Easter Pictures!

So I'm having a hard time keeping up with my blog...

However I do have some AWESOME Easter pictures so I will post those. ENJOY!!!















I have a beautiful family!!!!!

It's been a while

Almost a year since I wrote anything in here....

My running has been going well. I've "moved up" to the advanced group. Although I am far from "advanced", I thought it would be a good challenge for me. We run on Tuesday nights on the track, working on speed and more anaerobic-type runs. On some Tuesdays we go run in a neighborhood that has long hills. The goal is to run more than walk. I can actually do it!!! I was surprised about this. I thought since I have been doing 1:1's for such a long time that my body would just automatically "turn off" after one minute of running... But I now know I can run a mile without stopping. :-))))

I have two events coming up in March. The first one is a Marathon Relay in Little Rock this coming weekend. I'm really excited about this as I am running with three friends from my running group. We have the best time running together and always end up talking about food! So our team name is "The Food Critics" :-) We will drive over on Saturday together and decide which leg of the relay we want to do (there are some hills on the course...), have some fun (not too much) on Saturday night, then the marathon is on Sunday. Apparently, the medals are HUGE! I'll post a picture

My other event is on March 20 - the Germantown 1/2 Marathon. I ran this one last year in a cold rain. Hopefully, the weather will cooperate more. My goal is to run it in 2:50, which I think is very doable. I've stepped up my training to running 2:1's now so that should shave off a few minutes. And the other thing we have been working on is walking faster during our walk breaks. So I feel very confident about this race.
My training has been going really well. Saturday was our long run - 15 miles. I ran 10 of it using the 2:1 formula. I wasn't too sore on Sunday, so that was good!!!

There's another 1/2 marathon in April - I'll blog about that one another time....

Running in Shelby Forest

I'm giving myself a pat on the back! I have been consistently running 3 days a week for over a month! Wow! My legs are feeling pretty strong now. :-)
My latest running adventure with "my group" was at Shelby Forest State Park last Saturday. This park is about 30 minutes from our house and situated on a bluff over looking the Mississippi River. It was a beautiful day - in the mid 50's when we started running, plenty of sunshine and no bugs! We ran on the trails throughout the park for about 2 hours and 45 minutes. There were two groups: the fast people and then us slower runners.... We actually all ran together for about 45 minutes, then split into the two groups.
The flowers were beautiful, lots of birds around, the trees are just starting to leaf out and we started early enough that there weren't very many people around. It was a truly awesome day!
The BEST part of the whole run was the food we all brought to eat after the run. It was like a banquet! mmmmmm!!!
Here are some pictures from one of the girls who ran with us.
I need to take my own pictures next time. :-)

Skiing in West Virginia

Over spring break I had the opportunity to go with our church youth group to Snowshoe, West Virginia to do some skiing. It was a lot of fun. The weather was sunny, so it felt warm while we were on the mountain. There was LOTS of snow - the most they have had in a really long time! So between those two things and the great goup of kids we had - it was a great time! I hadn't been skiing in about 7 or 8 years, but it's just like riding a bike.... you don't really forget. I ski alot slower than the kids do, but that's OK. They just waited for me at the bottom of the slopes! :-)I was actually worried about hurting myself if I went too fast - I don't really like feeling out of control!
The worst part of the whole trip was driving there and back. We left Friday night about 7:00 and drove to Knoxville - about a 6 hour drive, plus a 1 hour time change, so it was about 2:00am when we arrived. We slept at a church and then got up about 6:30 on Saturday and drove the rest of the way - another 7 hours. After checking into our condos and renting out ski equipment, we went to the tubbing hill for about 1 hour and 1/2. That was a BLAST!!!
Then we skiied all day and night on Sunday and Monday. Got up early on Tuesday morning and drove 15 hours straight back to Memphis. A VERY LONG TRIP!!! But it was well worth it. I was on spring break last week, so I didn't have to miss any school.
I would definitely go again if I had the chance. :-)

Here are some pictures:

Runing in the cold...

