Bike Ride

Did my bike riding early today. It was a beautiful morning and I enjoyed the ride. If you've been looking for an alternate cross-training idea I recommend a bike. It's a whole different perspective and it's fun! Don't forget to wear your helmet.

Debra
debra@southern-images.com

Seven Miles!

Seven miles! Naw! It's not possible. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, the marathoners did it today at the Rez. What a great walk or run we had with plenty of good company. Hope everyone is feeling no pain.
See ya on the trail.
Debra
debra@southern-images.com

What a Week!

Yesterday I really enjoyed the company of marathoners who turned out at 5 p.m. to get in a practice session at Lakeshore Park. It's wonderful to hit the pavement with friends. The time flies by. Thanks, Suzanne, for keeping the timed intervals going. And,it was a great news week at our house. My son Aaron Taylor officially got his Boy Scout Eagle last night, and this morning I was notified that I won the photography award for the Mississippi Institute of Arts and Letters! If you're curious, here's the link:
Scroll down to photography nominees list
http://www.ms-arts-letters.org/nominations.shtml

Debra
http://www.vanishingdelta.com
http://southern-images.com

Got the Bike Out

Suzanne inspired me to pull my bike out for cross training. This morning I got in some free weight time and then spent the rest biking the neighborhood. And, yes, I did wear my helmet. It was a nice change but I'm sure my new sore place will have to do with the bike seat! We've got one hill that requires serious leg action. I'm hoping it's building up the running muscles. Sure is nice to hit the streets wearing shorts at 6 a.m. I'm glad to be done with 45 degree mornings for awhile. Don't remind me I said that when July gets here. Signed up for the Canon Ball 10k. Looking forward to seeing us "marathoners" make our way through the Raymond battleground.

Debra
http://southern-images.com

Hyper Space

Saturday was outstanding! Never would I have believed that 6 miles was possible for me at a pace much faster than a walk. I managed to do the 2:1 and it's amazing how good I felt and how well it went. Kind of like when the Star Trek captain says "o.k. ya'll, let's go to Hyper Space." Yeah, I know the Captain never said "ya'll" but I'm sure SHE thought about it. And, this morning on my 5:30 run I was amazed how much further I could go in the usual hour's time.

I am very thankful that this opportunity came along at just the right moment in my life. It's a pleasure to be a part of the group on our Saturday runs.

Debra
http://southern-images.com

Old Music for the Road

I listen to all kinds of music but I do love the Beatles old stuff. I know that's a rather dated thing to admit but it's so happy and fun. So, last night I finally got my son, Aaron, to upload a batch onto my ipod. What a great time I had this morning! And it was my first full workout at 2:1 instead of 1:1. I managed to keep the Beatles low enough that I could still hear the lap alarm. Next play list is Bruce Springsteen! Gotta gear up for Saturday.

Debra

Thankful for my Treadmill

I managed to get 30 minutes freeweights done and 2 miles biking the neighborhood on Monday. But on Tuesday I had to go get an antibiotic for a head cold that was not slowing down. Guess the meds for congestion got me going because at 1:30 a.m. today I was wide awake. Finally, I gave up and got on my treadmill for 45 minutes at 3a.m. I should be alot of fun at work today. Got 2 photo shoots to do, plus office stuff. Could be my head will hit the desk at some point.

Looking forward to seeing everyone at 7:20 a.m. on Saturday at Lakeshore Park. Guess Mark wants us in shorts and looking like true marathoners! Now, that's a challenge. Good thing the filming will be done before the run and not after.

Debra
FStop

Marathon Addiction Discovered

Yesterday morning looked like a great time to start running -- about 6 a.m. but, as we all know when we got together at 8 a.m. the bottom was about to drop out of the sky. Thanks to Suzanne and Shannon I got off to a good start but fear of lightning was too strong. We stopped.

I kept feeling like part of day was missing. That's when I realized the sad truth -- I had developed an addiction for this marathon thing. I had to get in that time. Suzanne had returned to our spot, and gotten her 5 miles in before the sky fell yet one more time. It was up to me. Since I live very close to Spillway Road, I really didn't have an excuse once the weather cleared. I drove by our marathon route on Scenic Drive and dropped a full water bottle directly across from an American flag in someone's yard as my landmark.

Leaving from Lakeshore Park, I did my 1:1 for most of the 5 miles though I slowed down now and then. And, my water -- well it was there but I had missed the point that there were 3 flags in trees on Scenic Drive. Who would have thought it? It's not even July! And, of course, my landmark flag was the last one. I was very glad to see it, but decided not to knock on the owner's door and tell them they had the most beautiful flag on the street.

The run went well but, I missed running with the group. It does make a difference.

By the way, Jana, I enjoyed your painting. It was a nice surprise to see in the Blog.

Muggy Morning

It was muggy this morning at 5:45 but I needed to get in that additional workout so I made it to the street and put in the hour of 1:1 time. I think my run time is actually slower than my walk time. That's kind of embarrassing but maybe I'll outdo myself at some point. I'm using the Timex Ironman set for the laps. Since it's so early and so quiet I can actually hear the alarm go off. That's a bonus.

Energy has Left the Building...

I put in 60 minutes of 1:1 run/walk this morning before 7am. Now I can't seem to get enough coffee in me to get thru the afternoon. Think I'll purchase a 6-pack of Monster drinks for these "special" occasions. I'm counting on my stamina building so these sessions during the week won't wear me down at all. Knees are working fine. Looking forward to seeing everyone on Saturday at the Reservoir. Snce that's only 5 minutes from my house I surely won't have an excuse for not being there at 7:45am!

Great Day in Clinton

What a great Day! I wasn't excited about the cold, and looking at Mark in shorts made me want to get him a blanket. But, doing the full 4 miles with my watch set at 1:1 was wonderful. Some of those Clinton hills were challenging and once in a while I let the watch "run" a minute by itself instead of me joining in but it really went well. This was my first time to seriously do intervals and use the watch. It's the basic timex marathon. I do hate that the alarm is so quiet, and no I don't think I'm loosing my hearing. But between my heavy breathing and that much too "polite" and wimpy alarm sound I really had to listen closely.
The meeting was very helpful. I hope Robin makes a full list of the gear in her belt available on the website.
The great news is that it's past 4:30 and I haven't yet had to stop for a nap. I don't think I can credit that to increased stamina without mentioning I did have a Monster drink after practice.

See ya,
Debra

Saturday was Fabulous

I did fastwalking for 3 miles and on the fourth I attached myself to a group of 3 who were doing a 1:1 walk/run. Amazingly enough I did it with them for the mile. My knee was a little touchy but it's been o.k. this weekend. It really was a big help to slow down and let my knee catch up. I'm still going to be careful with it. Got terrible leg cramps on Saturday night. They didn't last long but man, they hurt bad. Did some weights this morning. Hope to be out early getting walking done in the morning.

Oh, the speakers were wonderful at the meeting on Saturday. It was great to hear their "war" stories.