As I Ramble On...

Being sick really sucks

2011-02-19T15:00:00.000-08:00

Okay, I've been sick for the past week. Really sick. Thankfully not the flu or strep throat, but a nasty virus that just wants to hang on. What this means is that I was knocked on my a&# and not able to get anything done last weekend. I LOST AN ENTIRE WEEKEND!!! If you recall my last post was lamenting the fact that I needed MORE time, not that I had time to lose. So, on this beautiful Saturday, I am locked in my office in Employment Retaliation hell. No, I'm not retaliating against anyone (yet), but trying to get my Comment for Law Review complete to turn in a rough draft next Friday.

So, I guess instead of sitting her blogging about my lack of time, I need to focus back in on the Congressional intent of Title VII and get back to writing.

Enough with the distractions.

Time, Time ... All I Need Is Time

2011-02-05T08:49:00.000-08:00

Okay, what you hear about the second year of law school working you to death is true. I've been busier this past month than I've been in a year an a half. But, I am in the process of writing my Comment for Law Review, working about 15 hours a week, and keeping up with classwork. I did okay in January to get some exercise in, but this week time (and cold weather) has kept me from exercising. I run the Mercedes 5K next weekend and eek! I know I can't run a solid 3 miles right now. Tragic! How quickly that training dissipates.

Work is going well and I love my job. I am learning so much and feel like they are letting me get in at the beginning of some really cool cases to work on. And while I hope that things work out for me there long term, I also know that I cannot put all my eggs in one basket so I'm going through interviews again this spring. My future is already worked out with more than I could ever imagine, so I'm looking not at the things ahead, but upward - having faith that my needs are going to be met and that God has a plan for me.

I've been a bit melancholy this week. Part of it is hormonal. (Sorry if that's TMI), but part of it is realizing that through this crazy process of law school people change. I know I've changed and part of that change I like and part I don't like. And while I cannot control the change in other people, I can control it within myself and work on those areas of me that I don't like so much. When people look at me, I want them to see Christ within me. And sometimes I can say that's probably not what is seen. Time to let that light shine and walk the walk!

I visited a new church last week - Christ City Church Birmingham. I really enjoyed the worship time and the message. I am going back tomorrow. I know that NewSpring spoiled us so much and try as we might, we aren't going to find another church in this area that is NewSpring. I love my church! But I also know it is important for me to be in a local church and get plugged in. While I can serve the community outside of church, I also need a church that I can serve.

Okay, that's enough stream of conscious writing for now. I need to get back to writing this Comment. Although with a soft snow falling outside, I wish I could curl up on the couch with Jeff and watch movies and drink hot cocoa. Oh yeah, I couldn't do that even if I didn't have work to do because Jeff and I have declared Saturdays "No TV day" in our house. But, that's a post for another day. Stay tuned!

6 Days in a Row

2011-01-06T18:52:00.000-08:00

Jeff and I joined the 100 Days Challenge on Facebook and made a commitment to get at least 30 minutes of exercise EVERY day for 100 days. While it sounds easy, when it's dark and cold outside sometimes getting motivated is difficult. But today was day 6 and even though I was tired, hungry and possibly cranky after work, we made it. No excuses, 100 days, and that's 3,000 minutes I get to spend with my husband. Quality time, time for us to catch up on each other's day and to just be a couple. So, no matter how dark, how cold, how hungry or how tired I am - just thinking about that time with the love of my life motivates me.

Classes start back next week and I'm excited for a new semester. After all, the BEST is yet to come!

2000 - 2010 In Quick Review

2011-01-01T08:55:00.000-08:00

This morning kicks off not only a new year, but a new decade. I think back to the last decade and realize how much my life changed in 10 years that seemed to zip by. Some memories still open wounds of loss that I'll always feel; some make me so thankful not only for the life I lead, but for life itself; and most make me smile with the happiness and joy I have.

2000 was a year when I faced my own mortality for the first time. In November, the doctors found a liver tumor and I had surgery that not only saved my life, but changed my life. I realized that stressing over the small things I had no control over really didn't matter anymore. Every day is a blessing and I live it as such, trying to always find the positive in any situation that is thrown at me. I am so thankful for the doctors, my wonderful mother who never left my bedside while I was in the hospital, my friends who helped me with my recovery and mostly to God, for showing me that I still have work to do for Him.

2001 saw more surgery for me, but that year will forever be marked with tragedy. On Sept. 11 the world saw how vulnerable the US was when terrorists attacked. I wasn't coherent when the Trade Centers were attacked - I had surgery the day before. But my tragedy struck ten days later when my brother lost his strong, hard-fought battle with cancer. Cancer sucks! He taught me about grace, love and about never giving up, even when times are at the darkest. I miss him every single day and wish he were here today to see the woman I've become.

2002 - In November, I found what I never even knew was missing - I met my future husband and daughters. One hockey game changed my life and I am forever grateful that God made Jeff just for me.

2003 - Lots of hockey games with Jeff. Getting to know him and the girls better and falling in love more every day.

2004 - Jeff, Chelsea, Heather and I became a family on April 17, 2004 under a beautiful sunrise on the beach at Tybee Island, Georgia. Surrounded by our family and a couple of dolphins. I don't care what anyone else thinks, those dolphins were sent by my dad and brother to show their approval.

2005 - We adjusted well to married life and purchased our first family home. Little did we know at that time, that house would be a temporary home for us.

2006 - I graduated with my Masters and entered into the world of human resources. In September, I ran my first 5K with Heather Leonardo - the Race for the Cure. I was hooked and knew that I wanted to start running on a regular basis. So, Jeff and I started on a plan.

2007 - Lots of races this year, kicking off with the Greenville News 5K. Jeff & I ran 5Ks and 10Ks. We were now getting healthy and substituting running with the hockey that we enjoyed so much. It gave us a great time together, even though he ran much faster than I did. Jeff ran his first half marathon in Greenville and Heather & I were along the course with signs rooting him! I was so proud of him! At the end of this year, in a restaurant on our way to the Savannah Bridge Run, I told Jeff I wanted to take the LSAT and apply to law school. After a second, he said, "Okay, it will be our next adventure." He's been my biggest supporter ever since.

2008 - In May, Jeff and I ran our first marathons - the KeyBank Vermont Marathon. You can see my blogs about this in prior posts. In December, the first acceptance to law school came and knew that I was finally going to be able to live my dream of becoming an attorney.

2009 - big year!! I ran a half marathon in a torrential downpour. We put our home on the market at the end of January and were blessed that it sold. God has wonderful timing!! We moved into our apartment in Birmingham, AL and I started law school. I was blessed with new friends and soaked up the atmosphere at Cumberland.

2010 - This year went by so freakin' fast! I finished my first year of law school; made Law Review; worked all summer, both for a firm and a federal judge; made the Negotiation Team where I traveled to Florida and learned humility; and got a job with a firm that I hope to have some long-term potential.

Whew! What a decade! While the first part of the decade seemed marked with me in and out of the hospital having multiple surgeries between 2000 - 2004, I was able to accomplish so much. I've truly been given the best gifts: Life and Love. So if you think I'm excited out of my mind to see what the next decade brings, you're right!!

A Year, Really?

2010-12-31T15:57:00.000-08:00

Okay, so it's been a year since I've blogged. Terrible and shows how I did on that procrastination goal from last year. Things have been busy, but 2010 has been a very blessed year indeed. Law school is going well and I'm halfway to being a lawyer. Jeff changed jobs and that's taken some adjustment but (yay!) he no longer travels. I'm seriously considering another marathon in November 2011, so we'll see how the training goes. I've started working for a great, small firm and love the work and the people. At midnight, a new year will roll in, bringing with it new adventures and opportunities. I cannot wait to see what the new year holds!!

Another New Year

2009-12-31T14:39:00.000-08:00

I cannot believe that in a few hours 2009 will be over. In many ways, it has been my biggest year thus far. There were many changes in my life and almost everything has changed in the past year. New home, new friends, no job, new school. But the things that matter most have stayed the same - husband, family, friends, and cat.

I'm sorry for those of you who follow my blog that I did not write much over the first semester. I promise I'll attempt to do better. Law school is fantastic and I still love the challenges it brings each day. I made it through being called on in Contracts and was fortunate to be the last to go one day, so my time was brief. However, Contracts continues next semester so I'm back to being anxious knowing that my time will come again and next time it may not be as brief. The workload was more than I imagined, but moving forward I know now how to attack it and have a game plan to be more efficient.

I've been out of class for 3 weeks now and Jeff cannot wait for me to go back. HA!! Let's face it, I do not do well with down time. I imagined my break full of great literature to read with plenty of time to relax; instead I am bored and cannot focus. I went from going 100 miles an hour all day every day to zero and it's been tough. I have worked on my summer job search some and am praying to secure a summer associate position. With the economy as it is, I am fearful that my age and probable lack of being at the top of the class may hinder me. So, I am trying to be proactive and make as many contacts now before classes and the interview period begins.

So, enter 2010. I was surprised that I did not find any goals last year that I set for myself. Maybe with the admission to law school and impending move, I knew better. However, I did run 435.78 miles in 2009. I believe it was my first full year running that I was injury free. Here are some goals for 2010:

Have a better attitude when it comes to the little things and certain people;
Stop saying negative things about others (this one will be hard sometimes!);
I have a 365 day challenge: reading the Bible;
Try not to procrastinate and put things off to the last minute;
Get at least 30 minutes of exercise every day;
Go to church more (we attend the NewSpring internet campus a lot, but I feel like I physically need to be in church); and,
Have better control over my eating - foods I eat, eating more often to stay fueled, portion control and better food combinations of carb, protein & fat.

I am really looking forward to this year and seeing what God has in store for me. I know it's going to be greater than I can even imagine!

4 Weeks In...

2009-09-13T17:57:00.000-07:00

Last week I completed my 4th week of classes. I miss television and the ability to be spontaneous, but thus far, I am loving every second of it. That is not to say that the amount of work is not overwhelming, because at times it is; or to say that it's not hard, because it is; or even that I understand and "get" everything, because I can certainly say that I don't! I am blessed to have made great friends that I am thankful for and to have good professors (for the most part). Let me give you a quick run down:

Professor Contracts: definitely old school and believes in the Socratic method. When called on, you have to stand and give the details of the case, as well as for all the ensuing questions that arise. He asks many questions and gives few answers. Oddly enough, this is one of my favorite classes ... which may change once I am called on.

Professor Torts: likes to read to us from the book and it did not take long to realize that he enjoys detailing the notes in between the cases. Torts is like the gym class of law school, and while I thought going in this would be my favorite class, it's not.

Professor Criminal Law: A genius that is a huge proponent of literacy - far and away, the heaviest reading loads that we have. He goes back and forth between calling on people and straight up lecture.

Professor Civil Procedure: Great professor with a sense of humor that is brought to the classroom. If he calls on you, the entire case and every question will be on you. This has meant that one person was "on" the entire class. I like the teaching style and the format very much and is probably my favorite class. Of course, this too may change once I've been "on" for a class.

Professor Writing: also doubles as an english professor, so grammar and style counts. This is a small class and is getting more in-depth. I've written my first paper for this class - an opinion on whether or not a group of people who kill and cannibilize a fellow member of their spelunking group when they are trapped in a cave for over 20 days should be convicted of murder. See what fun law school is?

The atmosphere is competitive, but friendly. I've not heard any rumors of hidden books from the library, pages being ripped from reference books, or hard drives wiped clean. The faculty and staff take a genuine interest in the students and seem to want to equip us for practice.

Well, that's my overview of my classes for you. I would go more indepth and give more detail, but I have a Torts book and a Criminal Law book that need my attention.

God Is ...

2009-08-06T13:19:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, I was going over some old notes from NewSpring and the last One Prayer series, entitled God is... It is hard to put what God is into one word or one phrase. There was God is Consistent, God is Father, God is Great and God is Good, and God is Here. These were all presented by excellent pastors and teachers. This morning as I walked after my run, I got to thinking what if I presented God is ___________? (Not that anyone would ever ask me to do so, I was just thinking about it in my quiet time).

So what or who is God? If you were asked to answer that question, what would you say? He is so many things! Father, conqueror, teacher, the Alpha and Omega, deliverer, and rock. And then, there are the emotions. So many people sum it up by God is Love and yes, that is very, very true. God loves each and every one of us. I think that He may not like us all the time, but He loves us in spite of the stupid things we do. If you view God as someone whose lap we sit in while He reads us a story, is that really accurate? Revelation tells us not totally - He comes in a kicks butt!! Not only that, but how many times is our relationship with Him one-sided if we think He's the one who loves? How do you treat people that love you? Not always the best, especially when we feel like we are unloveable. There have been times in my life that I've treated the people who loved me the absolute worst. I think it is us that needs to fall in love with God and strive for that deep emotion of falling in love with Him each and every day. What happens when you are falling in love with someone? You want to be with them all the time, you constantly talk about them and you'll do just about anything to be in their presence. Is that your relationship with God? I can honestly say that it's not mine. I slack in my quiet time & reading His Word. I've tried to do things my way instead of letting Him take the control.

I'm not preaching at anyone by writing these words, nor am I telling you what to do. These are simply thoughts that came to me this morning. I don't think that God should be put in a box. We are made in His image, so look around and see the differences in each of us. So, I guess if I had to say what/who God is, I would say, "God is EVERYTHING".

Lessons Learned

2009-08-03T19:18:00.000-07:00

In less than 7 days, I will officially be a 1L! I cannot believe that the time is near. So far, Jeff and I have been getting settled into our new apartment. We've been here a little over three weeks and so far, this is what I have learned:

Our area is somewhat like Wild Kingdom. I see deer and geese and was stopped on my way to church to let goats cross the road.
Our neighbors may be invisible. I have yet to see the other people that live on our floor. It is not as if I am a recluse who stays behind her own 4 walls. I do go in and out quite frequently, at varying hours. You would think that I would at least see them at some point, but so far - no see. Maybe they are the recluses.
I am all in favor of princess parking, but when you cannot get a princess space - parking in the handicapped space is not acceptable! (Unless you are indeed handicapped).
I like living in the smaller space and love our apartment!
Living in a city and visiting it are two very different things.
A county that makes headlines for a Council member e-spying on the County Administrator and sending out emails under a false name in order to install spyware on councilmember's computers really isn't that bad.
Counties can go bankrupt, have hundreds of "uncategorized" workers that are furloughed, close offices, cut law encorcement budgets, and yet build a dome.
When you need to register a vehicle, do not rely on information you find on the internet. You will need more than what is covered there and things you would never anticipate.
In order to get a driver's license and tags, you will stand in lines for over 5 hours. Thank goodness, if your husband is with you, it isn't all bad.
Said husband may drop the "F" bomb if you don't have said documentation not listed on said website.
Being a woman of leisure sucks and there is no way I could be a stay-at-home wife and not lose my sanity. I have respect for those women who can, I'm just not one of them.
I have no idea what to wear for a "casual" kick off to orientation picnic.
Do not get me wrong - I love Birmingham so far but right now, I am glad that we did not buy a home here and know that everything works out for a purpose. After all, God has promised "I know the plans I have for you..." I try every day to live those plans and let Him guide me.

Sweet Home Alabama

2009-07-19T15:31:00.000-07:00

Hello Alabama, I'm here! Our move went incredibly smooth and this past week has been great as Jeff and I have settled into our apartment. We only have one room - the guest room that will double as my study - to organize and cannot do that until my desk is delivered. As I look around our living room, it is beginning to feel like home. I've had some pool time and am working through the summer reading. I've been able to get out and learn the area and the alternate routes to avoid traffic. I would say that things are going well.

Thanks to the wonders of Facebook, I am getting to know some of my classmates. Hard to believe that orientation kicks off in two weeks. I am very excited for classes to begin. This is the first time in many years that I have not had a job to go to and I'm getting antsy with the time on my hands. I am one of those people who even calls in to the office and incessantly checks email, even while on vacation.

The one thing that is taking a hit during this move is my running. I went out last week for a 3 miler and yesterday, Jeff and I went into Crestline and walked/ran a little bit. He's not run since April 26, so I was pleased to get out with him again. This week, I definitely plan on getting that back on track.

So, here I am ... living my dream. I am blessed beyond measure and excited to turn over to the next page of the story of my life. Stay tuned...

Saying Goodbye Is Never Easy

2009-06-29T21:24:00.000-07:00

In 9 days, I will co-sign a lease for an apartment in Birmingham, Alabama. That thought sinks in deeper and deeper with each passing day. On Thursday, I was blessed to spend time with two friends that I've known most of my life. We laughed a lot, we reminisced and even took a trip to our old high school to watch former classmates practice for an alumni football game. At the end of the evening, I got in my car and cried on the way home, knowing that it's the last time I get to see these two fabulous ladies for a few years.

On Saturday, we had a crazy, busy moving sale. Again, we were blessed with selling off almost everything we needed to get rid of. After all, moving into a 2 bedroom apartment does not leave room for the insane amount of "stuff" we have acquired over the years. I believe that brass went out as decoration in the early 90s, so why it's been boxed up and moved from house to house, I don't know. At first, it was very freeing - the "stuff" no longer controlled me. This was a way of organizing my life and getting down to the bare minimums. What can I live without for 3 years? I can assure you - more than I ever thought. I got emotional carrying my prayer bench out to the driveway to sell. This bench saw me through the pain of my brother's cancer diagnosis, fight and ultimate death. I remember the night before he passed away, on my knees face down on the bench praying for God to not let him suffer anymore. To this day, that was one of the hardest prayers I've ever prayed. It also saw me through heartache of failed relationships, disappointments of life in general, and happiness when I met Jeff. But see, there's not room for my prayer bench in the apartment and it truly is one of those things I can live without. I can get on my knees in any space, I don't need a pretty bench for prayer. I can cry out to God anywhere that I am, I don't need a fancy cushion.

Saturday night, we spent time with family at Fluor eating BBQ and funnel cake, and watching the fireworks display. I looked at my family - my wonderful husband, my beautiful daughter Heather, my brothers, sister-in-laws, niece and nephew and realized how good life is. We are all healthy and they have been a tremendous support system for me and my mom. I know in the coming days and months, my mom is going to need them and they will be there for her.

On Sunday morning, we went to NewSpring's Anderson campus. It was almost 2 years ago that I first walked through those doors. How much has changed in those 2 years. Jeff got saved and baptized, Heather got baptized, and I know that my entire family has grown in their faith and relationship with God. Once the worship music started, all 3 of us got teary, knowing that it will be awhile before we get back. Yes, it's on the internet and we will watch, but it's not the same as seeing the intensity of Lee McDerment's face as he sings from his heart, or the joy of Elizabeth Embler as she worships from the stage.

Sunday night was the family cookout. We had a great time and were happy that Robin and Eric Longino joined us. At the end of the night, each person gave us a hug and that's where the emotions started. I was okay with the first batch as they left- after all, this is my stepfamily and some of them I just don't know as well as others. At the end came Rob, Pam, Cody and David. I've grown very close to this family over the past two years. Often my partners in crime, we have fun and they are always there when I need them. I love them so much and it hurt my heart when Cody hugged my goodbye. I love that kid! I got in my car and the water works started again, only this time really hard.

Today was the worst hurt of all. Heather stayed with us this weekend and we took her home this afternoon. As she packed up her bedroom and her bathroom to take with her what she wanted, I had to leave the room and take a lot of deep breaths. I didn't birth Heather or Chelsea, but I don't think I could love them any more if I had. I know this separation is temporary and we will still see them as often as we possibly can, but that ride to Boiling Springs sucked. In the driveway, Jeff & I took turns hugging Heather and it ripped my heart out. I witnessed the sacrifice my husband is making for me to live my dream and a part of me feels so selfish. But not only is law school for me, it is also to be an example to the girls that they can do anything, at any age. It is so my family can have a good, comfortable life. But if it meant losing my family, I would give it all up in an instant and take law school off the agenda for good. While law school will fulfill me professionally, there is nothing that fulfills me or makes me more complete than Jeff and the girls and my friends and family. I am so happy that Jeff is excited about this adventure and knows that the pain is temporary and a speed bump to get the ultimate prize.

