and do weights and a little treadmill. The yard work got done half on Sunday and half this morning and I am WHIPPED!!!!!! But now I have so much money invested in the equipment, I can't hire anybody to do it for me so I will persevere. It is one of my favorite crosstraining things so it will be fine.

Yet another good day!

I think overcast is good as I didn't think I was going to die of a heatstroke coming up that last big hill. And 6 miles was a nice change although I am exhausted now and want to take a nap. Could be the big old chicken salad bagel I had at Beagle bagel with chips and pickle--breakfast of champions! But, I loved getting to meet a few new people today and putting faces with blogs! And, I am becoming addicted to the blogs now. I hope I'm not missing too many of the names from the MM site--I got weary of the copying and pasting but I do like reading everyone's notes. Each year the blogger method has changed a little and I didn't think I'd ever adapt to this one and become obsessed but it has now happened!!!! And I'm so happy to meet you bloggers in person.

One thing I thought of during my long torture, I mean run, last week was that you should soon be keying in on at least some of what you're gonna wear and use during the marathon. Don't majorly changes socks or other things that are next to your skin the day before the marathon as you body and skin won't be used to them. And, go ahead and experiment now with the gels and different drinks so you'll know what works and what doesn't. I've twice now worn some different socks that made me feel like my feet were getting raw so I'm not doing too good of a job of taking my own advice but it is jogging my memory!!!! I like the Baliga socks from Fleet Feet. I was wearing Thorlos but I find they are too thick and hot during our lovely summer weather here so now I save them for the winter.

I'm seeing 5 am starts in my future!

Now, don't get me confused with a morning person but I DO hate to be hot. And, Sally and I ran at 6 this morning for an hour and we were drenched when we finished. But, maybe it's not much cooler at 5???? I don't know. If this is global warming, I'm gonna have to pick a new sport!!! But, it does feel so good when you're finished although I'd like to go back to bed rather than to work!!!!!!!

Fresh Dog Water

I thank all of you for your responses to my question about how to keep dog water fresh outside. I have my doubts that any plastic bowl will work for my dogs outside as I have at least one MAJOR plastic and wood chewer who has 2 cohorts in crime to aid her while I am at work. I bought a LARGE plastic bowl with slanted down sides at PetSmart and filled it with water and it is pretty heavy when full. It has become quite an outside playtoy so then I started using a plastic bucket with a handle but they turned that over, too--and it is VERY heavy when filled with water. So, ingenious me, I enlarged one of the many existing holes in my backyard, which, by the way, looks somewhat like the surface of Mars thanks to the sweet darling digging and chewing babies, and I sort of sunk the bucket partway into the ground. So far, they have not been able to turn it over although they have snacked on the edge of the bucket. But, I have to lift it and dump it and rinse it out daily as it begins growing mold daily. And the outside of it is muddy so I get dirty and it is heavy, etc. So, I think that the little dealies with the 2L bottle on top or the empty soda bottle on top would be considered a snack item by these guys. I will have to call the vet and ask about the toxicity of bleach or the stuff that goes in ponds. Or, I saw a thing called Waterdog online that you attach to the outside faucet but it looks sort of inviting to chew on, also, so not sure about that. I have bought many chew toys for them to chew on but they appear to prefer chairs and screen and flowerpots and waterbowls and rugs and tables. It's a good thing they are cute!!!!!

Reservoir runs--at 530 am on Tuesdays and some Thursdays

The time appears to be ever changing but maybe they will mostly be at 530 am, uggggggghhhhh, except on the Thursdays that Sally has an 8 am meeting so then they'll be at 5 on those days, double uuuuugggggghhhhh!!!!!! Feel free to come and join us if you'd like. Same place to park as on Saturday AM's! But we don't put out water so you have to bring your own.