We have had a cold spell here in Memphis that started right after Christmas. Lows in the teens, highs in the 20's, sometimes with a wind chill.... brrrrrrr! I have skipped running a couple of times because of the weather, but I know I can't do that very often!!! So here are some random things I have learned about cold weather running:
1. I don't really mind it all that much.
2. I overdress usually
3. My face gets colder than any other part of my body - mostly because nothing is covering it!
4. It takes my hands about 30 minutes to actually warm up and by the end of the run I can take my gloves off!
5. The sun feels especially nice on cold days!!!!!!!! :-)
6. When I think about my swimmers and how they are training, I start running faster! hahaha! Although this happens ALL THE TIME, not just when it is cold!

So don't let a little cold weather stop you from getting your exercise! It really is lots better than running in the heat!!!!!!!

December 28. 2009

I LOVE reading other family members blogs, but can't seem to keep up with mine... hmmmm....
OK, so here's what's been going on in my life.

December 15, 2009 - that was our 25th wedding anniversary! I have a hard time believing it.... 25 years! Really??? I actually didn't know this until we received a card from Dennis and Sheila. I mean, I knew it was our anniversary, but didn't know it was 25 years. I was really surprised! Nigel and I did our usual "thing"... We took a day off of work, bought Christmas presents (although most of it is done online now, so not much to buy), then went to lunch at Macaroni Grill. mmmmmmm! We love that place! Afterwards, we split up and go buy each others' Christmas presents. At least "stocking stuffers". :-) This year, Dennis and Sheila gave us some money for our anniversary present. We usually buy something together that we really want, so this year was no exception - and we had some extra money too. :-) So, we decided to get some 'silver' for our silver wedding anniversary. We picked out some nice silver flatware and a box to store it in. Oneida has the best stuff ever! We love it! So the next time any of you come to visit, you will get to use it with us! :-)

Christmas, 2009 - Our tradition starts on Christmas Eve. Nigel and I go to the 8:00 service at church, then we come home and watch "A Christmas Carol" - the 1951 version with Alistair Sim. It's Nigel's favorite. :-) The girls go to the 11:00 service, but I can't stay up that late anymore. I'm afraid I would fall asleep during the sermon! hahaha!
We had a wonderful Christmas day with the girls. They were both excited about their presents this year. It's always great fun to watch their expressions when they open their gifts. :-) Chelsea was really surprised to get her new phone. We had convinced her she wouldn't be getting one until the spring. hahahaha! I love when a plan comes together.... hehehehe! Kirsten and Chelseas got tickets to see John Mayer in concert when he comes to Memphis is March - they both REALLY REALLY liked that gift from Santa! I think Kirsten's favorite gift would be her Nintendo DS. She's even shared it with me.... :-0 We have had fun playing the Brain Age game..... it says I have a brain of an 80 year old!!!! I guess I have some work to do!!!!!
I got a really nice watch, some great looking clothes, a Sansa Clip (to listen to music while I run - thanks Kirsten!), a RAZORBACK jacket (thanks Chelsea!) and some new muffin tins for our blueberry muffins. It was a "good haul"!!!
We had a great dinner with our traditional Christmas Crackers, music, Cadbury's chocolate cookies, and general dinner conversation. I think that is my favorite part. Just "real time" family time. It's the best!!! :-)

The rest of the Christmas vacation has been spent on swim practice (1 1/2 hours Mon through Thurs), taking Chelsea places, enjoying our presents, watching movies, and just generally being lazy! Although I have been keeping up with my running... :-)

Looking forward to 2010.... :-)

Decorating our tree....


The final product....


Me and Nigel...


The girls in their Christmas outfits...


Christmas dinner - or what's left of it....

My first Half Marathon

My half marathon story
I woke up at 3:00am and dozed and tossed and turned for a couple of hours…. UGH!!! I wasn’t really nervous, but just excited that I was about to do something I had never tried before. So, I finally just got up at 5:30, ate, got dressed and checked out the weather…COLD. Mark said that is a good thing. :-)

Clothes – this was a major undertaking – what to wear. After reading Mark’s suggestions I decided on tights, a short sleeve “wicking” shirt and my long sleeve dry fit shirt, a head band and gloves. At the last minute I wasn’t sure I would be warm enough so I took my Nike sweats jacket. I also had a trash bag to “snuggle” into at the starting line.