I know that the next few days are going to be hard, but I am excited to begin this adventure called law school. My job with the County has ended and I'll be working these next 2 weeks to organize and pack. Much planning has gone into this over the last year and a half and logistically it appears the details are being taken care of. However, none of the planning prepared me for the feelings I have about leaving my friends and family and the only home I've known for most of my life. But, as long as my new home includes Jeff, it's the only home I need and I know that I'll quickly make new friends - not to replace the ones I have currently, but to extend my network even further.

It All Falls Into Place

2009-06-19T09:43:00.000-07:00

Have faith... that is what I feel like I have been living my life by these past 5 months. Have faith ... that I get into law school; have faith... that the house will sell; have faith... that we'll find somewhere to live that we can both be happy; have faith ... that God has a plan for my life and He is not going to let me down. We all know that I got into law school and I am going to Cumberland. The house was a different animal, especially in this economy.

I've been asked so many times about the house selling and the "What if it doesn't?" question. My answer was always, "It's going to sell. God hasn't brought us this far to just stop now". It was hard to keep that faith sometimes and I admit that at times I faltered. After all, the house showed one time in 3 months. I continued to pray that God would bring the right buyer and when there was a showing, I prayed over the buyers and the agents. Last week, God came through just as we knew He would. On Tuesday, we signed a contract on the house and the closing is set for July 15. We had the inspection on Monday and are waiting for the termite inspection to be done and then the list of repairs will be provided. The inspector did not go into detail, but did say that he didn't find anything he wouldn't expect to see in a 6 year old house and it appeared to be some minor repairman type items. It's kind of funny how God works... I kept telling everyone that we were going to be in Birmingham over the weekend and it would be nice to have a contract in place so we knew exactly what we could look at in terms of rent. BOOM! That's exactly what we had. So here we were, contract in place and it was time to find a place in Birmingham.

If you follow this blog, then you know the first time Jeff & I looked at apartments, I had a complete meltdown. But, after putting the numbers on paper we knew that this was the only way - we were going to have to rent an apartment. Jeff is making so many sacrifices so that I can go to law school, the least I could do is put on my big girl panties and live in an apartment. We had four more on the list that we did not look at the first time. I knew that if those 4 didn't pan out, we could go back to the two on the list from the previous visits.

So, I took off last Friday morning and drove to Birmingham by myself (Jeff was flying into Atlanta and would meet me in the afternoon). This was the first time I had made that drive and it was mostly without incident. The most major thing was leaving my cell phone charger at home and being down to one cell. This was easily remedied after a lunch stop at Olive Garden with a side trip to Best Buy. No Olive Garden doesn't sell cell phone chargers, but stick with the story... it's how my brain works, everything has to be in order. I met Jeff off the Liberty Park exit and we zoomed over to the Colonial Grand at Liberty Park. This is a beautiful area just north of Birmingham. As we drove up to the apartments, I began to get excited. It was a great complex, very well maintained and off the beaten path. If you didn't know it was there, you would not find it. Amanda showed us the model unit and told us that there were 2 units available for our time frame, both overlooking the 7 acre lake. We had her hold one for us for 24 hours and continued our search. The next complex, we drove into and right back out of, not bothering to stop. On to the third... I thought this one may have some potential and many of my future classmates are living there. We went into the model unit and what can I say? Jeff and I realized then that we were silver spoon and were going to compare everything to the first one. While the unit was nice, we just didn't feel it. In doing our due diligence, we drove through the parking lot of the fourth unit, once again not bothering to go in. On Saturday morning, we went back to the Colonial Grand at Liberty Park with a rental application in hand and signed the paperwork officially making us residents in July. We're going down on the 8th to sign the lease, paint accent walls and hang window treatments and then the official move in will take place on July 11. We spent about an hour measuring and mentally placing furniture and had an excitment that I don't even think we had when we moved into our current house.

As hard as it's been at times over the past few months, it has all fallen neatly into place. Now the chaos begins of getting thins ready for the moving sale (June 27, if you're interested) and then packing everything up. Going from our home to a 2 bedroom apartment means that we are selling more than we are taking. And actually, that's a pretty freeing thing. Stay tuned, it's about to get FUN!

And Now.... An Update From Your Blogger

2009-06-10T10:17:00.000-07:00

It's been an amazing journey, this past year. A year ago, I walked into a classroom at Furman to take my LSAT. So much has happened and in some ways, it seems like a long year; but in others, a very short year. I heard from Alabama a couple of weeks ago and was rejected, as I completely expected to be. Heck, I'm just happy to have made it through one review. I know, it sounds an awful like, "It's an honor to be nominated", but that's truly how it was for me. I always knew that Bama was my reach school and I did not anticipate getting accepted. When you don't expect it, it doesn't hurt nearly as bad. It was a huge relief because it enabled us to know exactly where we are moving - to Birmingham we go!

We decided to move the weekend of July 10. That will give us a month to set up the apartment and familiarize ourselves with the area more before my classes start. Oh my God! I'm going to law school!!! I can't believe that this is really (finally!) happening.

After many twists and turns with our realtor (I almost fired him several times), the market picked up on June 1. It was like suddenly the light switch turned on and our home started showing like crazy. This made Jeff & I very happy, even if I did live in Swiffer hell for awhile. Yes, in the 4 1/2 months on the market, I had come to resent making the bed every morning, Swiffering the floors almost every day, wiping down counters and mirrors almost daily. Especially when we weren't having any showings. I just wanted one day to leave a cup on the counter, a messy unmade bed, or shoes in the middle of the floor... just once. We had a showing yesterday morning and I cleaned like a mad woman before work, even coming in late. In my OCD (it's better being C-D-O because the letters are in order), I went back to the house twice to check on things. Jeff called me around one and let me know that the same agent was coming back between 3 and 4. We viewed this as a good sign and likely the same buyer. By 6:30, we had a contract signed, sealed and delivered. And not just any contract, a CASH contract with a closing date of July 15. Whoo hoo!! God had a plan and He worked it all out. He's awesome and amazing and does things that are immeasurable.

"Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work within us, to him be the glory in teh church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever, Amen!" Esphesians 3:20-21

We still have a home inspection to get through, but do not anticipate anything major. So, here we go on our next big adventure, just like PeeWee Herman without the masturbation in the theater. We go to Birmingham this weekend to finalize where we are going to live and have 3 more apartment complexes to look at. My last day with the County will be June 26. It's all wrapping up and I am a mixture of many emotions - happiness, joy, saddness, anxiety, fear and excitement.

This morning when I woke up, I thought God meets our needs when we trust and rely on Him to do so. The hard part is being patient and waiting for Him. I wanted to enjoy the moment and as I looked at the bed with the sheets going one way, the blanket in the other, I smiled a rebellious smile thinking "This is the day"... and then I walked over... and made the bed, wiped down the counters and came to work. Hey! Some habits are good to get into.

Marine Corp Historic Half Marathon

2009-05-26T18:22:00.000-07:00

On Sunday, May 17, I ran my 5th Half Marathon in Fredericksburg, Virginia and while the weekend didn't work out as totally planned, we had a great time.

We were leaving on Friday the 15th to make part of the drive up to VA. Jeff volunteered at the BMW Charity Pro-Am on Thursday and Friday and needed to see his doctor before leaving, so that put us somewhat behind, but still with plenty of time. After his appointment, we got an Rx filled, stopped to pick up Christina and hit the road. We had an absolute blast driving up to NC, stopping at Johnnie Carinos to eat and pulling into a Sleep Inn in Creedmore, NC for the night. I knew that Jeff did not feel well at all, but he had a good time too, laughing and telling stories.

On Saturday morning, we got up and continued North. Jeff had a rough night with a fever starting causing chills, but was still holding out hope for what he referred to as "a miraculous recovery" so that he could participate in the half marathon. We got to the Expo in time to hear a nutritionist read her PowerPoint slides (with her back turned to the audience) and waste about 30 minutes of our time. Dang! I was actually looking forward to that part! The Expo was not very large, but I made a few purchases and we went in search of food. Thank goodness our friend Ryan met us there with his handy Blackberry and was able to locate a Chipolte for me. I think Chipolte may be my new favorite place to eat. Well, there and Blueberry Frog, but I'll save the Frog for another blog. We went downtown and walked around for a little while. It was the first historic courthouse I've seen that looks like a church. We decided that still full from our late lunch, we would skip the pasta dinner and headed to the hotel. Christina & I later walked across the street to Wendy's for a baked potato and a Frosty. Yes, carb loading at its finest.

The morning of the Half, I slept in to the absolute latest minute I could. I think that makes Jeff nervous. We left the hotel and there was a slight mist. I was nervous ... more nervous than I've been for any recent races. We got stuck in traffic and had a difficult time finding a parking space so Jeff dropped Christina and I off as close to the start as he could get. This would be weird for me - running a half without my husband. But, I knew that he did not feel up to it and was still fighting a nasty infection. The rain continued to lightly fall, but no one was going to let that damper the spirit of excitement present. The race staff really made waiting for the start very fun. We weren't lined up for too long before the gun went off and away we go...

There was huge spectator participation all along this course. I saw Jeff around the one mile mark and it was good to see him as I got started. I knew that this route was mainly flat with a few hills the first 10 miles, but miles 10-13 were uphill. I wanted to go slow and save it for those last 3 miles. With each mile, we were getting faster, but both Christina and I were very comfortable and able to carry on conversations with each other so we just decided to stay in our zones. As we came into downtown Fredericksburg, the bottom dropped out and it started pouring rain. All we could do is keep on running and laughing, even though our shoes were weighed down with water and we were slogging along. At each turn, Marines marked our way. It was pretty funny that at mile 7.5, they were saying "You're halfway there". Now I am the fine product of a top-class Anderson County education, and I even know that 7.5+7.5=15 miles, not 13.1. Thank God for my Garmin!! At around mile 8, Christina and I parted company, she was feeling great and I was slowing down, so I told her to go and run her race. The next 5 miles involved some walk breaks, but I ran as much as I could. I was somewhat disappointed in myself that I couldn't make it the whole way. After all, that was the point of this half - do the 13.1 with no walk breaks. I really have to learn to push past the mental wall that goes up. As I came upon the Finish Line, I heard 80s music marking the way. All of a sudden, "Footloose" came on and dang! I wanted that to be my finish line song! I tried to kick it up as I remembered high school memories of Crystal, Tina, Susan, Tracy and myself going to see that movie at the Old Colony movie theater in Easley. However, it must have been the American Idol 2-minute version of Footloose because I couldn't quite make it. I heard my name and looked to my right and there were Jeff & Christina. Christina ran out and ran back across the Finish Line with me. That's a true friend right there - one that ran 13.1 miles and then go back to run more. It meant a lot to me. I was happy that I had a new PR - 2:35:03. And in case you are wondering, "Dancing with Myself" was my Finish Line song.

Our initial plan was to go into Washington DC that afternoon, but it was cold and rainy and Jeff felt miserable. We talked about it and decided to drive back home. After a long hot shower, we packed up the car and came back to home sweet home with one more medal for the wall.

Holy Crow, Where Does the Time Go?

2009-05-13T12:33:00.000-07:00

I've heard that as you get older, time starts to pass quickly. I always thought, "How can that be?" After all, a minute is the same minute whether you are 4 or 40 and so is an hour, a day, a week, a year ... and well, you get the point. I can't believe I haven't blogged in over a month and Crystal hasn't yelled at me. But, I will try to update what has been going on.

Jeff & I went back to Birmingham to look at more housing, run the Statue to Statue 15K and attend the Spring game. The housing remains an issue and after evaluating our options, putting a writting budget in place and knowing more about the taxes, insurance, etc. that comes with home ownership, we have decided to rent an apartment. At Cumberland there is no discount for in-state vs. out-of-state tuition so it makes more sense financially to rent. We may have found an apartment, but have yet to look on the inside. The Statue to Statue 15K certainly earned its title as South's Hardest 15K. The hills were huge and there was no flat road anywhere on the course. I finished and wasn't last (almost!), so I'm happy about that. The race will be marked off my "To Do" list and probably won't return anytime soon. It was tough, took a lot out of me physically (I swear it shredded my quads from the constant uphill/downhill) and mentally. I've struggled on my long runs since that time, especially when I get to hills. I just want to stop. I'm working past that and hoping to get it pushed through before the Marine Corp Historic Half Marathon coming up this weekend. While we were in Birmingham, I received a letter from USC stating that I am on the waitlist.

On May 1st, I pulled off the ultimate coup and held a surprise party for Jeff's birthday. This had been in the works since February, so I was glad that he was completely surprised. We are so blessed to have such good friends and family surrounding us. Although he was in tremendous pain with his IBS, he was a champ and handled the evening so graciously and even had a good time to boot.

On May 2nd, I experienced a few firsts... I met up with Christina at Furman to run a new route for our 11 mile long run. Neither of us had run the Green Valley route and Jeff had printed off a map for us. The map was hand drawn and he went over with me some of the trickier parts. We stashed our water and took off. The first 3 miles were fast, but the humidity was very high and we agreed to slow down the pace some. We made a wrong turn, asked a lady if she knew the street we were looking for (heck, she couldn't even understand us! We were looking for Sweet Gum and she asked, "Furman"? ) and made up the one extra mile trying to find freakin' Sweet Gum street. Thanks to the couple of golf attendants who gave us directions and second-hand smoke! So we make our way up Sweet Gum and manage to find the rest of the way to Travelers Rest okay. As we came out of TR, it all went to heck. Suddenly we were faced with Highway 25, a 6 lane highway. I really didn't think it could be correct that we run on the highway, but know that sometimes race directors will close down a lane of traffic for races so we embarked on the shoulder of the highway, trucks passing us, cars whizzing by. There were times when Christina and I would just look at each other and laugh. I think my favorite line from that day was Christina saying, "If we weren't running on the side of the highway, they would never see all this" gesturing to her body. So see, we were doing the people a favor. How funny we must have looked! We got to a road that we at least saw on the map and were faced with another dilemma - which way to go. We crossed the street and took off. Soon into that venture, it was clear it too could not be right. We saw no people, traffic, animals. There was a church with a sign announcing Missions Week. I was tempted to go in and explain that missions begins at home and we needed a ride back to Furman. Undaunted and convinced we were close, we just continued walking. Finally, we decided to turn around. As soon as we got back to the initial intersection, I felt like a goober because I immediately saw the road we should have turned on. So, our 11 miler turned into probably a 15 miler and took 3 1/2 hours. Be aware - if you get the Green Valley Road Race map from the Track Club website and don't know where you are going, it's not going to help!

I finally broke down and called the University of Alabama Law Admissions Office last week. My application has been complete since November 4 and I've been pending since January. So to me, this equals more than patient. They were very nice and told me I should know something by the end of the month. However, they also said that there is early admissions so I may hear sooner. Huh? Early admission? Yes, I know that I had indicated an interest in that and still am very interested. However, that class begins on May 26. Yep, less than two weeks from today and here I sit still not knowing. Little stresssful? You think? You betcha! Jeff and I are trying to work out a plan so that if I do get the call and need to go pronto, I can do it. It helps that my position has been replaced at work and I can leave here when I need to.

The house is still on the market. A price drop and incentive offered has brought one showing. It is positive that 22 brochures are gone in about 10 days. We at least know that we have traffic and some interest. We are trusting and praying that it all works out and we know that it is going to. It may be crazy these next 2 weeks but buckle up and hang on to your fork, the best is yet to come!

Some News Updates - 4/2/2009

2009-04-02T22:45:00.000-07:00

I found out today that I was put on the waitlist at Ole Miss. Kind of funny, since that was the last application submitted and Bama was the first. Maybe my decisions will come in at the same time. The Admissions couselor said that my file was discussed at length the evening before during a meeting. Wow, nothing like finding out a group of strangers are talking about you and there's not a thing you get to say. I kind of feel violated. She stated that there was a lot of interest, but of course they are state supported and residency comes into play.
Also, we are speaking with the owner of a home in Mt. Brook, Pleasantville if you will. This would be a fabulous opportunity for us, so we covet your prayers. I don't want to get my hopes up but it may be too late for that.
Leaving tomorrow afternoon for the Cooper River Bridge 10K. I'll ride down with mom and Frances since Jeff's car is being repaired in Georgia and he's meeting us in Charleston. Looking forward to the family weekend and the good times I know we will share.

I've Moved!

2009-04-01T16:12:00.000-07:00

No, not relocated to Alabama yet, but I am moving my blog. If you are one of the millions, I mean thousands; okay, hundreds; errr alright! few that follow me, please pick me up on WordPress. I can be found here. Please be sure to update your subscription so you can follow my journey to marathoning and law school.

A Trip to Pleasantville

2009-03-30T17:58:00.000-07:00

I have returned home from our head-spinning 4 day weekend in Birmingham. As usual,the time flew by. Our intent this weekend was to identify some housing options, spend time with friends, identify church options, and a visit for me at Cumberland.

On Friday, we fought the terrible weather (heavy rain and wind) from Easley to just inside of Alabama. We stopped in Anniston to eat lunch, picked up an apartment guide and I got down to making a list. We knew that some of the offices were not open on the weekends (what is up with an apartment complex with no weekend hours?), so we knew we had to go to those first. This is where the afternoon turns into a blur. There were some that we went into and many that a drive around the complex was enough for us (I think that one we may have even turned in and immediately made a U-turn). We found one to put on the "possible" list. We decided to go into English Village, a nice area of Mt. Brook, and get a coffee. At Joe Muggs, Jeff checked in with Allen, who quickly told him that our "possible" should be a "no way!" It truly is a blessing to have friends in the area. After our coffee, we decided to go into Mt. Brook and check out parking options for the 5K we would run on Saturday morning and hit Starbucks for the coffee. Now, Mt. Brook and the Crestline Village is an area well-known to both of us. We run there every Saturday we are in town for football and love it. As we entered Mt. Brook, we began to see something we had not noticed in the Fall - For Sale signs everywhere! Apparently, the economy has struck Mt. Brook. We drove through our favorite area and had to see about 20 homes for sale and a few for rent. We were excited, but knew that it was quite possible they were out of our law school budget. These homes are older and we thought that would be in our favor. As we had our coffee on the deck of Starbucks, we read through the paper and just took in the area. Everyone walks, even to the grocery store, and everyone seems to know each other. What is this foreign concept of people coming together? Oh yeah, a community, a neighborhood. It was here that Crestline Village will forever be known as Pleasantville to us. We walked around the village and decided to have dinner there. We found many local eateries and settled in at an italian restaurant. Great food and great service. We both hated to leave that evening, but were excited to get back to the hotel and look up the real estate. We stopped at the gas station in town (this is the station I've previously mentioned in my blog that is Full-Service and leaves out water for all the runners in the area) and saw the most precious little girl, about a year and a half to two years old, in a cute blue dress, blue ribbon in her hair and white mary janes, eating a Fudgesicle. I rolled down the window and told her mother how cute she was. The mother responded with "It looks good doesn't it?" I think I said something like "Yes, I'm sure it is" and she then said, "I have the rest in this bag. Would you like one?" What?!! A stranger offered me a Fudgesicle and not in a weird way. That blew us away. So, we get back to the hotel and get blown away again.... the average home cost in the area is... wait for it.... okay, $499,000. Yeah, so that's not only out of law school budget, but out of our real life budget as well. Maybe the lottery will hit...

Saturday morning, we woke up early and got ready to go shake it at the Inagural Rumpshaker 5K in Mt. Brook. As we walked out of the hotel, it was pouring rain. We got there early to find parking and sat in the car until just before the race. Thankfully, it the torrential downpour stopped just before the start. We were disappointed that our friend Christy didn't make it, but understood from some of her training buddies that she may be sick. The run took us through Pleasantville and I don't know if it was the way the place makes me feel or I was just pumped up, but I felt so good and pushed it. This was one of the best 5Ks I've ever had. After the race, we decided to walk through Pleasantville (talk about self-torture!). As Jeff put it, let's see if Pleasantville may be the Amityville Horror. Unfortunately, that wasn't the case and we found the people to be incredibly nice and wonderful. Maybe if we hit the lottery, we can afford to live there. Afterward, we checked out a few more apartments and found two "possibles", but the rooms in both were small and I'm just not keen on apartment living. We did get to have dinner with Dave, Mary Ellen, Allen and Linda. Wonderful people and we had a great time at a Mediterrian Restaurant, Costa's.

