Top Ten List -- Apologies to David Letterman

Top Ten Reasons to Be a Marathon Runner In Training!

10- To experience the joy of seeing a deer with a large set of antlers staring at me after I have assumed a somewhat awkward position in the Fox Bay woods.
9- To experience the peanut butter and jelly on a cinnamon bagel at the Beagle Bagel at least once a month.
8- To appreciate those "special" people like the one who threw a full bottle of Gatorade out the window and into our path as Suzanne and I crossed the Causeway.
7- To feel an uncontrollable desire to pick up mushed Sports Beans on the trail with the desperate hope that they will speed me up.
6- To see Carol sprinting from the Fox Bay Fire Station bathroom and back onto the trail, and still beating me to the finish line.
5- To run alongside Chuck, Phil, and Kelvin and laugh so much I have to slow down.
4- To feel like the luckiest person alive when I finally make it to the first bathroom stop at the boat ramp.
3- To run at 5 a.m. in the dark, wearing a headlight with Sally beside me wearing sunglasses.
2-To spend time with strangers who have become great friends, but can't remember each other's names when we're fully clothed and not sweating.
1- To enjoy the best group of people I will ever hope to meet and be a part of fighting the good fight and remaining strong to the end.

22 Miles of Photographs and Counting Down...

Great compliments to photographers Robin and Matt for those exciting and sometimes hysterical photos of us on the 22 Miler! I knew all the time that Carol was a Delta Beauty Queen, and drum majorette! She has the waves and kiss throwing down pat! It's a wonderful sequence of the Lady Runner in action.

What a great time we all were having even if some of us like me were a little slow, a little worn and a lot happy! Our community of people is the cream of the crop. As we say in the Episcopal Church -- Thanks be to God!

Debra

22 Miles and 22 Days Till Chicago

Did anybody realize that our 22 Miler today is also Day 22 on the Countdown to Chicago? I bet Mark and Robin did. I just noticed it on my Widget Counter.

Today was absolutely wonderful weather. We're all looking good out there. I felt like I was walking past an ocean view when I crossed back over the Reservoir with that cool breeze floating overhead. What a day!

This week's newbalanceconnections.com weekly tips/quotes really summed it up for me:

"You have to wonder at times what you're doing out there. It comes down to self-satisfaction and a sense of achievement." - Steve Prefontaine, an Olympic runner who had one leg longer than the other (a common condition that does not affect running speed), and had been told to give up on his dream of being the fastest runner on earth.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steve_Prefontaine

Have a great week!

Debra

27 Days....Excitement in the Mail

There is always a little excitement when the mail arrives at the home/office of the self-employed. Usually it's because one of us is expecting a "check in the mail." Today, however, there was something different. And,hopefully my neighbors didn't look outside when I danced my way into the house with the mail. My CHICAGO MARATHON CONFIRMATION TICKET was THE highlight! Now, all I have to do is keep up with it. It's very cool with all kinds of great info.

And, I guess I'll have to confess about my ebay buying frenzy that so far has netted me two identical Chicago marathon windbreakers from ebay. They were in the mail also. You see,it's all Suzanne's fault...
She told me about getting a couple of great deals on Chicago marathon apparel on ebay. Now, I must admit that she didn't tell me to get on ebay the night of the day that we did the 20 miler. But,apparently I did. I do remember placing a bid on one windbreaker, for sure, and maybe 2 because I wasn't sure I would win even one auction. But, so far I have paid for four. The two that came today are in a color that I wouldn't quite call fashionably muted orange. They look more like what you would wear if you wanted to be rescued in the mountains and you wanted the rescue helicopter to see you for sure -- screaming neon dark orange, maybe a tad toward Tenn. Volunteer Orange with an extra dose. I'll definitely keep at least one and my son has first refusal on the others. The moral of the story is: Shop ebay when you're awake and avoid it on 20 miler days.

Now, I gotta go memorize all the details in my Confirmation Ticket! Looking forward to Saturday. It puts us a "few" more miles closer to Chicago!!

Debra

Thanks for coming...

Thanks to my own personal Press Agent Suz mentioning in her Blog that I had a show at Fondren Traders. I really appreciated seeing those familiar faces. But it is hard to recognize people in their daytime clothes without hats, ipods, bottles of propel, garmins and sweaty faces!

My photography will continue to be up at Fondren Traders (in the Rainbow Co-op building) for awhile. O.K., that is the last free advertising I'll inflict on you.

Debra

32 Days Left and I Saw the Guru of PT

Hey!
I'm back from my NYC experience. I had to keep up the pace of my 17 year old son, his sister and her husband. We covered plenty of ground though I didn't officially train. It was great weather. I hope we get just as good in Chicago.

My knee has been bothering me again. Thought my ITBand stuff was behind me, but it has reared it's ugly head on the left knee. I saw the GREAT Marathon Guru Wayne Jimenez today. He reassured me that my leg wasn't going to fall off, but I did need to ice and do more intensive stretches to get back to my "not bothering me" stage.

If you've been putting off seeing Wayne -- now is the time. He worked me into his schedule on short notice and gave me a game plan. He is the BOMB!!! Email him at wjimenez25@aol.com

DebraF