Pre-race – We met up at the Peabody Hotel, I got my packet from Mark (had to walk back to the car to put the extra stuff away), took group pictures and then Mark showed us his “secret weapon”!!! It was awesome!!!! Thanks Mark!

After that I felt kind of lost – not sure where to go or what to do…. But I’m a big girl and can figure things out for myself. :-) I started following my fellow MIMers to the starting line, but they were actually running to warm up. I definitely DID NOT want to run more than I was about to. So I quit following them and figured I could catch up to them at the starting line – HA!!!!! I had no idea….

So many people – There were about 8,000 runners signed up for the half and about 4,000 signed up for the full marathon! I don’t really know how many signed up for the 5K that ran earlier… But let’s just say A LOT of PEOPLE were downtown on Saturday!!! There are these ‘corrals’ down the street from the starting line. Each one “houses” a group of runners according to their pace time. I found mine - #13. I think there was one more after mine. Wow, that made me feel kind of slow, but no matter. I was there to finish my first half marathon! We were so far back from the starting line, I didn’t even hear when the race started! But that was OK. I found Jackie’s group standing just in front of me – whew! Someone I actually recognized!!!! I knew they would help me start off at the right pace. They were going to run 3/1’s but I knew their warm up would be easy for me to follow. I figured I would follow them for as long as possible and then start on my 2/1’s. Slowly each ‘corral’ made its way up to the starting line. They started us off about a minute apart. After 20 minutes, it was our turn to start! YAY!!! The cheering and excitement was AWESOME!!!!!! I decided it was time to start my Garmin…..OK, why is this darn thing not coming on???? Oh No!!!! What the heck is going on???? Obviously, that battery has decided to die… CRAP!!!! Well, I was determined to not let ANYTHING ruin my day, so I said, “OK, now what should I do? I know, I will count in my head…” And that is what I did for the next 3 hours…. 1,2,3,4,5….118,119,120 – ok now walk…. 1,2,3,4,5….58,59,60 – ok now jog. What a way to run a half marathon!!! Hahaha! It worked pretty well for me!!! I followed Jackie and her group for about 2 miles, then they were getting too far ahead of me, so I just started doing my own thing.

The race – I felt really good the whole way. It was so cool to run through downtown and then past St Jude. At mile 7 I heard the crowd ahead cheering and did not know what was going on – it turns out they were cheering for the Kenyans who were on their way back to finish their full marathon!!! OK, now I felt really, really slow, but hey, I’m not here to race – just to finish this thing!! Then in front of Rhodes I saw Nigel. :-) That made me feel really awesome!!! I gave him my “stupid Garmin” and muttered a few things about the watch to him. He took it all in stride, and told me how proud he was of me. :-) He took my picture, gave me some snacks, and then I was off again.
I started to feel a little sore as I was running through the park. I stopped and stretched a couple of times. I saw Mark riding his bike along this stretch of the race. He stopped to check on me, showed me a couple of different stretches to do. He took my picture - :-) - then I was off again to finish the last 4 miles. This seemed to last forever! Running down Poplar Ave is really long…..
I began to pass people who were walking and that gave me some added energy! I stopped and stretched one more time, then found mile 12!!!! I was really pumped then!!!!
The last mile was great!!! My legs felt good and I had a smile on my face, at least most of the time. People kept saying “you’re almost there!” “The finish line is just a couple of blocks away” - that was very encouraging! I saw a big sign that pointed one way for the half and the other way for the full….. I remember thinking “there is NO WAY I could go another 13 miles today!!!” And then I saw the baseball stadium and the finish line. Wooooo Hoooooo!!!!!!
My goal was to finish in under 3 hours. I figured that was an appropriate time for me, knowing how my training had been going the last 3 weeks. Since I didn’t have my watch on I was guessing… the time said 3:23:42… so I assumed I had just missed it by 3 minutes and 42 seconds. I was kind of disappointed, but not really – I had just completed my first half marathon (without my watch)!!!! How could I really be upset with that???? Well, it turns out my OFFICIAL time was 3:00:02 – 2 seconds over!!! Ok, I could have run faster at the end…. That will be my goal for next time. :-) Here are my numbers: 5821 – my place overall out of maybe 7000 finishers (don’t know the exact number),190th in my age group out of 282 women, average pace 13:45.