On Sunday, we started our day at the Church at Brook Hills, recommended by one of our youth ministers, Davey Blackburn. It was not long into the service that we realized this was not the church for us. We went to eat at the Village Tavern, where Simeon Castille (former Alabama, current Cincinnati Bengal player) sat behind us. I overheard the waiter and the party with Simeon talking about the Church of the Highlands, the other church recommended by Davey. They had the same passion about it as we do NewSpring so we asked about it. Rave reviews and we decided to check out the 6:00 pm service that night. Off to look at more apartment and here is where it happened... I had a complete meltdown, tears included. I just struggle with the apartment issue and have worked so hard for what we have. Yes, I know that is materialistic and I don't mean for it to be. Most of the apartments we looked at would be great if I were single and not in law school. I could suddenly imagine the noise of someone being either above me or below me; the radios loud; the heavy footsteps; the parties; and God knows what other noises. I've realized that the older I get, the more I appreciate quiet and my privacy. I know that not only will I lose my furniture, but also my privacy and quiet. I also have a hard time sinking so much money into something that is not ours. We went south in an attempt to look at some townhomes Dave and Mary Ellen mentioned to us. We found it, but Jeff didn't care for it. I told him that I'd rather live there than in any apartment we had looked at. We drove around a lot and on the way back, we saw what appeared to be a little village in McCalla. We got off the exit and decided to check it out. It turned out to be a subdivision of cottages and townhouses. We went through the Open Houses and they are very cute and may be a good price point for us. We are definitely keeping them on the list. We drove back to Birmingham and went to the Church at the Highlands. As soon as we walked in, we saw the resemblance to NewSpring. We enjoyed the worship band and the service. So, here goes God's sense of humor. It was the same text, the same message and Communion as the earlier service. It was almost as if God said, "If you want to compare, I'm going to give you apples to apples". Obviously, the message was brought in two completely ways and we knew that we found where we will worship while in law school. So, if nothing else, we found a church and you know what? I think that's what we were supposed to find first and now everything else is going to fall into place.

Monday, I sat in on a class (Civil Procedure) at Cumberland, paid my seat deposit which is due on Wednesday, turned in all my forms, and hit the bookstore. Still waiting for the state school decisions, but at this point, I am convinced that it is a rejection from all 3. We drove back and then Jeff had to turn right back around and drive to Savannah. I know that it's hard on him and am blessed to have such a wonderful, supportive, loving husband.

So there you go. I never intended to type so much and you have most every detail of our trip to Pleasantville. We know that we'll visit often and we'll always have our memories and Fudgesicles and little girls in blue dresses.

A Little DownTime

2009-03-04T17:30:00.000-08:00

So, I'm on vacation... that's somewhat of a foreign concept for me. Usually when out of town, I have a schedule or an agenda. You know, places to see, people to meet, and things to eat. Because of Jeff working, the past two days, I've been on my own. Yesterday, I left the room to get coffee downstairs at the hotel, and that was it, until Jeff got back in. I laid on the bed and read, a little for pleasure, a little for study. I watched tacky talk shows (God, how do people enjoy daytime television?) and I just existed. By 3, I was bored.

So today, I took a different approach. I took my laptop downstairs and ate breakfast in the lobby. When I came back to the room, it had not been serviced, so I headed out to walk to Starbucks with my book, Succeeding in Law School (on Cumberland's required Summer Reading List). I had a cafe mocha and read several chapters. I called my friend Heahter on my walk back to catch up with her. As I returned to the hotel, I went by the pool - it was empty, very calm and peaceful. So, I quickly put on shorts and a tank top (sorry my friends at home, it was 70 here today) and went back to the pool, where I laid in a lounge chair for an hour and a half absorbed in Breaking Dawn. It was thoroughly enjoyable.

When Jeff got finished working, we went for another 3 mile run at the Universal Resort. The pace was still fast and I struggled for some reason with my breathing. I realized after it was over that it was probably a combination of the caffeine ingested today and the higher temperatures.

I have realized that I do not always have to be on the go at 100 mph. I can slow down, relax a little bit and just BE. My next 3 years will be crazy busy, I am sure. I need to take advantage of this time and enjoy the little things - like laying in the sun with a good book, being away from the daily grind, and appreciating the wonderful husband and family I have.

It's March and there's snow in SC... but I'm in Florida

2009-03-03T07:48:00.000-08:00

On Sunday, Jeff and I planned to fly out to Orlando. He is scheduled to do 3 stores in the area and I decided to tag along and take a much-needed vacation. We knew that there was a threat of snow and on Sunday morning, it was a definite that our area of the world was going to see the white stuff falling from the sky. Jeff and I talked about it and determined that there was a good chance our evening flight would be cancelled and since we were flying Allegiant, there was no guarantee we could get on a flight later in the week. After a packing frenzy, dropping off Shadow at grandma's house, picking up a rental car at Thrifty, we started driving through the sleet and rain and were on our way. Normally I would read to pass the time in the car, but fought a wicked headache the entire day so we listened to podcasts. Nine hours later, we arrived at our hotel near Universal Studios. Although it was cold and very windy here, we received reports from home that there were at least 3 inches of snow at home.

On Monday, we slept in a little bit and then got ready to head out and just "wing it". I know this is hard for Jeff to do, because he tends to like to have things scheduled. I'm a lot more of a spontaneous being - just taking things as they come. It's one of the reasons we balance each other so well. We had a not-so-great lunch and found the local Fleet Feet store. I've had issues with shoes since I began running and am convinced that there is a "perfect" pair out there that will help my whacked out (yes - I do think that's the proper medical term) left leg and foot. The Sauconys I recently purchased put too much stress on my outer tendon and on my shin. I could feel it immediately. So, we met with Eric, the owner of the Fleet Feet Orlando store. As we have come to know and love the Fleet Feet service, it carries over into other states as well. He took a lot of time with both of us and I walked out with a new pair of Nike LunarTrainers. These will never win any beauty contests and Jeff says that from behind, they closely resemble jet skis. However, they fit me like a glove and felt so light and effortless.

We came back to the hotel, took care of some business, and I had to try out the new kicks. We took off and ran around the Universal and Hard Rock resort properties. A beautiful walkway run and we stopped a little more than halfway through our run and walked through CityWalk. After our run, we had a great dinner and I accompanied Jeff on his night shop visits. This is where he goes through the drive-thrus unannounced and hopefully unrecognized, orders food and then under cover of night, pulls into a parking space and examines the food. It was interesting to see him pick apart everything, from the premises, to the customer service to the food itself. I gave up fast food and fried foods for Lent, but after last night, I honestly don't know if I'll recover. I'm talking expired food pulled off the grill and served, incorrect orders and lots of food touching. Okay, I know that I have major food issues and this is not a secret. I admit it and admitting it is half the battle, right? But, that trip may have changed my eating habits forever.

This morning, I was able to sleep in and am just vegging out in the room. It's not warm enough for pool time, but hopefully later in the week it will be. I plan to read some for fun today and also get in some studying. Later after Jeff gets done with work, we will go out for another run and tonight we are going to dinner at his third grade teacher's house.

Still no word from the State schools, but I am leaning toward rejections, since it is so late in the cycle. I'd love to just hear and get the cycle done and over with. Since seat deposits are due on April 1, I'll know almost certainly by the end of this month where I'll spend the next three years.

A Good Weekend Indeed

2009-02-22T18:18:00.000-08:00

On Friday, Jeff and I went to Macon, GA and visited Mercer's Open House. It was very well organized and excellently done. I was impressed with the school and the faculty and staff.

Saturday, we met Christina for a 5 mile run and then had lunch with Chelsea and her friend, Eric. He is a nice, personable young man and there was none of that "meet my new boyfriend awkwardness". After lunch, we had gelato and walked a bit downtown. It was a terrific day to spend outdoors.

This morning we had a great service at NewSpring and I love sharing that with Jeff. We are currently doing a marriage series "iwantanewmarriage.com". It has opened up our communication and eyes so much. I'm thankful for Perry telling it like it is and not being afraid to challenge us.

Well, on January 24, we put our house on the market in anticipation of law school. My acceptance at Samford came in the day before with Mercer following the next Monday. Here we sit less than a month later with a contingency contract on it. The purchaser has another home to sell so we agreed to leave it active on the MLS with a 24-hour first right of refusal. This is a scary, anxious time but we both know that God is in control.

And in case you are wondering, there are 6 days left in February and I'm still waiting on those state school decisions.

Please State Schools... Can you Spare a Decision

2009-02-10T13:59:00.000-08:00

Okay, patience - not my gift. Not even close. But honestly, it's February 10th and I really thought I'd be done with my law school application cycle and have a good idea of where I'll be spending the next 3 years. Oh, but no! I am still waiting on 3 decisions - South Carolina, Alabama and Ole Miss. It does not appear that SC has even begun to send out any decisions. Funny that the private schools get theirs out first. I am blessed in that I know I'm going to law school, but the unknown gets frustrated. Funny, I never thought that I was a planner until now. This is definitely something I cannot be spontaneous about. My first seat deposit is due on April 1. Surely I'll know something by the end of this month. Surely? Maybe? Hopefully? Or not (I thought that in December and January too) Stay tuned...

Tybee Island Half.... I mean 5 miler

2009-02-06T18:52:00.000-08:00

I'm in a hotel room thinking what a difference a year makes. One year ago, I ran my first half marathon at Tybee. I was suffering from severe shin splints, but was determined to do it. Now, a year later, I find that I am much more rational. Maybe it's the fact that I suffered with those flippin' shin splints from January - June of last year and would rather not replay those days, wondering if I really wanted to be runner and could I ever do it without pain. So, after Kiawah when my training went into the tank, I knew that Tybee would be difficult. With so much going on, getting the house ready and on the market and all the work that has gone into that, running has taken a back seat. Heck, I can't even say back seat. Possibly the trunk, but more like the cans that trail behind those obnoxious Just Married cars. I had a moment of clarity this week and decided that it would be much better to still come to Tybee, but to do the 5 mile instead of the Half Marathon. I don't want to feel the way I did after Vermont last year and I certainly don't want to lose the running bug. You see, I can't imagine NOT running; I can't imagine living in Homewood and Jeff and I not running together; I can't imagine not having that outlet that has become such a part of me; and, I can't imagine not feeling the air pushing me forward and the sun on my face as I sweat and push through mile after mile. So tomorrow morning I'll still get up early and make the 30 minute ride to Tybee. As I run the 5 miles, I will still take in every memory this great island has for me and I'll thank God for giving me the ability to be a runner. I am also hoping that this will rekindle my desire and motivation. It has been so hard to get motivated when the temperatures have been so low and it appears we may finally see some warmer weather which will make it easier. I'll fill you in on how it goes after the Tybee Island 5 miler

Is it really February already?

2009-02-01T19:05:00.001-08:00

I'm not sure where the time goes, but whoever said time flies faster the older you get, was certainly correct. I cannot believe that it's already February. This time last year, I was beginning to study for the LSAT and this time seemed so long away. Since last week, we've had one house showing and for this market, that's pretty good in the first week. My status checker for Alabama changed to "Pending", so I'm a step closer to a decision there. My thought on that is this: Bama's Open House for Admitted Students is on February 13, so if I've not heard anything by then, I'm probably not getting in, even to the summer program.
I did make to the gym once last week and worked on the house some in the evenings. This morning, I actually did a 4 mile run. I cannot believe Tybee is next weekend and I'll be running more than 3x that distance. I know that I will walk/run it, but for me Tybee is all about the atmosphere, the memories of marrying the man of my dreams on that beach almost 5 years ago, and the encouragement of the residents. Although it is a small race, it is by far one of my favorites.
I've been studying (as if I'm not going to do enough of that for the next three years), but want to get a head-start as much as I can. Academics do not come easy to me and I have to work hard, so I'm going ahead and beginning to learn the material so that I will be entrenched in. Although I know that it will be difficult and test me to the core, I am looking forward to starting law school.
My flex week starts back this week, meaning I work longer days, but only work 4 days a week. This will be very helpful in the coming months for Jeff and I to visit schools and relocating. Since I have to be at work in 7:30 in the morning, I guess I'd better call it a night. Oh yeah, the Pittsburgh Steelers just won the Super Bowl. And I just vomited in my mouth. Being a Dallas fan since I knew what a football was, I dislike the Steelers and in no way could I ever root for them.

A Sigh of Relief...

2009-01-25T11:46:00.000-08:00

Ahhh.... it feels good. There's no other way to put it. But first, we have to go back to last Thursday. The pressure of the impending decisions and house issues were weighing so heavily on me. That night, I tossed and turned and thought and did anything except sleep. On Friday morning, I felt it. Thankfully I have a fabulous supervisor who understood when I went to her and asked to leave in the afternoon. She encouraged me and told me to get some rest. I left work around 1:30 and as I pulled into my street what did my eyes see? No, not the ice cream truck (but that's a great thought!), the mail carrier. Unfortunately, they were at the beginning of the street and our house is at the end. That's right - I had to watch her stop at each mailbox before reaching ours. It was agonizing! I reached into the box and pulled out the mail. There, amidst bills and flyers was the glorious letter - Samford University Cumberland School of Law. I was shaking as I walked up the stairs into the house. I tried to feel the weight of it to determine if it was more than one page. As I entered the kitchen, I sliced open the envelope and immediately saw 2 pages-one green form and another page. I knew then it was good news. I was admitted to the 2009-2010 term as 1L at Cumberland School of Law. I raced through the house jumping up and down and even did a happy dance like no other. I'm very, very excited and thankful for the opportunity.
Saturday, I ran the Greenville News 5K and did okay, considering I've not had many runs this month. It was a warm morning - 51 degrees and I was wishing for shorts by Mile 1. I've done well with strength training this week, going to the gym 3 days. Now, I have to incorporate the two and get on a good, maintainable schedule.
Yesterday afternoon we met with a realtor, Jonathan Chappell with Open House Realty. We were going to interview 3 realtors and make a decision, but Jonathan sold us with his honesty and business style. So, our house is now officially on the market. We still have some work to do on it, but are hoping for a quick sale. If we can sell it quick, there is the possibility that I can take 2 classes over the summer and then lighten the load for the Fall term. If not, I'll be there for orientation on August 9. And I trust that everything is going to work out just as it is supposed to.
This morning was the best thing of all, though. Jeff got baptized at NewSpring. What an amazing, moving thing to witness. I'm so proud of him and I'm so proud to be his wife. Yep, life is pretty freakin' awesome right now.

The Pressure Builds

2009-01-22T19:21:00.000-08:00

Okay, just when I think that I am as neurotic as I can possibly get, I read the words - "Decision Mailed" on not just one, but two schools. My decision from Samford was mailed on 1/21 and Mercer was mailed 1/22. To say that I am freaked out would be an understatement. Just when I've gone through every possible scenario in my mind, another what if pops up. On LSN, two updates have been made on Samford, both acceptances in the State of Alabama. I am hoping my letter comes tomorrow. To those of you who have prayed for me, thank you. I believe that prayers are answered, not necessarily in the way that we want them to be, but in the way that God wants them to be. Selfishly, I want to get into Samford more than anything, but more than what I want, I want to be where God wants me and means for me to be. So, I will continue on in my neurotic state until both of these letters arrive safe and sound in my mailbox. I would camp out by my mailbox if I could. After all, I have a tent, but no real sleeping bag and it's still freakin' cold outside. So, I will try my best to remain patient, calm, cool and collected and update my blog when I have something to report.

2008 Highpoints

2008-12-30T07:53:00.000-08:00

Taking after my virtual friend Mark, I decided I would put together some of the high points of 2008 for me.

January:
I attended my first Open House at Charleston School of Law and afterwards had a great 10 mile run on Sullivan's Island. Unfortunately, ended up with shin splints that would plague me the first half of the year.

February:
The Tybee Island Half Marathon. This was a huge accomplishment, especially since 3 weeks before I had been told by an orthopaedist to burn my running shoes.

March-May:
These months were spent preparing for the Vermont Marathon and the LSAT. We also lost Jeff's grandmother, Bea, who was such an important part of the family and who we miss every day.
In April, the family participated in the Cooper River Bridge Run and I was so proud of my mother when she walked across that finish line. She's my hero!
On Memorial Day weekend, I ran my first marathon. Okay, so I walked ALOT of it, but I learned so much about myself in those 26.2 miles.
Also, while in Vermont, I got to meet Norm and Lori. Our dinner at Shelburne Farms was one of the funniest nights I've ever spent in my life. Imagine 4 drunks wandering around a high-end inn "exploring" and "ghost hunting".

June:
Taking the LSAT. I walked out of the room wondering what had just happened. It took me 2 days to even remember my name. And, you see, I don't even remember the rest of the month.

July:
The Peachtree Road Race. A 10K in hot-lanta on the 4th of July.
Heather getting baptized at the Gauntlet and coming back so fired up for God.
Beginning training with Team Tiara for the Spinx Half Marathon. What a great group of girls and guy! I made friends that I will hopefully have for a very long time!

August:
First law school application submitted to the University of Alabama.
Alabama's big victory over Clemson in the Georgia Dome. I always love when football season starts!

September:
All of our trips to Alabama and getting law school applications done. I applied to Charleston and USC.

October:
I retake the LSAT, much more comfortable this time. However, I actually did worse. Comfort does not always equal a good thing!
More football, tailgating and good friends.
I send out applications to Cumberland and Stetson.
The Spinx Half Marathon, running 13.1 miles in a pink tiara.
On October 31, I sit in on a class and tour the University of Alabama School of Law.

November:
Alabama's undefeated regular season
Application submitted to Mercer with scholarship essay.
My Open House visit to Cumberland, where it "sealed the deal" on this being a top choice for me to attend law school. And, getting to share it with Jeff, mom and Francis was great.

December:
The Kiawah Half Marathon and the weekend with Robin and Eric. It was so much fun!
Family Christmas - mischief-style
Getting my first law school decision - Accepted to Charleston!
Having dinner with dear friends that I don't get to see nearly enough!

And so, the year is coming to an end and I am so blessed. I've run 4 half marathons and one full marathon. I thank my husband who has stood by through everything and done nothing but support and encourage me. And to my mom - you are the Best!! If I could have picked my own parent, it would have been you! And to my girls - I could never have asked for better daughters than you two. Always know that I love you and am here for you. Tomorrow I will update on how I did with the goals I wrote down on 12/31 last year and then list out 2009 goals. It's sure to be a fun, exiciting, crazy year!! And, stay tuned in the coming months to find out.... where I am going to law school. Yippeee!!

Thank you Santa!

2008-12-24T15:21:00.000-08:00

Oddly enough on the day my last blog was posted, I received an email from the Charleston School of Law. In the subject was the one word that stood out - Congratulations. Yes, I am going to law school in 2009! I have not been able to update until now because my acceptance letter will be a Christmas gift to my mother and stepfather. I'm safe posting now because I know she won't be reading my blog on Christmas Eve.
I have also received a rejection from Stetson. I am a bit confused about that one, but I'm going to let it go.
I am praying for an acceptance to Cumberland to come in, but know that any further news will come after the first of the year.
But it is so nice to know that I am definitely going and over the next few months am excited to see what happens.

Dear Santa...