Another one of Carol's hare-brained schemes but I survived

What a week I have had! But I did get my 12 miles in, by myself unfortunately. I have pointed out how lucky we are to be healthy enough to even attempt our Marathon Adventure as my brother's health has been going downhill lately. Well, he took a tremendous plunge a week ago Monday while on a trip with some friends in Kentucky. In an attempt to try to help him function better/walk better, his Parkinson's meds had been increased, and they caused him to start hallucinating and falling and essentially being totally out of his head. Was hospitalized in a great hospital up there. My nephew drove up there but then needed help so I flew up there Wednesday to help. He was already getting better by the time I got there as they had stopped the meds. We drove back all night long Thursday night and I stayed in Merigold for the weekend to try to help him get on track with better diabetes control. So, I planned out a 12 mile route. And, I must say, I sort of wanted to be able to say I ran from Merigold to Cleveland. And, I was scared to run on desolate roads by myself due to fear of attack abduction. So, I looked at Hwy 61 with its nice wide shoulders, found that the turn around point was at the local Walmart, and headed out at 640 am Saturday morning, frozen Propel in hand--large one. Didn't take me long to realize that the traffic has picked up considerably on Hwy 61 in the 30 years that I've been gone from there!!!! So, I kept having to hit the shoulder which, although wide, was covered in giant, loose gravel. Sort of like running on the trail in Raymond or on the beach. So, my pace suffered, and I was exhausted by the time I got to Walmart. But, I went in, used their facilities, bought another Propel, and bought a cup of ice from the McDonald's inside, and prepped the old and the new bottles with ice and shared Propel. Dilly dallied around to rest but finally set out to go back to Merigold with TWO large bottles of drink (kind of like running with weights). I stood my ground on the narrow asphalt shoulder of road as much as I could but had to hit that gravel a good bit and had to walk a good bit. And, it was HOTTTTTT!!!!!. But, I did make it, and now I can say I have run from Merigold to Cleveland and back. And that I missed the support of you guys--a lot. I composed many blogs along the way--I guess that is one benefit of running alone--but not a good enough benefit to not make me want to be in your midst for all of my remaining long runs!!!!

A very draining 24 hours and pumped up due to FStops blog!!!

We are so happy that Deb, AKA FStop joined us today at the Rez y for our usual Tuesday/Thursday run! I guess I was running faster than usual today due to the stress of the past 24 hours. I got a very disturbing call yesterday about my youngest brother who had taken ill while out of town with some friends in Louisville, KY. He has recently been getting worse from his Parkinson's disease and also has hypertension and diabetes. He was confused and kept falling yesterday morning so they finally had to call an ambulance and take him to the hospital. He has been my Rock of Gibraltor for years and is one of the kindest and sweetest people on earth although not the greatest person to take care of his own health. He was actively hallucinating all yesterday, all night, and still doing so today. I did not know what to do--drive there, stay here, or what. But, thankfully, my nephew drove up there yesterday so I didn't feel so terrible about not being there. All of his tests have come out fine/negative, and they now think that he just needs a drug holiday from his Parkinson's medication to get himself straightened up. Thank the good Lord that it isn't anything worse like a stroke.

Thursday's run, this week will be at 5 AM----ugggghhhhhhh due to Sally's meeting at work that day. Then, we are either running at 530 or 545 am next Tuesday so feel free to come join us. Despite my reputation as a taskmaster/slavedriver about speed and long intervals, everyone can do their own pace as they like!!! And I even try to run back so we can all stay together!

Off with the new, on with the old---pedals!!!!

Okay, I gave in to reality and reason and got my old regular pedals put back on my bike. Enjoyed a nice long ride yesterday without fear of falling while trying to stop!!!!! Although stopping is a bit tricky even the old timey way or either I've developed a phobia now. My legs were a little sore, I think from Saturday's run, which wasn't pretty for me, by the way. Stomach issues prompted stops at the Chevron and the police station--and wow what wonderful air conditioning in that police station! And I ended up walking more than I would have liked because of stomach unrest. Oh, well.

And, interestingly enough, thanks to my Garmin, my pace with the old-timey pedals was faster than when I rode with the clip-in ones. So, there. And, I got delayed twice on my way home from Saturday's run as the Heatwave Triathlon folks were running the same trail that we ran last week. There was just enough space between the runners that traffic was backed up significantly! And, I went home to get cleaned up and get to the temple for a Bat Mitzvah at 10:15 and there were still police guarding the path for runners! The stragglers, whom I was proud of because, if I ever do that triathlon, that's about the time I'd be crossing that path, I'd be thinking!!!! I biked 15 miles yesterday and cannot yet imagine running 6 miles after getting off the bike so I've got a ways go to before I think about doing something like that.