I had a fantastic experience! I accomplished a goal that I never thought I would, or could in a million years! Thanks, Mark, you are an awesome coach!!! I like your positive outlook and encouragement. There is NO WAY I would ever have done this without you!!!!!

So, now I have two goals for my next half:
1. Under 3 hours
2. Meet some new people to train with so I don’t have to do it on my own next time. :-)

Hey everyone! I am a MIM half marathon STUETTE now!!! WOOOOO HOOOOO!!! :-)

Casey Kasem

This is what I listened to on Saturday during my long run....
Do you remember these tunes?

You’ve lost that lovin’ feeling Daryl Hall and John Oates
Out here on my own Irene Cara
Dreamer Supertramp
Lovely one Jacksons
Whip it Devo
Just like starting over John Lennon
Dreaming Cliff Richard
Another one bites the dust Queen
More than I can say Leo Sayer
Master Blaster Stevie Wonder
I’m coming out Diana Ross
Never knew love like this before Stephanie Mills
Woman in love Barbara Streisand
The wanderer Donna Summer
Lady Kenny Rogers

Gotta love the '80's.... :-)

My Saturday Run

Another long run yesterday.... I think I did a pretty good job, too! :-) I'm trying to learn pacing for my mile splits. I was never good at long distance in swimming, but I think I am starting to get the hang of it for running. So here are my numbers for yesterday:
Warm-up
4.03 miles - 57.52 mins - 14.21 av pace - 131 av HR

Mile 1
13.53 mins - 144 av HR

Mile 2
15.08 mins - 146 av HR (I went a little over a mile on this one, so I thought I was running too slow. I decided to go a little faster on mile 3)

Mile 3
12.55 mins - 150 av HR (This was faster than I intended, so I decided to go a bit slower....)

Mile 4
12.59 mins - 149 av HR (... well, that wasn't much slower. So, I decided to try a different strategy... jog slower, but walk faster)

Mile 5
12.45 mins - 153 av HR (I was still going what I thought was too fast - I was sure I would die the last mile...)

Mile 6
12.52 mins - 155 av HR (But, I did not die too badly.)

Cool down
.69 miles 11.44 mins 17.05 av pace 133 av HR
My legs were a little sore after this workout, but not as bad as I thought they might be after running faster than I was planning... :-)

I guess I am getting faster. :-))))

Me and Casey again...

My last post was a couple of weeks ago. After discussing my last long run with Mark (my coach) we decided I should just try and stick with 2min jog and 1 min walk. He seems to think my legs would last longer with the extra walk breaks. So that is what I did today. Here was the plan that Mark sent out to the group. We were to warm up for about 50 - 60 mins, then "run" for 6 miles - keeping track of our "splits" for each mile, then do a 1 mile cool down. So that is what I did today....
I put on my headphones and headed out the door - me and Casey Casem from 1987! :-)
I did an 'out and back' run for my warm up: 2 miles out and 2 miles back - It took me 58 mins with an av mile time of 14:40; Average HR 134, Max HR 163 (lots of hills on this part of the run!!!). Then I took a short break to stretch, grab a granola bar and drink some gatorade.
My 6 miler was OK. My right deltoid gets a cramp in in sometimes and today was no different! UGH!!! So I had to stretch it out quite a bit. My legs were not as "jello" as the last time I did a long run, but they still were tired at the end! I did stretch them along the way though and that seems to help out (mental note for next time...). Here are my numbers for this part of the run: 6.03 miles with an av mile time of 14:12; Average HR 146, Max HR 166. Not really much faster than my warm up - but that's OK - I'm not really racing - except against myself. :-)
My cool down wasn't very long... only .5 miles - oh well, I did stretch when I got back to the house. Average HR 125, Max HR 137.
So there you go.... I'll see how I feel later today....
Some notes to remember for next time:
1. Don't eat a large mexican meal the night before....UGH!
2. I liked eating the granola bar in the middle of my run. Seems to keep my energy up
3. I wear too many clothes, but it's cold when I start out.... I'll have to keep experimenting with that...
4. I need to find a new running bra....
5. and some new socks... I think my feet will be more comfortable than just wearing my regular short cotton socks.
6. I remember why I like 80's music - :-)hahaha!