2008-12-17T07:55:00.000-08:00

Dear Santa,

I have [mostly] been very good this year. I have not been mean to people [much]; I have not talked about others behind their backs [I do it to their face]; and I have not lost my patience [yet today]. Santa, I need you right now to come through for me. My list isn't very long and I'll try not to be selfish and ask for too much. So, here it goes:

1. Acceptance letter to University of Alabama School of Law
2. Acceptance letter to Cumberland School of Law
3. The house to magically be ready to put on the market at the beginning of January
4. Acceptance letter to Mercer School of Law
5. Acceptance letter to Stetson School of Law
6. A buyer for the house - I'm okay with anytime between now and April
7. Acceptance letter to Charleston School of Law
8. Sanity for my co-workers, because some of them are off-the-wall crazy
9. Sanity for me to deal with my co-workers

That's all Santa. See, I didn't get greedy and ask for world peace or the end of world hunger. I didn't ask for an acceptance to USC (because I know they won't start until January so I'll save that one for the Easter Bunny). I know that I am blessed with many things - a relationship with Jesus (which is the most important thing); a loving husband; a fantastic mom and stepfather; great (most of them) step-siblings; a job; a house; and wonderful friends. I count those blessings and am thankful for them daily. But I've been very good this year. Please Santa, please ... If you can't bring me everything, I'll take 1, 2, 4 and 6.

Your Friend,

Gerri

Kiawah Island Half Marathon

2008-12-07T18:47:00.000-08:00

I ran my fourth half marathon of 2009 on Saturday. Jeff and I went down with our friends, Eric and Robin Longino. We had an absolutely fantastic time. The Villa we stayed in was beautiful, the company was great and hilarious, and our runs were all good. Eric had a PR, Jeff had a good run coming off of Spinx, I felt a lot better than I did after Spinx, and Robin finished the race in good spirits, despite some nasty blisters. There will be more later, including some race details, but I just wanted to update that it is done and I'm looking forward to getting better control of my diet and fitness. Be sure to keep up with my fitness tracker to the left and hold me accountable!

Ready for a Showdown

2008-12-02T17:38:00.000-08:00

At the beginning of the football season, the pundits (who are these people anyway?) predicted Clemson would beat Alabama to start the season. Three weeks later, Georgia was heavily favored. Flash forward a few more weeks, and LSU was predicted to win handily. So, Mr. and Ms. Pundits, how did that work out for you? Once again this week, Alabama is an underdog against Florida. I say Bring it On!

Here is me, my mother and stepfather in front of the Coach Bear Bryant statute in front of the stadium taken a couple of weeks ago:

Waiting is the hardest part

2008-12-01T17:14:00.000-08:00

Tom Petty said it best. Patience is not my strong point and I'm well over a month in to the law school application process with all my apps being complete. I have too much nervous energy to be healthy and need an outlet. I had truly hoped to have at least one response by Thanksgiving and we all know (if you missed the parade, check your calendar), turkey day has come and gone. With each passing day, the anxiety continues to build. How many times can you hit Refresh on your email or swear your postal clerk is stealing your mail? I'm still not entirely convinced of the latter though. I had everything ready to apply to Georgia, which has never been on my list. Why? Because they are sending out decision letters in droves. But as I finished putting everything together I sat back and rationality kicked in. Shocking, I know. I don't want to live in Athens, even for 3 years. Even now, I'm not excited about Georgia and I am very excited about the schools I have applied to. So, I decided I'm not going to waste my time, the admissions committee time, or the money to apply simply to get an answer. If I were going to do that, I'd hedge my bets and apply to FL Coastal, Phoenix, or Charlotte - all of which I'd be almost guaranteed acceptance. Cumberland said mid-December and that is really not that far off. Charleston said the first of December and heck, that's now. So, I'll keep waiting, and waiting, and waiting. Nothing worth having comes easy, so I'll take the hard part right now.

Iron Bowl

2008-11-30T16:14:00.001-08:00

Never in my life have I screamed so long, so loud, and with so much passion as I did at the 2008 Iron Bowl. For those of you non-football fans, this is the annual match up between the bitter rivals of the Alabama Crimson Tide and the Auburn Tigers. The last time I saw the matchup in T-Town, Jeff and I sat in some less-desirable seats and were under Chinese water torture the entire game. There were pipes above us leaking out what I, to this day, swear was just water (because I don't want to think of any of the other alternatives). Drip.... drip.... drip... yeah, you get the picture. So, this year we had our usual seats, but the drips were coming all day from a combination of the rain and the mist that lasted all day. Our tailgating friends had planned ahead and protected the food and makeshift bar with lots of tarps. The time seemed to fly by so quickly, not only the tailgating time, but the season as a whole. It is hard to believe that the regular season was coming to an end. On the way down, Jeff and I had discussed how it seemed amazing that we went from fighting 100 degree, high humidity games to freezing temperatures, trees not only changing colors, but also losing leaves in a span that seemed so short to us. We entered Bryant Denny Stadium anxious and excited. The place was electric and the fans delivered. Most of us sat only occasionally, if at all. I forgot all about the rain that was falling and the cooler temperature. It was so loud and with each Bama score, instead of the fans slowing down, the energy level increased. After all, these were our bitter rivals. With Alabama being #1 in the country and Auburn on the verge of a losing season, their year would be made (and coach's job saved) by knocking off the Tide in their own house. Auburn had won the last 6 in a row and rumors are that Coach Tuberville got off the bus holding up 7 fingers (I'd gladly show him one finger!). By the 3rd quarter, it was obvious that the Auburn players were struggling to keep the fight. Their fans began the march of the lemmings - filing out of the stadium as if they were marching off the cliff. What is it about the color orange? The fans for Tennessee, Clemson and now Auburn retreat in droves quickly out of the stadium when things are not in their favor. By the end of the game, with a score of 36-0 in Bama's favor, all was right with the world. I got great satisfaction screaming Rammer Jammer over and over again. There had been a beat-down in T-Town and the state could be Crimson once again.

Not quite under 30, but freakin' close!

2008-11-27T15:32:00.001-08:00

Okay, my dad used to always say, "Close only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades", but this is my "almost" post. Today was the Electric City Gobbler 5K and for most of this year, I had declared it as the 5K I would break the under-30 minute mark. I've had a hard time getting my runs in the past couple of weeks, but I still believed in myself. My brother Rob was going to meet Jeff and I and run it with me to help make sure I reached my goal (last year Rob ran it in 22 minutes). Jeff told me last night that with him battling a head/chest cold, he wanted us to just go ahead and he was going to run it easy. So, when the alarm went off this morning at 6 I knew today was the day. It is the day I would run another 5K and try to have a PR; the day that I would reach a goal set for myself months ago; it was the day of culmination of many miles training for the Spinx Half in October and Kiawah next Saturday; and, it was the day that I would test myself. Part of me wanted to just pull the blankets over my head and forget about it. But, when I get to law school in a few months am I going to do that? Hell no, so I couldn't now.

We got up and got ready. I donned my new running tights purchased at Target. They are pink and everyone knows - Pink Means Fast! We made the drive to Anderson, about 30 miles away and split a banana. Since it is a short race, no point to over-fuel. I went over in my mind my game plan and knew that I just needed to let Rob pace me. We sat in the car until it was time to line up and the race itself is a relatively small field. We lined up near the back and when the horn went off and we moved forward, I was happy to see a line actually marking the Start so I didn't have to guess where to hit my Garmin. I vowed to myself that I would not look at the Garmin again the rest of the race.

As we settled in the first mile, I knew it was fast. I could tell it was going to be a tough 30 minutes. This course is really great because there are only 2 small hills and most of the course goes through neighborhoods. It is not a very scenic course at all. At the 1 mile mark, I was sucking wind, but knew it was to be expected. For the second mile, I kept trying to stay focused and would think about law school, about Thanksgiving, and I even counted in my mind. Rob was great to constantly turn around and encourage me, telling me over and over that I had this, I was going to do it, I was strong. At mile 2, I started to have some breathing problems. I had so much mucus in my mouth, it had disintegrated my chewing gum into small particles that were just floating around in my mouth. My chest felt like a the pony I always wanted for Christmas was sitting on it. Shortly after the second Garmin beep, I told Rob that I had to slow down. I spit, trying to get everything out of my mouth. Not succesful. I continued running for a small bit and had to stop to walk. My heart rate was too high and I was struggling. I could no longer get my mind to focus on anything other than my breathing and the congestion that suddenly developed. Unfortunately, I had to take a few walk breaks the last mile, each one lasting only a few seconds. As we got onto Clemson Boulevard, I could see the entrance of the mall, where we would run through the parking lot and Finish. I knew I wasn't going to reach my goal and thought that I was probably looking at 31 or 32 minutes.

As we can through the parking lot, I refused to look at the finish clock. Until we turned on the straightaway and I could not help but to see it and the time had a .... what?... a 2 in front! It was close to turning, but I kicked it in. I gave it everything that I had and pushed as hard as I could that last .1 miles. My official finish time according to my Garmin was 30:21. Close!! Closer than I've ever been before. As I crossed the Finish Line, I thought my lungs would collapse. My chest hurt and felt so full of crud it isn't funny. We waited for Jeff to finish and my chest continued hurting. Not in a cardiac arrest way, but in a I am sick way. Jeff came across the finish line and epitomized why you don't run with a full-on head/chest cold.

After our run, we drove home, showered and went with Mom and Francis to the Walhalla Steakhouse Cafeteria for some grub, saw their weekend getaway place in the woods of Walhalla (nicknamed Rattlesnake Ridge), stopped at St. Arbucks on the way home (I do not recommend the Gingersnap Latte) and I got in a little nap. The Cowboys are stomping the Seahawks and all is good with the world.

So, on this Thanksgiving, I am thankful for God blessing me with strength and family and friends and the ability to run and experience the freedom I do when I'm on the road. And while my time wasn't under 30 minutes like I wanted, I was "close" and right now, close also counts in 5Ks.

Looking for my running ju-ju

2008-11-25T07:16:00.000-08:00

Let's face it - I need to get my mojo back. Since our Team Tiara group runs have stopped, so has my motivation level. I attribute this to 2 things: 1 - the change in the weather. It's freakin' cold outside (paging Captain Obvious!) and I just don't do cold well. I know right now my friend in NYC is laughing and telling me to put on my big girl panties and deal with it; and 2- the lack of accountability with running partners. I am in a quandry here because I have one faithful running partner that can meet in the mornings and one who can meet in the evenings. My evening partner is the one who plans to do the full at Shamrock with me. In the mornings, I have issues because my membership where I shower is quickly running out (only 3 visits left) and I will not buy a gym membership just to use a shower. Plus, once the mileage for the full training ramps up, it will be very difficult to do before work. I don't want to leave anyone out who wants to train, but I've gotta get my butt back out on the road before I loose everything I've worked so hard for. Thursday morning I'm doing the Electric City Gobbler 5K and yes, my goal is under 30 minutes. After Kiawah on December 5, I am recommitting myself to training (even if I have to go it alone, but I certainly don't want to!). This will include strength training and diet. I need to get off a few pounds that have managed to adhere to my hips and thighs. So, keep an eye on my training log posted to the left and help keep me accountable. Somewhere I'm going to find that great running ju-ju.

Lungs4Life 5K

2008-11-17T15:09:00.001-08:00

Okay, I'm a little behind the times and here I had promised to do better. So, in thinking of something wildly amusing that I could write about, I realized that 1 - my life is really not all that exciting; but, 2 - I had not given my race report for my last 5K.
Lung cancer is something that I know all too well about. On September 21, 2001, I lost my big brother to the horrible disease. I miss him every day and watching him go through it truly changed and saved my life. So, when I first saw the race information for the Lungs4Life 5K, I knew I had to do it. I had no idea at that time that my stepdad and 2 stepbrothers were doing it as well in honor of their late wife/mother.
This was a first time event for the Caine Halter branch of the YMCA, so I was not sure what the turn out would be like. Some of our local races garner 2000 runners, some only 150. I thought this would fall somewhere in between. When I went to pick up the race bibs the evening before the race, I didn't see a whole lot of people, so in my mind this confirmed that the field would be relatively small. I was bib number 229 and Jeff was 230. I still don't know how he always manages to get a number 3 (which is MY lucky number).
Jeff and I got up Saturday morning a little later than we had intended. You see, we are still in half marathon training for Kiawah, so before the 5K we were scheduled to do 7 miles. We set out some water in downtown G'Vegas and hit the course. Jeff's stomach started acting up around mile 3.5, but he's such a trooper he kept on running. Once he looked at his watch, he determined that we would not have enough time to get in the full 7, so we needed to stop around 5 or 6. Jeff is my official time keeper. Not because I don't know how to tell time (although I realized this past Saturday that I never moved my watch back when the time changed weeks ago), but because I just don't have a good concept of time outside of my professional life and left up to me, we would constantly be either really late or really early everywhere. At mile 5, we were back to our car, so we headed over the Y (after we went back and picked up our empty water bottles, in case the litter police ever reads this). You can imagine our surprise and shock when we saw the traffic. People and cars were everywhere! We had to park quite a distance from the Y and walk over the start line. By the time we got there, no time to pick up our chips, which (like cheese dip!) cost extra. I owe the budget $4. On the way to the start line, we saw some of our No Boundaries friends that we had "coached" through their 5K training program in the spring. It was great to see them giving back to the next No Boundaries group and continuing their running. We lined up in the back because after running 5 miles, we planned to just take it easy. The horn blew and off we went. Being in the back, we had a lot of walkers to dodge. I don't mean to sound derogatory about walkers, they have every right to participate in events and I'm glad that they do, but for God's sake, if you hear, see or otherwise know a runner is coming up behind you, please at least make some attempt to move over, even if it's just a little bit! During Mile 1, I saw my nieces Breanna and TJ. TJ was struggling with a side stitch so I tried to tell her to take some deep belly breaths and pace herself. The Garmin beeped at the end of Mile 1 and I didn't look down. I felt that I had probably run it slow. During Mile 2, I go behind 2 people with a "In Memory Of _______" bib on their back. I had looked for one when I picked up our bibs the evening before so that Jeff and I both could wear Gary's name proudly when we ran, but could not find one. I have to admit that I became extremely emotional. Each step I took at this point, I choked back tears. Tears for the loss my family feels; tears for the fact that Gary never got to meet Jeff and see how happy I am; tears for the anger I feel over this horrible disease; and tears for the pain that I know Gary felt every day, but never complained about. You see, even though we weren't the closest siblings, my brother was my hero. He would get his chemo treatment in the morning and work on putting up a fence in the afternoon. He rarely showed his pain and protected me from it until the very end. I often think of him and all he went through when I run, gaining inspiration and motivation from him, even now. I know that when I hurt on the course or during training, he hurt worse. So, during Mile 2, I reflected a lot and thought that my sobs were going to burst out of my chest right on the course. I'm glad that they didn't because Jeff would have thought I was in the middle of a breakdown like I had last year during marathon training where I stopped in the middle of the street on a cold, dreary day and started crying for no reason at all. So, I did the only thing I knew to do - I ran. I kept running and felt really good. I felt that we were in the middle of the pack and I was fine with that. I had run so many races at the back of the pack that I was happy to move up to lower middle class. At the 3 mile mark, there was suddenly a turn and a short, steep incline. I looked at Jeff and told him that I had to slow down some. As soon as I reached the top, I sped back up. During this entire time, I had never looked at my Garmin, so I thought I was on a usual pace to finish at about 34 or 35 minutes. We came around the corner and saw Rob, my stepbrother. He cheered us on and we were on to the finish line. I saw 32 on the clock. WHAT?? As I crossed the finish line, I looked down for the first time and stopped the Garmin at 32:02, my fastest 5K ever. I'm amazed that it came after a 5 mile warm up. Only 2 minutes and 3 seconds to cut off for the Electric City Gobbler on Thanksgiving morning. I can do this, I know that I can. Oh yeah, in case you are wondering, my splits were: 1 mile = 10:41; 2 mile = 10:15; and 3 mile = 9:54; .1 mile = 9:07.

New Hair

2008-11-05T18:58:00.001-08:00

I admit it - I have really bad hair. It is thin, but there's lots of it; it's somewhat curly, but not pretty Julia Roberts-type curls; and there's just no style to it. In an attempt to find some style, I tried a new stylist tonight. Her name will not be mentioned here. She talked a lot, A LOT! She was one of those people that talks and talks, asks questions but doesn't wait for the answer. In short, it drove me nuts! So, I explained my dilemma of having bad hair and not being able to do much when it comes to styling myself. I admitted to her that I like to spend no more than 10 minutes on my hair (based on her expression, I didn't have the heart to tell her that that time included washing, conditioning and styling it because she looked at me like I suddenly came from Roswell with a third eye in my forehead). She wanted to take some of the length off and confirmed one of my worst fears - I had a V in the back - get rid of it, exorcise it, do what needs to be done! No mullet-like V for me!! She wanted to blend in the layers and give it some life. All of this sounds good to me. She got to the color and I explained no gold (it pulls red) and she went into permanent color, highlights, low lights, strobe lights, traffic lights, yada, yada, yada. This is all a very foreign language to me and I don't speak stylist. I told her as long as I could pull my hair up in a ponytail when I run and my gray was covered, she could do what she wanted. I don't know if she actually heard me because she was still talking. Ahhh, blessed silence when she mixed up the color in another room. She put the color on and then onto the light-things. To say that she was rough is an understatement. I felt that instead of a cut, she was going to just pull my hair out by the roots. Seriously, I thought if I looked up I would see a dominatrix with a whip and tall black boots. She jerked, and pulled, and jerked some more. I am not usually very tender, but man! it hurt! I was so happy as she said, "Last one" and put the final foil on. I was then able to just sit and process. She disappeared for a few minutes and came back in and led me to the shampoo bowl. I caught the unmistakeable smell of cigarette smoke. This is a smell that I truly can no longer stand. Nothing like laying with your head backwards in a porcelin bowl having wet stench fill your nostrils. She cut my hair and got rid of the V. The whole time I was there, she was hocking product and how wonderful their products were. Dear God, it was a 2-hour infomercial and didn't even come with ginsu knives. I do not know why stylists cannot comprehend when I tell them I use very little product, don't know how to use a curling iron, don't want to have to flat iron, and am not able to wield a round brush very well. It took her about 20 more minutes to blow dry and style my hair with a round brush and flat iron. Yep, I'm sure I'll be able to do this at home. NOT! It does look good and I'm interested to see how the cut holds up once I fix it. Because she hurt me so much during the foiling and shampoo, I had already determined that I won't be a repeat client. I love that she wanted to give me business cards to hand out to all my friends. Right now, I'm saving one so that my attorney will know where to send the papers for my damages relating to the whiplash I think I got. If you want a cute cut, good color, and 2 hours of pain, let me know and I'll be happy to give you her card.

Law School Visit

2008-11-03T16:57:00.001-08:00

Last Friday, I did a formal visit to the University of Alabama School of Law. Obviously, this is the number one school on my list. I realize that my scores are low for UA, but still hopeful that some of my life experience and Master's degree will add to the factors. I was early on Friday and met Page, the Assistant Director of Admissions. I was happy to learn that there would be others joining in on the visit. One girl walked in and it turned out that she is a senior at Furman. A few minutes later, another lady joined in and I was happy to see that she was a fellow non-traditional student (read, "Older"). We were taken to a Torts class with Professor Randall. The topic of discussion was emotional harms. Throughout the next 50 minutes, I listened intently and formulated answers to questions in my head when they were asked. I was happy to know that with the exception of the case-specific questions, I had the correct answers. Now, after spending 18 years as a paralegal doing predominately civil litigation (which involves Tort law), I would hope that I woud know it. It was interesting to look over the students while the class was going on. Let me tell you, there was a whole lot of Facebooking going on. Only 2 or 3 students did not use laptops. After the class ended, we went back to the Admissions Office and met Stephanie, our student ambassador who would give us a tour. Stephanie is a 2L at the school and, even recovering from the Halloween/Homecoming party (by her own admission) she did a great job. Alabama has some great offerings, including areas for everyone to sit comfortably and study, in a quiet area, in a carrel in the library, or in a student lounge. They also have their own cafeteria. Before I left, I had the opportunity to speak with Page and pick her brain regarding my application and my scores. She thought that the fact I did express interest in the summer program and wrote an academic addendum explaining my undergraduate GPA was good. She felt I had done everything I could and I let her know that Alabama was my first choice and even if I didn't get in this cycle, watch for my application next year to transfer. Here are some pictures I took of the law school in the spring:

We got to spend the rest of Friday just loafing around and shopping and had a fabulous lunch at Iguana Grill. The is the first restaurant that we've ordered cheese dip (yes, we knew that costs extra!) and it came and was simply a wad of melted cheese. We found the Trak Shack and briefly considered running the Vulcan Run 10K the next morning, but passed due to the time and location of the race.

Saturday was an 8 mile run in Mt. Brook, followed by Starbucks and a quick get ready to head to T-Town. We spent some time hanging with the coolest tailgating crew in the world and then off the game, where Bama routed Arkansas State 35-0.

On Sunday, we took our time coming back home and found a great little diner, Browdy's, in Homewood. I had a cheese omelet and struggled to find the egg because there was so much cheese. Between the fundido dip Friday and the omelet, I don't know if I'll ever poop again. After breakfast we went to ride through Samford University again. Jeff asked if I wanted to get out and walk around. I wanted to see the other side of the Cumberland School of Law building, so we got out and went down some steps. You can imagine my surprise when we saw this:

This is truly a beautiful campus with a lot to offer. I am attending Open House there on November 21 and I'm really excited to learn more and see the inside. Plus, mom and Frances are going down with us and I can't wait to see it through their eyes.

So, my application is complete at Charleston and I'm waiting on notification from the other schools. The Admissions Council at Bama meets this week, as I'm sure it will at other schools too. And so, officially, the wait begins...

Constantly Learning

2008-10-27T17:16:00.001-07:00

Saturday, October 25 was my third half marathon. The first, at Tybee Island, GA last year, was fraught with physical limitations due to severe shin splints. The second was a wretched in a nearby town that went along the interstate and I could not wait until it ended. Going into the Spinx RunFest, I felt stronger than ever thanks to my fabulous Team Tiara training group. We met up at the County offices near the baseball stadium, where the race would start, at 7am. It was dark, cool and wet. The forecast anticipated that the rain would move off before the start, but it was not meant to be. The 12 of us who had trained were excited, many of whom were experiencing their first half or full marathons. We would all run in our pimped out tiaras, begging for attention and hoping through that to spread the word about Girls on the Run. We moved our way to the Start Line and I already began to have self doubt. You see, the night before the race, I had made a fatal mistake...

I checked my email right before I went to bed and lo and behold, my LSAT score came in at 9:35 pm. I almost decided to wait and open it after the race on Saturday, but knew that I would not be able to stand it. So, I called Jeff over to the couch and we opened it. I could not believe my eyes and thought that my LASIK had suddenly worn off because I could not be reading it correctly. I actually dropped 4 points. WHAT??! I had studied and done many exercises and felt that I had it under control. I was absolutely devastated and did what any self-respecting girl would do - retreated to the bathtub where I could cry in private. I beat myself up for most of the night and sleep was not easy to come by. While I didn't cry myself to sleep, I certainly hurt as if I did.

As I lined up at the Start, the score resounded in my mind. I pushed it hard and tried to put all my focus on the task at hand - running 13.1 miles. Thankfully, I had Christina to run with for awhile. As each mile ticked off, I peeked at my Garmin - another thing that I promised myself I would not do. I knew early on that I was going out too fast. At mile 5, I started to feel it. I had problems earlier in the week with my abdomen and what potentially could be another hernia and the pain was coming back. I slowed down and told Christina to go ahead. I was able to catch up with her after a brief walk and we ran together for a bit more. Then, it felt as if my whole midsection seized up. It was cramps, it was a burning, searing pain into my ribcage. Every breath I took hurt more. So, I walked for awhile. I could see Jeff up ahead and see that he was walking too. The more I walked, the more frustrated I got. I was frustrated with myself for scoring lower on my test; frustrated that I could not push past the pain; and frustrated that I couldn't get it together mentally. I would promise myself at the next corner, I would run again and no more walking. But, then I would just stop running. Saturday just wasn't my day mentally. I know that running is 25% physical and 75% mental and everyone has bad runs. I just hate that my bad run came on race day when I was so prepared. At Mile 11, I caught up with Jeff and we slogged through the remainder of the race together. We are both disappointed with our times and the race results, but we got to run into Fluor Field together, go around the warning track, and cross the finish line together.

I have learned so much from my Team Tiara group. I made friends that I will cherish forever. And I know that my next half at Kiawah in December I will still be well trained and I'm certainly not opening any emails the day before!

Samford University, Cumberland School of Law

2008-10-21T17:41:00.000-07:00

2 blog posts in one day?! What is my world coming to? Thank God Facebook doesn't have a blogging application. Or maybe it does ... let me check... we know I can only step away from FB for a mere moment, or so my husband thinks! Don't hate what you don't understand. HA!!

On Saturday after our run, Jeff and I traveled the mile and a half up the road to Samford University to check out the campus and Cumberland School of Law, one of the schools I have applied to. It is a beautiful campus, as you can see for yourself here:

After seeing the immediate area and the school itself, it moved up the list. The area has a huge running community and there is even a running trail across the street. I plan to attend their Open House on November 20 and tour the law school. When I visited Charleston in January, the Open House was the best opportunity for me to meet the Dean of Admissions and spend some time introducing myself to him.

I want to give a shout out to my dear friend Crystal Williams, who I found out actually reads this crazy blog. Crystal is one of my oldest friends and I adore her. She is one of those special people (not short-bus special) that no matter how long we go without talking or seeing each other, we pick right up where we left off. She's been my friend through a lot of things - good, bad and indifferent, and I am better person for having a friend like her. And, I know you are reading this blog, so are you going to pay me now for saying nice things about you? Seriously - love you girl!!

Also, to my awesome mother and fabulous husband - as I embark on this scary journey that is law school, I just want you both to know that I could never do any of this without you. I thank God every day for letting me be born to you, Mom and to marry you, Jeff. You both inspire, motivate and constantly challenge me to be all that God made me to be. Oh yeah, Jeff, I'll be waiting for you at the Finish Line on Saturday at the half marathon.

Go Speed Racer, Go!!

2008-10-21T05:33:00.000-07:00

This past Saturday was my last long run before the Spinx Half Marathon. It was an 8 mile run in Birmingham. Jeff and I have come to love the small community of Mountain Brook, which is laden with runners and cyclists. Our first mile, Jeff set the pace and we were at 10:52, which I thought was a little fast, especially for a semi-long, slow run. At mile 3, we stopped to fuel and hydrate and I recommended we run the next 3 easy and then blow out the last two. Around mile 4.5, Jeff informed me the pace had not slowed at all. I have given up looking at my Garmin while I run. It reassuringly beeps to let me know when I've completed another mile, but I no longer am a pace-peeker. It's better if I just wait until the end of the run. It's almost like Christmas morning, you know the paper covers the gift and breaking through the tape and layers is the fun part. Another short stop at Mile 5 for water and we were on our way back to the car for the last 3 miles. We went by the golf course, where my mantra turned into, "Please don't slice, please don't slice..." I felt strong and even. No longer feeling like my form is clumsy is a confidence booster. As the Garmin beeped for Mile 7, I "accidently" peeked - 10:15. What? Could that be right? One more mile to go. We entered the trail portion of our run and I felt that my pace would automatically slow some, as we dodged some rocks and a dog that didn't seem to have an owner anywhere nearby. (He was a pretty golden retriever, in case you were wondering, content to just sniff the grass here and there and mosey aimlessly about his morning). We got to our parking lot and had just a little bit more to go, so we ran the perimeter of the lot. At Mile 8, I was actually disappointed that the run had come to an end. You can imagine my delight when I looked down and saw that my average pace for the 8.01 miles was 10:35. And the last mile, the pace didn't slow at all. Another 10:15. When I began training for Spinx, I thought I would do well with a 2:20 (Tybee was my PR at 2:37), but now I'm thinking that I may even be able to cut that down. Saturday will tell.

Flash forward to this morning:
My last day of speed work before Spinx. A 30 minute tempo run. I've learned to love intervals, but I'm still warming up to tempo runs. We had 5 of my regular group show up - 3 fast people (no, I'm not in that group), myself, and our leader, Kendra, who is doing the full marathon Saturday. She and I talked before we took off and since she was scheduled for an easy 3, we decided to do a regular 3 mile route and she would run with me. I didn't know if I should be offended that an easy 3 for her would be my tempo, but I didn't want to run by myself, so I went with it. The first mile I knew was fast and she looked at her watch, made a noise, and I said I didn't want to know. "Don't tell me!" I wheezed. The air was so cold, my throat and lungs began to hurt around mile 2. I slowed somewhat. I know that ruins the tempo run effect, but I also knew I couldn't maintain the current pace for much longer. About mile 2.5, my hernia began to hurt, causing my midsection and core to seize up. I was hurting some last night from it, but a short fast walk and some long, deep breaths calmed it somewhat. I was determined to finish strong, so I picked it back up. Kendra admitted that this was not an easy 3 miles for her, making me feel much better. When the beep sounded indicating 3 miles, I finally looked at my Garmin. 3.01 miles at 9:49 pace. Whoo hooo! It was so good to see a single digit for my pace. So, watch me run. Go Speed Racer, Go!!

I'm a 2 Sport Athlete

2008-10-13T18:24:00.000-07:00

I'm gearing up for the Spinx Half Marathon in less than 2 weeks. So far, I've had 2 10 mile runs and one 12 miler. Both went really, really well and I am pumped up for the actual event. I'll be running the event in a pink foam tiara in support of Girls on the Run and my fundraising efforts for that wonderful organization. If you have daughters, sisters, or nieces, I'd encourage you to help out. Here is my fundraising page: http://www.active.com/donate/teamtiara2008/gplain I am fortunate to have Drew and Christina interested in doing the Shamrock Marathon in March, so it looks like I'll continue to have people to train with. That has helped so much through this training. Because of Jeff's schedule, I've always had to train on my own and it is amazing the difference some accountability makes.

I made it through the retest of the LSAT and had a good experience this time. No cell phones rang, we were on time and organized, had a large desk, and no one to crowd me. The only annoying thing is that the guy behind me started grunting after the break. Not sure what was going on with him, but if I hadn't been afraid of being asked to leave I would have asked him to get control of himself. I should have the results on 10/24 (the day before the half) and I've completed 5 out of 6 of my applications. So, definitely on track there.

Now, on to the topic of this post. Yep, I'm a 2 sport athlete. I said at one time I wanted to complete a duathalon (run and bike) when I turned 40. Nope - I didn't do that. Well, not yet anyway...

A few months ago, my employer started a bowling league. I was in a bowling league years ago with my former employer and had a great time. I've been there for almost 2 years now and I haven't really gotten engaged (that's fancy HR-speak for I have no work friends). I thought this would be a good opportunity to get to know some more people and maybe get "engaged". We bowled for 10 weeks and I did have a great team. Last Friday night we had our bowling party. I expected it to be somewhere fun... it was at the bowling alley and we.... bowled. How very creative. Then the climax of the evening finally arrived - time for awards. Yipppeee!! Turns out I got 2 awards. My team took first place and I ended up winning high female scratch (I learned over 10 weeks that meant without my handicap factored in) game. If I'm winning awards, this league must not exactly be PBA-quality. I'm just proud that I was able to bowl my high game without the bumpers.

So anywho, that's what is going on in my life. Now with the LSAT and applications behind me, I'll be able to keep you all wildly amused with my ramblings.

Holy Hills Batman

2008-09-28T14:39:00.001-07:00

I admitted earlier this weekend that I had been a slacker with my runs last week. Boy, did I feel it this morning!! The long, slow run was moved to Sunday to accomodate Drew, who had spent the week in Vegas on business. This had been decided upon at the beginning of Team Tiara. Yesterday, Christina decided to join in for the 10 mile fun fest. Good thing, because I got a message from Drew that she was stuck in the ATL with no gas to get home. This whole gas thing is crazy scary! After a BIG Bama victory, Jeff and I set the alarm for 6:00 am and went to bed. As I laid down, I realized that I had not really eaten any dinner. Not good. Worse yet, there were no Lara Bars to eat pre-run. We got up, rushed out to meet Christina at Regions Bank. The first 3 miles, I felt really good. We were on a steady, slow pace of 11:30 and I felt I could run all day at that. We stopped for water and a potty break and hit the asphalt again. At mile 6, I began to unravel. I had now been running for over an hour with no fuel, other than water and the one Sharkie I had sucked on. At the next water stop, about mile 6.5, I knew I needed to get some energy gel and all we had was Accel gel, which in the past had really affected my stomach in a bad way. Beggars can't be choosers and I took in the sweet, runny Accel. We took off up North Main Street, which I knew would not be easy. Holy Smokes! Easy wasn't even a consideration. The hill up to Earle was bad enough, but then came the LOOONNNGG hill up to Hillcrest. I had to stop and walk. I thought to myself, if I can get past this, I'll be okay. No doing - there were more hills along the route. Not having run in that area before, I didn't know what to expect. The hills were incredibly steep and long. I felt the lack of fuel in my system and my energy was draining with each step. I can't remember a time in the recent past when I've been so happy to finish a run. At mile 10, my Garmin beeped and I thanked God for letting me make it all the way. So, I had a couple of life lessons: 1- eat well the day/night before long runs and certainly eat the morning of; and, 2- get those training runs in, as much as possible. This week, I'll do my speed work on Tuesday and get in an easy run on Wednesday. We will be doing our longest run since the marathon, 12 miles, on Friday before leaving for Alabama since I'm retaking the LSAT on Saturday. I need to concentrate on eating well and getting plenty of rest this week in preparation for both the long run and the test.

So I've Had a Slacker Week

2008-09-27T07:18:00.001-07:00

Last week I had my highest mileage week in a long time. This week... well, not so much. I only got in one run and moved my long run to Sunday so that I can run with one of my Team Tiara buddies whose been out of town this week. But since I'll get in 10 miles tomorrow and 12 on Friday and one in between, I'll get that mileage back up.

This time next Saturday, I will be retaking the LSAT. I've tried a completely different study approach this time and am confident that it will pay off with a better score. Even a few points makes me more competitive in the application process.

So, yesterday I turned 40. God, 40! Really?? I don't feel 40. I had my breakdown on Thursday when my co-workers didn't acknowledge my birthday. While I know this sounds very selfish, in our department we always celebrate birthdays and everyone knew that I would be out on Friday, as would our director. It was a culmination of a lot of things, and I got over it quickly. I had a great birthday, though. I met my mom for breakfast and shopping time. Met Robin and Eric for a fantastic lunch and they helped me celebrate. Then on to a hair appointment and chiro. for an adjustment. Jeff got home (Yay!!!!!) and we had a nice dinner at Pizza House. Now we are settling in to watch what promises to be one of the best games of the season - Bama v. Georgia. During this time of year, he and I rarely have the opportunity to just kick back and spend the day in front of the tv watching football, so we plan to take full advantage of it today. Heck, it's 10:33 am and I'm still in my pajamas. You gotta love that.

Me? A Public Speaker

2008-09-18T10:15:00.000-07:00

In high school, I was pretty shy. Even though I knew almost everyone I went to school with, the thoughts of speaking in front of a classroom terrified me. Flash forward to college... it didn't get any better. As a matter of fact, I waited until the last semester of my senior year to take public speaking, a requirement to graduate. God knows, I prayed many times over four years that the school would change that requirement. So, I get up in front of the class to give my first speech and what happens? I almost hyperventilate. And yes, I even had to grab the paper bag at the podium, strategically placed because there's always one goober in every class that will need it. On that day, I was the goober. I could feel it coming on: my hand started shaking, I began to sweat (in places I didn't even know had sweat glands), my teeth began to chatter, and then I just couldn't catch my breath. The worst part of all this? The class was videotaped so I got to watch it all happen after the speeches were done that day. To say it was awkward and embarrasing is an understatement. But, in my 20s, something great happened. I overcame that fear and realized that I am a really good public speaker. I have an ability to engage and entertain an audience. I say all this because in about 40 minutes, I will be entering a room filled with strangers to present a session on Worker's Comp to EMS Professionals. I am always nervous before doing this, but Liz Patterson once said that if you aren't nervous before getting in front of an audience, you are overconfident and sure to screw up. Let's face it, I want to be a trial attorney, so my ability to stand in front of people and make them listen to me is crucial. I plan to rock the room and knock it out of the park. People who walked in not caring about worker's comp will walk out pumped up. That's my goal for the day.
I can stand in front of an audience of thousands and feel right at home. But the funny thing is, a dinner party and speaking one-on-one with someone scares me to death! Maybe by my 50's, I will have conquered that too.
Started my day with a rocking, kick ass 4 mile run in 40:17. My fastest, sustained run ever. Fantastic way to start this day. After I speak, we are headed to Myrtle Beach to join the rest of the family for our annual dysfunctional family weekend. God help us all!

Second Application In

2008-09-09T18:53:00.000-07:00

Okay, maybe I should wait until after my October LSAT, but that Type A personality of mine wants to get them in so I can hurry up and wait. I know that they will not be marked complete until they receive the October score. Tonight, I was able to get one more done. I submitted to Charleston School of Law. At a recent Law School Fair, the Dean mentioned that he doesn't even look at the first application until he's had his Thanksgiving dinner. Why I chose to get that one in now, I have no idea. But I did and another gets crossed off the list.

Only 4 more to go!

Some Quick Updates

2008-09-08T16:58:00.000-07:00

OMG! I can't believe I've been away so long. If you follow this crazy, little blog of mine, sorry I've been MIA. Time is certainly at a premium right now. I'm less than a month away from retaking the LSAT; working on getting applications in to law schools; writing essays for possible scholarships; training for the Spinx Half Marathon; working full time; and, yes!! Football season is finally here! So, here is quick update on what's been going in my life.

Law School:
My application to Alabama has been received and is somewhat complete. I only put somewhat because the only thing missing is my October LSAT score. Once they receive that, my information will be reviewed and considered. Applications are open now for Charleston, University of SC, and Mercer. Hopefully I can get those submitted in the next couple of weeks. Mercer offers 4 scholarships for full-paid tuition and a $5,000 stipend, good for all three years. Just have to write an essay, so I'm working on that. I'm also studying for the retake of the LSAT. I firmly believe that I overworked for the June exam by taking so many practice tests (23). This time, I am taking a few and using PowerScore study materials. I've taken one practice test so far and scored a 163. If I can do that on the real deal, I'll be in great shape.

Running:
Still running strong with Team Tiara. The Half Marathon is about 7 weeks away. I've upped my training to 4 runs a week (recovery, speed, race pace, long). I actually got up at 5 this morning to meet some team members at 5:30 for 4.5 miles. The pace was fast, but I did okay. This past weekend, Jeff and I ran 6.67 miles in Mountain Brook, AL. It was a beautiful run through some residential, business, and park areas. I was able to set the pace and felt strong. I love having long runs like that. Even at the end, I felt that I could keep going and going. Speed work is definitely paying off.

Alabama Football:
Bama kicked off the season against Clemson. To live in this area (about 20 minutes from the Clemson campus), we hear their fans throw crap season after season. I have to admit before the game, I was pretty nervous, but the Tide showed up and the Tigers didn't and well... I'll let the score do the talking.

This weekend was against Tulane and it seemed that a different team showed up in Crimson. There was still a victory, but it wasn't a pretty one like the week before. Hopefully they will get it together in the next two weeks before we play Georgia, or even Arkansas for that matter.

So, that's it in a nutshell. I'm looking forward to taking the girls to Alabama this weekend and then the family beach trip the next weekend. With everything going on, I could use some R&R.

Purple Rain

2008-08-26T17:15:00.000-07:00

Okay, so it's not purple, but I felt like titling my blog after a song. It may be colorless, but it's definitely there. ALL DAY rain, very heavy at times. My morning started when the alarm went off at 5:05. I could hear the rain and that voice (you know, THAT voice) whispered for me to change the alarm and skip the speed work today. No way voice! I did that last week. So, I crawled out of bed, took out the trash and headed to the track at Greenville High School. I was somewhat surprised to see only 2 of my group members. Another one pulled up right after I did, but it was just the 4 of us. Even though it had stopped raining at that point, I guess the liquid falling from the sky kept some at home in their beds. I began my warmup and around the first lap, the rain started again. Time to do some 800s! Funny that one additional lap can make such a difference when you are doing speed work but DANG it does. First 800 in 4:34 and it started pouring rain. Not bad, considering I had run 4 miles yesterday. 1 lap of recovery. Second 800 in 4:40, still good and still raining really, really hard. I thanked God for this blessing of sending the rain we so desperately need and for allowing me the health and ability to be out running in it. Third 800 was 4:43. The intervals served their purpose - I honestly did not feel like I could do another one. My knees and ankles both felt readyy good afterward. Maybe my body is getting used to the impact again. The cankle is going down and the knee is not as stiff. I was soaking wet, my shoes were heavy, my feet sloshy and all I could do is laugh. It was much like being a kid playing out in the rain. All that was missing was a big mud puddle to jump into.

Hills are the Debil!

2008-08-23T07:20:00.000-07:00

This morning was a LSR day for Team Tiara - 8 miles, so really nothing too extreme. I missed my long run last week due to the LASIK and missed Tuesday morning because of laziness. I was pumped up about today and ready to tackle those 8 miles. So yesterday, our fearless (and great!) leader Kendra sent out our route. The route was named "Just for Gerri" so I knew that couldn't be good. Yep, it was full of hills. DANGGIT!

I wish I were one of those people that eat hills for breakfast, but I don't even have them for snacks. But I dug in and did my best. I think I had 4 short walk breaks over the 8 mile course. My time was certainly much slower than it has been, but understandable with the walk breaks and hills. Spinx is 2 months away and I know that I'm going to continue getting stronger over that time. And, to get stronger, you have to do hills. My brain realizes this, my body just doesn't yet. But it will...

First Application Submitted

2008-08-20T16:38:00.000-07:00

Today, I submitted my first application to law school. Most of the schools on my list do not have their 09 applications open yet. However, it is only fitting that one of my top choices is obviously the University of Alabama and they opened their 09applications on August 1st. I've worked it, and reworked it, and reworked it again. I've had countless people read my Personal Statement, Academic Addendum (my undergraduate GPA is pretty mediocre and I need to take responsibility and show I'm not the same person now as I was then) and additional essay. I've had everything completed since Monday and every time I would think about sending it, I would chicken out. There is so much riding on this and I just wanted everything to be perfect. Alabama has a summer program that I would love to get into and only 20 spots available, so I knew time is critical. I knew that I couldn't let fear keep me from my opportunities, so I vowed that today would be the day. One last look over everything (thank goodness, I found a missing word in my Personal Statement that no one noticed) and then - BAM - submitted. I honestly wanted to vomit I was so nervous as I pushed that button. I know that it will be months before I hear anything and I'm okay with that. It was about a year ago that I started praying about my future and law school. In December, I talked with Jeff about it once I was sure this was what I wanted to do. Funny that I was apprehensive of his response. I should have known that I would have his full support and encouragement. That time has passed so quickly that a few more months isn't going to hurt anything. So, the hurry up and wait period has started. It's exciting, overwhelming, and so fulfilling. Just like I know law school will be when I get there.

Lost in a Gated Community

2008-08-16T19:23:00.001-07:00

Tonight Jeff and I went to visit some friends for a holiday party. Yes, I realize that it's August and there are no holidays on the horizon. The hostess' daughter came in from NYC and wasn't here at Christmas, so an impromptu holiday party was held in her honor. We stopped by Mike and Nancy's business yesterday just to make sure everything was still on and confirmed the code for their gate. We were already running late and had been warned that the gate could be difficult.

So, we pull up to the gate and Jeff puts in the code... nothing... he puts it in again and we get a recording that the number we've reached is no longer in service. Huh? Okay, couple more times and same results. Remember that the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result. It obviously is applicable to gate codes. We scroll through the list of residents, find our friends, call them and yep - we've been entering the wrong code! By this time, two cars have pulled up behind us and thankfully one is a resident so they get to go in through the special gate and the other car follows behind. We were tempted to do the same, but knew there wouldn't be time. Jeff enters the new code and still nothing. Again... nothing. Cars are behind us again, so we turn around. A guy in a truck asks us if the gate won't open and gives us a code to us. Tight security, right? Finally, we get in through the gates and after everything it took to get in, I thought we should at least see the great Wizard of Oz. We begin to go in the directions we were given to get to 213. We came by the 700s, nope that's not it. We find the 400s, still not right. Turn around. Suddenly, the car begins to ding and the words PWR STERING flashes on the dash. The flippin' power steering goes out on the car. We are laughing so hard at this point, we can barely breathe. We drive past the teens and begin to wonder how big is this place?!!! Ok, we are on to something - there's 201, 203, up a little bit and there is 209, 210, 300. WHAT???!!! Where did 213 go? I don't think we are at Kings Cross Station from Harry Potter and we have to get a running start to make 213 appear. I called Mike and asked him what their house number is. "213". I then ask him why the numbers go from 210 to 300. He then asks me where we are. I tell him that we are somewhere in Thornblade Crossing. He gives a small laugh and responds, "We don't live in Thornblade Crossing." Well NO WONDER the gate code wouldn't work. We had not completely lost our minds. They had lived there, but they moved some time ago to another complex. Once we finally made it to our destingation, we all had a good laugh about it, especially the fact that Thornblade Crossing still has them listed in the directory and it's hooked to Nancy's cell phone.

So please, if you move, just tell your friends!

I Can See Clearly Now...

2008-08-15T10:14:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was a very exciting day for me. I woke up and met my Team Tiara peeps for a 3 mile run. It was a great morning for a run. Afterwards, we converged on St. Arbucks for a Chocolate Banana Vianno and some nutrition talk. Then, Jeff and I headed over to Carolina Cornea to change my life as I know it. It was time for my LASIK procedure.

I thought I was so ready for this. Especially after wearing my glasses for the past 2weeks. Ugh! Miserable to run in those stupid things. We were to be there at 9 and the procedure would be at 9:30. We arrived shortly before 9 and I was taken back quickly for some measurements. In between measurements, the wait began. They brought Jeff back to sit with me, which was a good thing because otherwise I may have walked out. Each passing minute, my anxiety level increased. I was finally taken back to a room, had a beautiful blue paper hat put over my hair and two peices of styrofoam taped to the side of my face. I looked like a cartoon character. More waiting ... more waiting .... and yes, more waiting .... Finally, around 11 Dr. Parker came in and went over the procedure in detail with me. She explained everything like a football game: first quarter, second quarter, halftime, third quarter and fourth quarter. Ok, now she's speaking my language. My only job during the first half was to remain still like a statue. I could breath, but no talking, and certainly no moving. The second half my job was to focus on the center of the laser light. Seemed easy enough. I went into the room, layed back and was ready to get the party started.

First Half: Tape was placed over my left eye and my right eye was placed under a light. A suction cup was attached to my right eye and once that was in place and on, I was swung over to a machine and would come down and felt as if it rested on the suction cup. While there was pressure felt, it was not painful. Touchdown! Now on to the second quarter which was the same thing with the left eye. Right eye taped, suction on, laser down. Done. It was now halftime. I was very close to asking if the marching band was coming, but thought better of it. Dr. Parker is great at what she does, but she's also very focused.

Second Half: A cup was placed over the left eye and my forehead was taped to the pillow. They were making sure I wasn't going to be mobile at all. Both top and bottom eyelids were taped open and a speculum was placed to keep the eye open. I immediately saw my read light and told myself over and over, "center of the light, center of the light". At one point the light diappeared, but I kept my pupil straight where it had been. I heard the click,click, click of the laser and then it was done. On to the fourth quarter. Under other circumstances, I would have held up four fingers like was do a Alabama games. Exact same procedure for the left eye and then I was all done. When I sat up I could see, but it looked as if I were underwater. I was taken into my room, put on sunglasses and layed back for about 30 minutes. I think Jeff (who had watched the entire procedure) and I both dozed off. Dr. Parker then took a look and released me to come home. Unfortunately, all I could do yesterday was sleep and lay with my eyes closed (it helps keep them moist). Jeff is the most wonderful person I know and kept me on schedule with all the drops I have to take and put them in for me.

I woke up this morning and could see clearly for the first time I can recall. It's a pretty cool sensation to look around and see detail and vibrant color. I went to my follow up and was tested at 20/20 vision. All seems to be healing well. I am taking it easy today and will get to run my 7 miles on Sunday with Jeff.

This is truly the best birthday present ever. I love you Jeff Plain!!

Team Tiara Tempo Tuesday

2008-08-12T14:46:00.000-07:00

I'm making the title sound much more fun that it actually was. I am probably one of those really strange people because I really do enjoy speed work. Interals, that is. To me, intervals are perfect. You get to sprint and then get to recover. Today on the training plan was a tempo run. This would be a first for me and I was excited to give it a try. When we got to the track, the weather was perfect for a run. Cool, low humidity, and slight breeze. In August, that's such a rarity it even pumped me up more. We were given a choice to do intervals or a tempo run. Drew and I chose the tempo run and off we went to warm up. One mile warm up, felt good. The cooler weather definitely made warming up a little harder. Muscles wanted to stay stiff, but after a brief sip of water, I was ready to head into the unknown world of tempo runs. What the heck did I get myself into? I realized after a lap and a half that I forgot to hit "Start" on the Garmin. DANGGIT!! The first few laps were not that bad, but I quickly realized that doing a tempo run on the track for my ADD brain would not be easy. I was right. I tried singing songs in my head. I tried counting to 100. I tried writing a story in my mind. I even played, if so-and-so committed a crime, what would they commit? Nothing worked to keep me occupied enough. Every lap around became a struggle. When you know your water bottle is right there, why does your mind suddenly make you think that you are in the Saraha and there's nothing you want more at that moment than water? I did stop quickly for a sip. My Garmin beeped and let me know that my battery is almost gone. Great! I found myself constantly looking down at the Garmin and the time wondering when this would be over with and time ticked ever so slowly. I think the meteor shower may have brought on a time continuum, but I'm not sure. The tempo run was supposed to be 35 minutes and the best I can tell, I did 27 minutes at 2.85 miles, for a pace of 9.47. Holy moly!! No wonder it was freakin' hard!!! I just now calculated that and had forgotten about not turning on my Garmin, so I was figuring around a 10 minute pace. As difficult as it was, I am excited about it. I know that the Turkey Trot is coming up in November and it will be one of my last chances this year to have an under-30 minute 5K. Seeing that number makes me know that it's possible. Next week we go back to intervals and that makes me happy. I see how speed work is affecting my pace and know I'm getting stronger. My long runs have decreased by about 30 seconds per mile. I'm thinking of changing my goal time for Spinx.

Some of you have asked for it, so here I am including the link to my page for Team Tiara. I'd love it if you can help me reach my goal, but most of all, I'd love it if you'd help contribute to this awesome program of Girls on the Run!!

Oh yeah, I got a call today from our local council leader and was invited to the Girls on the Run International Summit in January. I know it will be an fantastic time of fun and learning.

Nothing Says Monday Better than Dead Opossum

2008-08-11T16:29:00.000-07:00

I had a great weekend! Friday night, Jeff and I had an early dinner at Carrabas. Saturday was Team Tiara long run day and my wonderful hubby joined us on our 7 mile jaunt. For the first time, EVER, I was in front of him. Okay, so he's taken some time off and is just getting back into running. Still, I was in front! Saturday afternoon we picked up Heather and yesterday was a fantastic service at NewSpring and then went to Chelsea's film short premiere. So, I was all pumped up for a good Monday. I was well rested, knew it was going to be a short week for me, and was ready to be productive. And then....

I walked in the front door of the county offices and a smell immediately permeated my nasal passages. I wondered where all the trash was. Maybe the landfill was using our hallway as an overflow dump. Each step I took closer and closer to my office, the smell got worse. Yeah, I know, not a good sign. I put my key in the door and went into my office. Gag! It was still there and getting stronger by the second. For a moment I thought maybe I should check my shoes (or my pants!), but I knew it wasn't me. Then, my co-worker said those words that no one ever wants to hear....

"There is something dead up in the ceiling". UGH!!! For over 30 minutes there was nothing we could do about it because our facilities people don't come in until 8:30. About 15 minutes into our collective department gag, our service rep made a gruesome discovery. We may not have been able to tell what it was, but we could tell exactly where it was. While the rotting body (we were praying it was animal) was decomposing, fluids were seeping through the ceiling tile. This was truly one of the grossest things I've ever seen in my life. The poor facilities guys had to crawl up in our ceiling (yes, through the gross tile) and remove the culprit - a very large, very dead, very decomposing opossum. Who knows how long it had been there, but with the temperatures in the high 90s, you can imagine the carnage. Thankfully, they removed the body and sprayed some heavy duty deodorizer through the ventilation system. They also replaced the ookey ceiling tile.

Word spread quickly throughout the county of our early morning discovery. Hell, I'm sure everyone else wanted to know what the smell was too. I did invite some others to HR for an impromptu luncheon, but oddly enough, no one took me up on it.

Run 2 Overcome

2008-08-05T18:00:00.000-07:00

On the morning of June 8, a young jogger was out for a run. This was an area she was familiar with. Who knows, it may have been a route she ran daily. But this day was different. As she turned into a subdivision and came upon a wooded area, she was hit in the head, pulled down an embankment and brutally assaulted. To date, the suspect has not been caught. Just typing this still sends shivers down my spine. I run and I often run alone. This would be anyone's nightmare. It is for this reason that I participated in the Run 2 Overcome last Saturday. This race was not about time, it was not about pretty scenery, it was not about competition. What this was about is taking a stand - a stand for the victim, to let her voice be heard; a stand for solidarity; and a stand against fear. We will not let our fears control us and consume our being. The race started around 9:15 and it was already 88 degrees with high humidity. I've gotten used to running at 6am and the 3 hour difference was telling. As we stood around and listened to motivating stories, you could feel the sweat begin to pool in areas you didn't know would catch sweat. We were off with the sound of a siren. The course went along the route that she had run that morning. At the sight of the attack, a youth band from a local church was set up. As I came by they were playing Matchbox Twenty's "How Far We've Come". There were hills... many, many hills .... steep, long freakin' hills. Combining that with the heat and humidity, this was the hardest 5K I believe I've ever done. The neighbors were fabulous. They had makeshift water stops for us. One homeowner even put out cold, wet washcloths for the runners. I did okay until the last mile and at that point I had to begin taking walk breaks on the hills. I finished this race feeling as if I had run an ultramarathon, but knowing that the participation and the cause was all worth every second and every drop of sweat. Here is what I looked like at the finish line:

Okay, so I was making a silly face and being a drama queen. And no, I don't usually wear my glasses when I run. But, I'm less than two weeks away from LASIK and cannot wear my contacts. I really didn't feel that bad, but it was a tough race. Kudos to my awesome, rock star hubby who decided not to run this event, but stood in the heat waiting for me to finish and take pictures. He is the best!!

Return of the Cankle

2008-08-01T16:35:00.000-07:00

I've been seeing a chiropractor for the pain I was having in my right knee and hip and let me tell you, he's done wonders in just three visits. I had issues with my left lower leg/ankle from January to June of this year and finally got things under control there. Or so I thought....
One of my major problems was shin splints - gone, check
Another problem was tibialis tendonitis causing major pain in my ankle and shin - gone, check
Finally, last problem was extreme swelling in my anterior ankle - gone, check .... wait a minute!! Seems as though the swelling is back. Thankfully it is not accompanied with any pain this time. So, I'm back on the ibuprofen, will ice immediately after running and stay off of it as much as I can. Let's all keep our fingers crossed and say it together, "Keep the pain away, keep the pain away".
So what that it's shorts and flip-flop weather and hard to cover up an ankle? I can live with it as long as it doesn't hurt. I mean, after all, what's hotter than a runner with a cankle?

Indoor Tracks vs. Dreadmills

2008-07-28T18:09:00.000-07:00

I think that both are equally spawned by Satan. I slept fitfully last night, at best, and was unable to roll my butt out of bed at 5:45 this morning to run my 3.5 miles on my own. So, I decided that I would go by the gym after work and run it on the indoor track. It would allow me to have the mileage I needed for the day and yet I would not have to contend with the near-100 degree and high humidity. See, it sounds like a great idea, doesn't it? So, after a busy day at work, I changed into my Mizunos and headed to the gym, pumped up about my brillant idea. Unfortunately, this looks much better on paper (okay, computer screen) than it actually was. At least if I had been on the dreadmill, I may have been able to watch mind-numbing television. Instead, I now know what my hamster felt like as he ran around his wheel. I think that he and I probably had the same amount of progress in this overtly mundane task. Give me the road... asphalt, broken sidewalks, traffic, and the smell of exhaust. Give me the sound of feet hitting the pavement over and over again. Give me the hills. Just give me something other than a round circle over and over again. At least during intervals, I am trying to speed up and there is a purpose. So, in summary, why anyone would subject themselves to an indoor track is beyond me. But, if you can manage to put in the miles on the circle of death, more power to you!

Week 3 is Done!

2008-07-26T08:13:00.000-07:00

Today, I finished my 3rd LSR with my Team Tiara group. We have found our pace groups and I have to say that this is the best thing I could do for myself. Finding friends to run with makes all the difference in the world. Not only do you not stop (even if you want to!), the time goes by much faster. This morning, the rain began a little past the first mile and continued throughout the run. It was a great respite from the heat and humidity we've had. I missed my Monday run this week because my knee was still giving me fits. 2 visits to the chiropractor and it is already feeling better. Thanks, Dr. Rick Brannen!! Seems that my hip and knee are out of alignment and we are rectifying that situation. I'm ready to tackle the One Hundred Push Up Challenge again and get serious about my strength training. I must build a better Gerri between now and October 25. Oh yeah, my pace for this morning's run was 10:54. For a training run? That's close to my PR for a 10K. Yup - getting stronger and faster. Catch me if you can...

Well, okay, you probably can, but let me bask in it a little bit.

Yogaliscious

2008-07-16T17:42:00.000-07:00

Tonight I did 2 sessions of yoga. For me, yoga is like an old friend. You know the kind... you may not talk for months, but when you do, it's as if no time has passed. I've heard that yoga is a runner's best friend and I have to second that sentiment. Not only do I feel relaxed, but I feels as if my tight hamstrings have loosened and my hip flexors stretched out. As long as my membership lasts at the Life Center, I plan to continue with my yoga practice. In the mid-level class, we did handstands, headstands, and Ls from hell. Imagine hands on floor, feet on wall with body in an L shape. Funny thing, in the second session there was a girl who looked so familiar. I finally put it together - she took yoga at the gym where I used to train. Next time, I will have to plan my meals better and eat a snack before going. Finishing up after 7:30, I was very hungry and when I get very hungry, I make terrible food choices.

Holy Scholarship Batman!

2008-07-15T15:29:00.000-07:00

Okay, I checked my email this afternoon and had an email from the Admission Director at Florida Coastal School of Law. After a review of my file, they were offering me admissions with a yearly scholarship. Unfortunately, it is for Fall 2008 admission and with a house to sell before we relocate, that is not a possibility. Still, it's great to know that I'm wanted somewhere. I still intend to retest in October, just to hopefully raise my score some and make me more competitive through the selection process. This pumps me up and gives me a lot of hope.

Upstate (SC) History Museum

2008-07-15T15:11:00.000-07:00

On Saturday afternoon, Jeff, Heather and I visited our local Upstate History Museum. This was something that we had intended to do since it opened a few months ago, but have not had the opportunity to do so. We walked in and this was the first thing we saw:

Hmmmmm, a pig farmer isn't necessarily how I think of my state, but okay, I'll go with it. We went into the auditorium and found 4 people with a 60s music PowerPoint presentation. Upon their invitation, we went in and it turned into an impromptu session of karoke. I can't carry a tune at all, but we certainly had fun singing such classics as "Leaving on a Jet Plane", "Carolina In My Mind" and "Puff the Magic Dragon".

The museum itself is top-notch and they did a great job with the exhibits and left available space for future exhibits. The walking tour took patrons from 1778 to the present time. South Carolina has transitioned from a rural country village to a booming industrial mill area to home to many North American auto headquarters.
We have had many famous residents - Jessie Jackson, Edwin McCain, and most famously Shoeless Joe Jackson. Two years ago, Greenville obtained a new minor league baseball team, the farm affiliate of the Boston Red Sox. A large debate ensued to pick the name of the team. The most popular name was "Greenville Joes" and everyone loved it. However, apparently the ban in baseball did not end upon Shoeless Joe's death, and we were unable to use this chosen name. Do I think that's fair or right? No, absolutely not! But, I don't make the rules. So, the team is the Greenville Drive and they play in a stadium that is constructed to look like a mini Fenway Park. (I'll be there Sunday and will share some pics with you).

So, we finished our museum tour and each of learned new things about the town that we love so much. This was a great way to spend a Saturday afternoon.

Saturday's Run

2008-07-13T17:09:00.000-07:00

Saturday morning:

The alarm went off at 5:10 am... on a Saturday. Are you kidding me? After one quick snooze, I rolled out of bed, geared up and headed into Greenville to meet my fellow Team Tiara participants for our first long run together. We met up in the parking lot of Regions Bank and got our route sheets. The majority of us (training for halfs) would run 5 miles, the others would run 7. I had not run this particular route before and was looking forward to it. We began our run at 6:10 am and headed south on Main Street. I ran for about a mile and a half with the last person in the pack. She is training for the full and was struggling a bit with the pace of the others. At mile 2, we found that a local running store had put out a cooler, so three of us crossed the road and took advantage of it. Unfortunately, we all expected water and what we got was some unknown, sickly sweet substance that didn't resemble anything any of the 3 of us had ever tasted, nor would want to taste again. We headed down McDaniel Avenue, known for its vicious hill on the Reedy River 10K route, and thankfully we would not face that portion of it this morning. I began running with someone different and we would motivate each other for the remainder of our run. My knee started hurting some, but nothing that would make me stop. As we came upon the last mile and a half, we went back up Main Street and passed vendors of our local outdoor farmer's market setting up. A lady carried a basket of fresh peaches in front of me. It was all I could do not to reach out and grab one. When we got back to the parking lot where we were parked, my Garmin read 4.82 miles, so we did a lap and a half around the building so that we got our total 5miles. Later, we would both admit that, had been running on our own, we would have stopped at 4.82. I was pleased with my average pace of 11:10.
After our run, we waited for the 7 milers and then all visited the Saturday Market together. I cooled down with an iced mocha with soy milk and purchased some local blueberries that look amazing and fresh pasta bundles. Week One is in the books for training and so far, I'm loving this group!

Watch Me Go!

2008-07-08T16:11:00.000-07:00

This morning I got up at the unGodly hour of 5:15 am, wiped crud out of my eyes, pulled on shorts and a shirt, socks and laced up the Mizunos for my first speed workout with Team Tiara. Today's plan would be for 4x400 with a warm up and cool down. It would also be my first group run and a chance to meet the other participants. I drove the 20 or so minutes to the track and got there about 5:55. There were already 3 people there and by the time we started, there were 10 of us. Obviously, when it comes to speed work, we would all be at different levels and paces, so we ran briefly as a group for the warm up, stopped and stretched, and then began the intervals. I had downloaded my "want" pace from McMillan Running Calculator, but decided not to stress too much if I couldn't there today. After all, I have 16 weeks to get there. My first 400, I messed up - instead of hitting "Lap" on my Garmin, I hit "Stop", so I'm not sure where I was for that. Stupid! I then walked fast the 200m and began the second interval. By this time, I was already soaking wet from the humidity. I ran the second interval in 2:09. Right on pace! Interval 3 and 4 were 2:13 and 2:11. Whoo hoo! Still right in line with where I want to be for a 2:25 HM. My knee felt pretty well, although I still feel it a bit. I'm sure it's either some slight tendonitis or a small strain. I plan to go to yoga tomorrow night and hopefully that will help stretch it out. All things considered, I deem my first speed workout a huge success and I actually enjoyed it tremendously. Tomorrow is an off day from running so my plan is this: yoga, Week 2, day 1 of the 100 Push Up Challenge, and 15 minutes of ab work. I am stoked that I am seeing gains in my strength, conditioning and speed. Pretty soon, maybe I can actually run with my husband! Or at least closer behind him.

Some Random Facts About Me ...

2008-07-06T18:04:00.000-07:00

It's Sunday night. I'm bored and I have to get up really early in the morning to begin my Team Tiara Half Marathon training. Since I may have some people actually following my blog that do not know me very well, here are some random facts about me:

I was born in Norfolk, VA on the naval base, but I've never visited there.
I lived in 5 states before I was in 6th grade.
I hate grits!
I cannot stand for my food to touch!! As a matter of fact, until Jeff and I lived together, I often ate out of separated plates. (And yes, I miss those plates!)
I did not eat vegetables until Jeff & I started on the South Beach Diet in July 2003.
I am a reality television junkie.
I only got in trouble one time in high school and that was for skipping school with Susie Griffith and Eric Hall. The school called my mother and that was the end of my trouble-making days.
I can roll my tongue up.
My favorite ice cream is Ben & Jerry's Chubby Hubby.
I was a complete tomboy and until college, I rarely wore a dress, skirt or high heels.
I hate shopping of any kind, even grocery shopping.
I bought my first condo when I was 22 and moved in one week before I graduated college.
My first job was at 15, working for a heating & air conditioning company inputting customer information in a database. (In 1985, a database was a novel idea and pretty cool).
My first car was a 1980 black Pontiac Firebird with white leather seats and a purple-tinted rear window. I probably looked like a female pimp.
I don't hold babies until they are at least 8 months old and most of them cry when they are around me. (I thought only dogs sensed fear)
My first pets were gerbils named Dick and Jane... Dick had babies ... and Jane ate them.
When I was young, my goal in life was to be a Dallas Cowboys cheerleader.

Ok, if you are still with me after all that useless information, you are either really bored or just as sick and twisted as I am.

LSAT Score, Peachtree 10K and Fireworks

2008-07-05T14:10:00.001-07:00

Updated LSAT news:

I knew that on Thursday the potential existed for me to get my LSAT score via email. Needless to say, my day was filled with emotional eating (yes, everything in sight) and nervous energy (yes, at times I was downright obnoxious). I had given Jeff my email information so that he could check it for me throughout the day and I would not be obsessed with checking my personal email at work. As you know from prior blogs, I did not have warm and fuzzy feelings about my test, even though I had done well on timed, practice tests. Let's face it, I've been out of school for 17 years and haven't taken a standardized test in a long time. Even my PHR exam was knowledge-based, so in my mind, it isn't a fair comparison. Thankfully, I had a busy day at work and tried to keep my mind occupied and refocused as much as possible. I had decided that if Jeff didn't call me by early afternoon, I would go ahead and work through lunch and leave at 3:30 so that we could get an early start for Atlanta. I have to be honest and admit that every time my telephone rang, I held my breath. But, by 3:30, no call had come, so I finished up my work and headed home. As I was almost to our Exit, my cell phone rang - it was Jeff and the email was in! My heart began to thump and my palms were sweating. I don't even remember the rest of the drive home. It had to be hard for Jeff actually sitting here with the email up on his computer, knowing he couldn't open it until I walked through the door. In I came, almost at a run and my wonderful husband met me in the kitchen. A hug, kiss and I love you no matter what, we both hurried upstairs and sat down at the computer. I took a deep breath and clicked the email. An error message popped up telling me I had to refresh the screen. ARE YOU KIDDING ME? SERIOUSLY? Okay, take two, refresh... waiting, waiting... Now! I clicked on it again and up it came .... I scrolled to midway down and saw my score - 155. CRAP!!! I had hoped to do much, much better and had done better on the majority of my practices. To say that I was disappointed would be an understatement. I'm sure my disappointment showed. So, I thought the best thing would be to pack my stuff and get out of the house, and that's exactly what we did. I did a lot of comtemplation on the 2 hour trip down. I have to decide if I want to retest and risk doing worse. Right now, I'm just taking it as It Is What It Is. After all, God knows what He's called me to do and He will work it all out.

After a stop at Olive Garden for dinner, we got to the Courtyard Marriott in Buckhead and settled in for the evening, knowing that we would have an early morning.

Peachtree Road Race 10K:

5:30 came really early, as my sleep was not as solid as I would have liked. Jeff and I both got ready, having laid out our clothes the night before. We left the hotel shortly after 6:30 am, for our short walk to the start line. Activity was everywhere and in each direction you could look, there were runners and walkers of every age, size, shape and color. I guess with 55,000 participants there is nothing less to expect. Although I had a bib number to line up in the third wave, Jeff and I wanted to run this one together, for fun and the experience. We both knew that this race would yield neither of us a PR and we lined up with Jeff's bib number in the fifth wave. The organization of this race was top notch and the best that I have seen yet. All of the volunteers were friendly and helpful with corral assignments. We were stopped several times to have our pictures taken - for a moment I thought we made a wrong turn and were at Six Flags where teenagers make extra money by hounding the patrons and asking over and over again to take their pictures. At 6:30 am, I am certainly not ready for my close up. There were helicopters above the starting area and the announcer made the wait enjoyable, sharing information and playing good music. Our wave would go off at 8:10 am, 40 minutes after the initial wave. Shortly before that time, our sign was changed from "Stop" to "Walk" (I had earlier mistaken this sign to mean this is where the walkers line up!) and off we went toward the start line - it was time for the walk of the lemmings and hopefully it would not lead us off the cliff. This race is so full of people, even though it goes off in separate waves, that space is at a premium. There were bands along the way, playing every type of music imaginable. I was truly enjoying the experience. It was a time of firsts for me - my first Peachtree, my first run in truly hot and humid conditions, and the first time I've run with my own water (Jeff and I grabbed a bottle on the way to the start and had no place to ditch it). At Mile 2 1/2, in front of Cathedral of St. Philip, there was a sprayer with a sign on top - Holy Water and I couldn't resist, I ran full force through it and shortly past that was a priest also sprinkling Holy Water on the runners and blessing them. Yep - I double-dipped and ran close by him too. Somewhere after Mile 3, I cut beside one runner and pivoted, feeling a twinge in my knee briefly. The hills were not considerably hard, despite the rumors we had heard. At Mile 4, I started to struggle a bit, partly due to the heat and partly due to the sensory overload and slight clausrophobia that plagues me when I get "boxed in". I had to make several walk breaks and my sweet, loving husband walked right along beside me. I know that it's hard for him to do that and appreciate it more than he'll ever know (love you, babe!). We finished the race on a slight uphill (or so I'm told because I honestly didn't realize that it did) in 1:13. Certainly not a PR, or even close, for either of us. But a fun, exciting race that I'd certainly do again. After the race, we made the decision to go ahead and catch the MARTA (another first for me) and head back to the hotel. After a quick shower, we made a stop at Sweet Tomatoes for lunch and drove home.

4th of July Celebration:

Jeff and I have come to love the Symphony on 4th of July and it is sort our tradition. This year, it moved to Heritage Park in Simpsonville and we weren't sure what kind of a crowd the change may bring. We got there about an hour before the scheduled start and the amphitheater was already half filled. This was certainly a much different crowd than in years past. Many, many more families with small children and teens. We were surrounded by little rugrats whose parents thought it was cute to let them run free and wild - cute for them, maybe, but annoying as hell for the rest of us! The symphony played great, as usual and ended with the traditional 1812 Overture, complete with 12 live cannons being fired. The fireworks were good and I was ready to get home at the end of a long day. Unfortunely, we were caught in the bottlenecked, cluster of unorganized parking. Where were our trusty NewSpring parking volunteers when we need them? Word of advice - if someone gives you a vest and a flag and it is your job to direct traffic ... simply standing there like a deer in the headlights waving your flag in the air at no one in particular does not help the situation; you actually have to give some direction.

A Fantastic Run!

2008-06-30T16:10:00.000-07:00

Holy crow! I went out this morning to get in 3 miles. I wanted to push the pace a little bit, especially after a crappy run on Saturday. Candace wasn't there by 6:05, so I took off on my own. I told myself that I wasn't going to look at my Garmin, except when I had a lap alert. I used this time to reflect on church yesterday and I felt really great. Mile 1 = 10:20. I kept on rolling along, mainly thinking and praying. I did try to hit one sprinkler to cool down, but didn't time it right. Mile 2 = 10:04. WHAT?! 10:04 on a second mile for me? This was exciting. I felt good and strong. I passed Candace who told me that she hit her snooze button. I continued on, enjoying the rising sun and the chirping birds. I was having a great conversation with God and began to feel a bit winded. Instead of stopping to walk, I began to count in my head - this has worked numerous times for me to get my breathing under control and this morning would be no different. I had one last short hill and chomped through it, looking forward to the equally short downhill. I knew that I was getting close. I hit mile 3 and turned my Garmin to Stop. I missed the last lap alert, so wasn't sure of my final pace, but knew it must be good. My average lap pace was 10:04. In and of itself, that's fabulous for me. My goal is an under 30 minute 5K by November, and now I really believe that I can do it. You can imagine my amazement when I just downloaded my data and saw Mile 3....... at a 9:47 pace. Oh my God! I am PUMPED up!! I am too excited. I am so, so happy to get my groove back and have a good pace and not be in pain. Whooo hoooo! Everyday is better when it starts with a run!

The Weekend in Review

2008-06-29T18:21:00.000-07:00

It's Sunday evening and another weekend is coming to a close. Tomorrow kicks off yet another work week, albeit a short one with the 4th of July holiday on Friday. It has been an extremely busy weekend, but I often think that we know no other way. So, here is my recap:

Friday Night:
Jeff and I met Eric, Robin, Wayne and Vicki at Doc Chey's for dinner. We had a lovely time and I am reminded that Vicki Mullen truly is one of the nicest and most genuine people I know. Wayne and Vicki had not eaten at Doc Chey's before and I'm thankful that they enjoyed it. It was pretty funny watching Wayne trying to learn how to eat edamame. After dinner, Robin, Eric, Jeff and I went to Cafe and Then Some for the show, "30 Years of Greenville". It wasn't one of their better ones and the highlight of that 2 1/2 hours was the dessert, Homemade Sin, a warm-baked chocolate chip cookie covered in ice cream with chocolate sauce and peanuts on top. We got home and hit the hay, knowing Saturday promised to be busy.

Saturday Morning/Afternoon:
Jeff and I woke up and planned a later-than-usual run. We wanted to approximate Peachtree temps as best we could and I wanted to run out at a new development off of Verdae Blvd. With construction going on, we anticipated having the entire place to ourselves, but were not sure just how much mileage we could in there. We wanted to go for 6.2, if possible. We packed up water and gatorade and headed out about 8:15 and the temperature was already 79 degrees with 80% humidity. The area was indeed deep enough to get in all the miles we needed and even had a beautiful park area which gave us a good place to park, along with restrooms and water fountains if we needed them. The first two miles went well and I felt good. I enjoyed running side by side with Jeff, something I don't often get the chance to do. At about 2.5 miles, we stopped to look at some homes that were under construction - big, beautiful homes. We started back out and made a brief stop at the car to get some water and I shed my shirt. By this time, the sun was in full force and the heat was getting unbearable. I am loving 6am more and more. At about 3.75 miles, I started to struggle. I had not eaten before my run (I know better!) and had taken in very little fluids. I told Jeff that I was going to slow my pace and try to get it together. There were times I had to walk and I ended cutting the run to 5 miles. So, for Peachtree, stopping at the water stops will be crucial, along with a very slow pace and just enjoy the experience. After our run, we picked up Heather and had lunch at Five Guy's, a special treat. We took her shopping for clothes for The Gauntlet, the church camp she'll leave for in two weeks. Thankfully we were able to get everything in two stops - Kohl's and Sports Authority. As much as I hate to shop, I enjoyed helping her pick outfits and seeing her light up when she came out of the dressing room in something she loved and knew looked good on her. We headed home to get ready for Live Free, Live Loud, the NewSpring Concert and fireworks display.

Saturday evening:
One of many great things about this event is that NewSpring would match every donation dollar for dollar and the money would be split among 3 charities. We got to the Anderson Civic Center and the parking lot was already filling up. The band would play at the amphitheater and people were packed in. As we were walking in, I saw my friend and former neighbor, Rhonda. We used to go to Brushy Creek together and got to be close before she married. I found out when I saw her before Christmas that she is now divorced. It is always great to see her. We sat up our chairs in the center and settled in to listen to the fantastic NewSpring band. Lee McDermett opened the show, playing a lot of his music from Matchlight in the Dark. Then the rest of the band came out and played both secular, mainstream music and contemporary worship songs. It was a great show!! The band wrapped up around 9:00pm and then the fireworks started. It was a display to rival any of the displays I've seen. Nothing is ever done halfway.

Sunday morning:
We slept in, a rarity for us. NewSpring was crowded and Perry promised to be pumped up. It was a baptism Sunday and they would baptize 32 people at the 11:15 service. I've been to churches that didn't baptize that many people in a year. Perry delivered on his promise - it was uncomfortable and challenging. He preached from I Kings 15:41-45 and it impacted me in a lot of ways. Perry challenged each of us to pray over the next 7 days for God to show us why He created us, what His plan for us is, what the next step He wants us to take, and that we will trust in Him and not ask for anything. Wow!! This is scary, especially facing my LSAT scores coming out. What if I am so off base with what I think He wants for me. But, the only way I can find out is to rise to the challenge.

After church, we went into Greenville to Wild Wing for lunch, followed by gelato, of course. The afternoon was spent relaxing and then took Heather home.

And so, this concludes my weekend. In a few minutes I'll be going to bed to get some sleep. Tomorrow morning, I'll get up early for a 3 mile run and then a busy day at work.

Learning to Love 6am

2008-06-24T16:54:00.000-07:00

So, this morning I woke up at 5:40 am to get ready for my 6am run. I am learning that the early morning running people are on to something. As I headed out into the darkness, it was cool, low humidity and a slight breeze. Candace pulled into Westchester at the same time I did and we got ready to start our run. I told her that I needed to do 3.5 miles today and she said that was fine with her. We struck out on our normal route and usually I feel crappy the first mile and a half, but I felt good this morning. Twilight was quickly upon us and the stirring of life began. We passed a lady walking her dog in her pajamas! That was too funny!! The only thing missing was her bunny slippers. There were a lot of sprinklers going (hasn't anyone heard that we are in a drought?!) and I had a blast running through the mist of the sprinklers. I guess it just takes a sprinkler to turn me into a kid again. We finished our runs strong, having to do a lap around the clubhouse to get in the 3.5. The pool looked very welcoming and I thought about just jumping in, but had to get home to get ready for work.

The Team Tiara training program was emailed yesterday. We officially begin on Monday, July 7. Mondays will be a run on our own. Tuesdays will be speed work with intervals and some tempo runs thrown in. This is probably what I need the most and am most fearful of. I mean, what if I'm the slowest and get lapped? (During a 400 meter interval, that would be embarrassing). I know I'm not the fastest person in the field, but God, I hate being last! I am hoping to get my HM down to 2:25, which would be 12 minutes off from my first HM at Tybee last year. So speed work will be a necessary evil. Wednesdays will be strength training (probably yoga for me). Thursdays will be a group run. Friday will be a rest day and Saturday will be our long, slow run days. This will be my first time running with a group and I am looking forward to the accountability and competition. The next 2 weeks, I will get in 12-15 miles. My goal is to go through the rest of this year injury free and be able to participate healthy in marathon training for a spring marathon in '09.

Getting my run completed early also means I get to relax in the evening. So tonight I'm going to watch stupid television shows (ie, Family Feud, Wipeout) and then go to bed early. Oh yeah, I'm also going to watch our incumbent County Council member go down in flames in a run off election.

Trust ....

2008-06-23T16:54:00.000-07:00

There have been many, many occasions over the past week that my mind has drifted to my potential score on the LSAT. It has caused a lot of anxiety and every time I do start to think about it, 3 words come into my head - "Trust in Him". I have to admit that trust has never been easy for me and, while I know that God is in complete control, I feel as if I just keep taking this back. I don't want to and feel that that's exactly what my anxiety is - me NOT trusting in Him. Yep, this is the paradox - I know God is in control but trusting means giving up complete control and surrendering myself and the future. We all know I am a control freak, but I realize that I can't have it both ways. So, how do I get there from here? I don't know, but I know that I need to rely on those three words, "Trust in Him" and less on myself. I found these 2 verses:

Romans 15
13 May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Psalms 91
2 I will say of the Lord, “He is my refuge and my fortress,
my God, in whom I trust.”

I've needed to pick up all my study materials. Part of me has been terrified to do so because I think, "What if I have to bring it back out to study for October." But you know what? That's not showing trust. That is showing fear and the control it has on me. In a baby step, I did pick up all my practice tests, score sheets, notepads, books and information relating to the test and packed them in a box, put the lid on it and placed it in the office closet. I am claiming that I will NOT have to look at it again! So, as I go on this crazy journey, I will trust in Him and give over control of my future and law school. And yes, it will be difficult, but isn't anything worth doing and having always difficult?

Candlelight 5K

2008-06-22T16:56:00.000-07:00

Last night I ran the Candlelight 5K. Jeff and I arrived very, very early to meet my family and the No Boundaries folks. It was a first - being 3 hours early for a race. We picked up our numbers (815 for me, 816 for him), our bags, shirts and chips and headed to the car. While we were picking up numbers I saw a familiar face - the lady I met on Monday at the LSAT who had not studied at all! She also said that she had not done anything to prepare for the 5K, so it must be some sick, twisted pattern with her. Next up - jumping from an airplane without a parachute. Anyway, on the way back to the car, we ran into Mom and Francis. Howard and the rest of his gang arrived shortly afterwards. We attempted to set up some chairs and relax before the race, but we were politely asked to move off of the private property grass. We mainly stood around with the family talking and catching up. The 1 mile fun run was to start at 8 and they had some light jazzercise-type exercise before it. Breanna and TJ were going to run the 1 mile and both seemed excited to do it. They lined up at the start with Howard and off they went. Jeff and I ran into Justin and Allison and got to hear his take on Vermont (he loved it!) and we did some more marathon talk. I saw Breanna coming up the hill, slowing to a walk. I cheered her on and encouraged her to finish it strong. Then came TJ, in a fast walk. I knew they both would finish. We went and told them good job and got ready to line up ourselves for a 9:00 pm start. The course would go in front of Hubbell Lighting, and come back up by the ICAR campus. The entire way was lit by luminaries. Before lining up, we got some easy yoga poses to help stretch us out. We then moved our way to the start line. Candace and I lined up together and I looked around and saw some of the No Boundaries participants. I wished them good luck, told them they were ready and then we were off. The first mile was mainly downhill and involved dodging a lot of people. I did get to see Jeff coming up the other side and give him a Way to Go! I knew he had a terrible weekend with a migraine Friday night and was hoping he did well. Mile 2 started up some hills. I just dug in and continued on my way. Candace was right beside me the entire time and though we never talk, I think we both gain some added motivation from each other. I thought Mile 2 seemed especially long, but probably because it consisted mainly of hills. Oddly enough, the hills didn't seem to bother me as much as they have in the past. Maybe there is something to this running more than once a week stuff. Mile 3 came on a slight downhill portion. You could hear the cheering and music from the finish line. Candance dropped back for a brief moment and then she was right back with me. As we came to toward the finish line, she looked at me and yelled, "Push it" and we both kicked it into high gear. It felt great to have that strength at the end. I finished in 34:39, far from a PR but continuing to get stronger. I found Jeff and Howard and they had both done great. Francis came in shortly behind me. Mom, Tracy and the girls were next. We waited around for the awards to be called. I knew that Francis did pretty much the same time he did last year, so was hoping he would get another award. I was not disappointed and got an extra special bonus - not only did he get one, but Mom got one as well. She was so funny walking up to get it! I'm so proud of not only where Jeff and I have come in the past year and a half, but sharing that with my family and seeing them take the same journey is wonderful. I am just so blessed!

My First 6am Run

2008-06-20T18:28:00.000-07:00

Yesterday morning, I got up at 5:45 AM and met Candance for a run. The crazy part is, the early time to meet was MY idea. Who am I? Actually with training beginning on 7/7 for Team Tiara and our group runs will be at 6:15 am, I only have a couple of weeks to get used to the early rise time. I am on pace to get in 4 runs this week, with the Candlelight 5K tomorrow night. It's a great feeling and I can feel some of my conditioning coming back. Being injured sucked!! My pace is almost back where it was in May 2007 when I was consistently training. Next up will be adding in strength training and some yoga. But, I digress...

So, I pulled up to Westchester at 6 on the nose and Candace was waiting for me. We crawled out of our cars with sleep still in our eyes and we both wondered what the heck we were doing up and at 'em so early. We took off through our usual route. The temperature was cool and the humidity was low. The sun was rising and the birds sang their good morning tunes. We took off through our usual route and I was concerned since I had run the day before that my legs may be tired. I had not run 2 days in a row since January when the injury started. Thankfully it was not the case. I still felt good and strong. We ran for 3 miles at a consistent pace. Now it was 6:35 am and my exercise was done for the day. Candance and I agreed that we would meet on Tuesday and Thursday mornings, same as our group runs for TT. I came home to get ready for work, knowing that at 4:30pm I could come home from work and just relax. And that's something I've not been able to do in a long time and I took full advantage of it.

Is It July 7th Yet?

2008-06-18T18:33:00.000-07:00

I mean, really? Does it take 3 weeks to put bubbles through a computer scanner? Of course, I may not want my score. Patience has never been my strong point, but I just want to know. Every time I start to think about it, I try to put it out of my mind but that's just not easy to do.

I went for a run at lunch today. I love running through downtown in the winter, when traffic is light and pedestrians aren't too much of an issue. But now that the weather is nice, I felt like the metal ball in the pinball machine, constantly bouncing off of people and the traffic signals were my stoppers. It wasn't a fun run, but I got in 3 miles.

After work, I stopped at the grocery store and got the provisions for dinner for the rest of the week and came home to cook dinner. I had just finished eating when my cell phone rang and I had to rush off to the hospital to see some employees who were involved in an accident. Got home around 9:15 and now I need to get in bed. I am meeting Candace in the morning at 6am for a 3 miler at Westchester. I guess since Team Tiara starts in 3 weeks and we'll be meeting at 6:15 am, I've got to get used to getting up early and getting my runs in. God, I hate to get up early!

LSAT is in the books

2008-06-16T17:43:00.000-07:00

Oh my goodness am I glad that the LSAT is over. I feel like I have been run over by a truck, a large, heavy truck carrying large equipment. I did get out for a 3 mile run and it was nice running with Jeff. I had to walk a couple of times because my brain was going in so many different directions I could not focus on making my body move forward. But, I got it together and finished it out. My blisters didn't seem to affect me any and I'm glad of that. They don't feel bad, they are just very ugly. After the run, we stopped by DD for an iced coffee (decaf - didn't need any additional stimulants!)

We had planned to do lunch at Sprouts so I could get a nice, clean salad that wouldn't be too heavy or too light. Jeff arrived there first and called me to inform me of the bad news - Sprouts is out of business. Danggit!! We agreed that we would eat at McAlister's instead. This threw me off my game. I'm usually not one to be so regimented and can fly by the seat of my pants, but this bothered me A LOT. After lunch, I kissed Jeff bye and got a big hug and headed to Furman. I wanted to get there in plenty of time. On the way there, I listened to David Cook, "This is My Time" about 3 times and some Natasha Bedingfield. There was a lot of traffic going into Furman, but when I pulled in there were signs for several various camps going on. As I approached Johns Hall where the test was to be administered, I was surprised to see all the people. Traditionally, the June test gets less takers than the ones in the Fall. I was told which classroom to go to (not the one I prayed in, but that's okay - God is everywhere) and went upstairs to wait. We were all left standing the hallway waiting for about 10 minutes. I was really surprised to see that it was so disorganized. I mean, they knew how many people were going to take the test and it seemed like everyone was scrambling at the last minute. The doors opened and there was no turning back. The point of no return was upon me. Part of me wanted to turn and run and the other part knew this was a necessary step at living my dream. So in I walked, I turned in my test ticket and got thumb printed and was told to go to seat 15. Now, I always look for 3s in my number and while 15 didn't have a 3, it is a multiple of 3, so I was okay with that. One of the first things I noticed was the size (or lack thereof) of the desk. I anticipated that there would be a regular desktop, but these were the small half sizes and I knew that the score sheet and booklet would be tight squeeze. There were more people than numbers on the desks, so it took up time for the proctors to find seats for everyone. Once again, they KNEW how many people were registered. My goodness, would you expect a dinner party of 12 and only set for 4? Once the proctors finally got everyone seated and began to read the instructions, I realized I wasn't really nervous, just anxious to begin. We finally got started around 1:10 pm.

The first section had proven to be my hardest in study tests. I looked at it as getting the hard one out of the way. The allotted 35 minutes sped by and I think I guessed at the last 2 questions to just get something on the paper. Section 2 was a stronger one for me and I felt confident going into it. There were a few questions that I had to read through several times, but all in all, it was smooth. (Notice I didn't say good, I said smooth). However, time went by too quick and I had to guess at the last one and knew immediately I got it wrong. Section 3 was a repeat of section 1, so one of which would be the experimental section. I now had a 50-50 shot on my toughest section. Little better time management with this one. After the third section, we got a 10 minute break. I went to the restroom and stood out in the hall to drink some water (not too much, still had an hour and 45 minutes to sit still) and eat my healthy mix of Cherrios, almonds and Cranberry Fitness from Stew Leonards. A lady came up and we started talking about test prep. She and I were roughly the same age, but I think she was a few years older and we were clearly the oldest in the group. Turns out she had not done a thing to prepare. Nope, not even looked at the question types. WHAT?! That's crazy!! I cannot even imagine not preparing at least a little bit for this test. I went back into the classroom to get ready for the next sections. The next 2 sections I was able to complete both of them before time was up. On to the writing sample and I got a for and against question, which I was happy with. Knowing that the writing sample is not scored and confident in my writing abilities, I did not spend a lot of time studying for it and was able to get my full argument in within the time. It was now over. As I turned in my test book and score sheets, all I could think of was that it is truly in God's hands. I trust in Him and know that at this point there really isn't anything I can do. I'll have the results by July 7th and we'll just go from there. I don't exactly have warm fuzzy feelings, but know that I cannot spend the next 3 weeks stressing out about it.

Our test went until 5:30, so I had to rush home. Jeff and I met at Subway for a super quick dinner and rushed to church for a meeting about the Gauntlet, the camp Heather will be attending this summer. The theme is going to be American Gladiators and I know she is going to have a fantastic time. I'm also glad to see how serious this camp is run and it seems as if every detail has been attended to. I don't know why I would think anything less of New Spring.

On the way home, I started thinking of the test and analyzing when I once again reminded myself that I can't change a thing and only move forward from here. Worst case scenario, I retake it in October. And now, I'm going to get some much needed rest. I don't think that falling asleep will be an issue for me tonight.

LSAT morning

2008-06-16T05:36:00.000-07:00

Today, I change my life. I am taking the LSAT at 12:30 pm EST. I am nervous, but have an odd sense of calm about it. I took my last practice test on Saturday. It was the test administered in December 2007 and I scored a 162. One more question right and I would have reached my goal score of a 163. I truly believe in my heart that I will get at least a 163. I also believe that God's plan for my life includes me going to law school and practicing law. I have studied hard, I have put in the work. Saturday afternoon, Jeff and I went to Furman so that I know where I am going. We also looked at the classroom (or at least one in the same building) and we both prayed over the test. I'm glad that I serve a God in whose arms I can rest knowing that He has it all planned out for me. Sure, I have to do the work, but ultimately He's in control.

Yesterday was a good day. Jeff and I went to church, we went to Barley's for lunch, walked around downtown and then got gelato. We came home to relax for a little while and then I went to see Carrie Underwood and Jason Michael Carroll with Deborah. The only studying I did was reading over the last test and analyzing it. There was nothing more I could do at that point and did not want to tax my brain, I wanted to rest it.

This morning, we are going for an easy 3 mile run. Hopefully it will wake up my brain and give me energy for this special day. I have some large blisters on my feet from the shoes I wore yesterday, so not sure how that's going to work. We will go to lunch at Sprouts and then I will go to Furman for the test. Afterwards, we will probably grab dinner and then we have a meeting at church about Heather going to camp at the Gauntlet. Today is going to be a terrific day!

Sunrise 8K in Simpsonville, SC

2008-06-14T07:47:00.000-07:00

I hate to get up early! But, since I've been running, I can tolerate it a bit better. When that alarm went off at 5 am this morning, I was NOT happy. Little Susie Sunshine I was not. I finally crawled out of bed at 5:15 and pulled on my running clothes. Amazing that they even matched. We headed to Simpsonville, about a 25 minute drive if you take the toll road, which we did. Last year, I was unable to run this race because I was in my cast. I had some pre-race nerves which always happen and ate some dry Cheerios mixed with almonds. Packet pick up was well organized and instead of shirts, they did a small pink cooler bag. Cute and useful, but I'm not sure how much will fit in it. I put on my number (200 - no 3s)and took the bags to the car while Jeff took care of nature's business and then I waited near the start line for him. I saw Wanda and Kay and spoke with them as we lined up. This tended to be a fast field, so I lined up in the back and knew that I may come in toward the back of the pack. As we started, I felt good and strong. At 3 1/2 minutes into the race, I was doing about a 9:58 pace, which I knew was too quick for me, so I backed off. We rounded the corner and ran up Main Street. I saw a girl that I've run with in several recent races and she was breathing really, really hard. I have noticed that she tends to go out fast, but dies after about 1.5 to 2 miles. It looked like today would be no exception for her. I spoke to a lady that I finished the Safe Harbor Race with in May. I don't know her name, but remembered her son's name was Scott so I just called her Scott's Mom. Mile 1 was at 10:42. Not bad for me. I purposefully slowed down even more because visions of that Safe Harbor run were dancing through my head when I had to stop and walk so much because I was cramping. I did not want a repeat of that race. Even at 6:30 am, it was mid-70s with 65% humidity. I ran without my iPod, something I normally do not do so I sang a song in my head over and over again (Kid Rock - All Summer Long). Even now, 4 hours later, I can't get that song out of my head! Mile 2 = 11:27. At the water stop, I walked through it and had some water. I had just put in my Shot Block and still felt good. We were now in the neighborhoods and were running into one named "Poinsettia". I began to picture the neighborhood I grew up in (Poinsettia Forest) and started naming off people who would have lived in the equivalent houses. Anything to keep my mind occupied. Mile 3 = 11:35. There was a man running with his Irish Setter and at about mile 3.25, a gentleman in his yard spraying runners with a hose. God Bless him! I tried to get my spray on, but a large genteleman in front of me who was walking was blocking most of the shot. At about 3.9 miles, I walked briefly up a small hill. I wanted to finish this race strong and needed just a few seconds to recover. Mile 4 = 11:32. The last mile seemed to go by really quickly. Not that I was running it fast, but we were coming out of the neighborhood and running up the street. I could see the park in the distance and knew the finish was close. For the first time since January, I still felt super good and strong at 5 miles. I think I am finally healed! I heard Jeff yell for me at the corner. He finished in 48:11. He's freakin' amazing! I rounded the corner and down the hill toward the finish line. I picked up my speed in a major way and sprinted across the line. Mile 5 = 10:52. As I came across the line, I was at a 7:04 pace. Whew! That was fun!! Total time: 56:15. I missed my PR by around 32 seconds. And I wasn't in the back, there were still quite a few people who finished behind me. I have gotten so used to running in the back almost by myself that I loved the feeling of being with other people on the course.

So, it's time for me to get serious and get my conditioning up again. My goal for this year is still an under-30 5K and if I can keep it up, stay injury free, at the Turkey Trot I'm going to accomplish it!

Potty Etiquette

2008-06-13T17:58:00.000-07:00

I work in a public building, a very public building. As such, there are no "private" or "employee only" restrooms. All my life, I have had issues going to the bathroom in a public restroom. And no, it doesn't matter if it's to pee or poop; I don't discriminate and have issues with both. So, since it is not feasible for me to hold my pee for sometimes up to 10 hours a day and drink water to stay healthy, I have had to get over my issues and use the public restrooms. I have been known to go to four different restrooms in search of one that isn't occupied. So, as I'm dealing with my issues (bulls&*t that admitting it is half the battle) I'm laying out some basic bathroom etiquette:

1. Flush the dang toilet!! I am amazed at the number of times I see a toilet that is not flushed. And apparently, non-flushers don't discriminate either because it doesn't matter is it's pee or poop. You know whether you flushed or not. And don't blame it on your kid! If you are a parent, you should be responsible enough to check behind your child. If it doesn't all go down the first time, stand there and wait and flush again. Keep repeating until the toilet is clean.

2. Clean up after yourself. There is no reason to have toilet paper, the seat covers, Kleenex, tampon wrappers (and God forbid-tampons themselves) all over the floor. If you drop something, pick it up. If it lands in something wet, it doesn't make it okay to leave it there.

3. If you pee on the seat (and how the hell do women do this anyway?!), wipe it off before you leave the stall. If you don't want to sit down in it, I can assure you that no one else does either.

4. Don't begin to unbutton your pants, pull up your skirt, or pull down your pants before you go into a stall. It's bad enough I have to look at your muffin top belly overhanging your jeans with the fabric covering. I certainly don't want to see what's under there.

5. If we are walking into the bathroom and know each other, it's okay to make conversation UNTIL YOU GO INTO THE STALL. Once the door shuts, so should your mouth. I really don't want to talk about your weekend or what you did last night while I'm attempting to pee. This may also cause stage fright and then I'll be there all day.

6. Get off the freakin' cell phone! I don't want to hear your conversation and I can just about guarantee that the person on the other side of the phone doesn't want to hear what you are doing at that moment. You think they don't know you're in a bathroom? That's right, there are always an echo and the sound of waterfalls in downtown Greenville.

7. Don't put your kids in the stall with you - this is a recipe for disaster and not only that, they all think it's funny to peek under the stall and say hello to the person next to you. Not cool!

8. Wash your hands after you are done. Isn't this something that we all learned no later than first grade? So, do you think that germs just fall off you after a certain age? It's not okay to not be clean. This is how disease is spread. Forget tainted spinach, tomatoes, or beef - it probably started because the people handling it didn't wash their hands after they went potty.

See, the rules aren't difficult at all. It should be common sense, but unfortunately, today common sense just isn't all that common.

A-HA Moment

2008-06-12T05:18:00.001-07:00

I awoke at 2:15 this morning in a cold sweat. Obviously some test anxiety going on there. I know it is a precursor of what is to come over the next 4 years as I embark on law school and the bar exam. But, much like the marathon, getting there is the hardest part. I realized that one of the things I am doing differently on my practice tests is attempting to digest each word of the question. I am circling words and underlining, sometimes almost entire passages. I think that I am over analyzing and getting caught up in the minutia of it all. So tonight, back to the old strategy - read through carefully and go with my gut on the answer. Stop trying to over-think it. We'll see where that takes me. Thankfully I have 4 more days to perfect my test strategy so that I can go in on Monday confident of my abilities.

Oh yeah, I got a postcard yesterday from John Marshall SOL in Atlanta. It was my first piece of snail mail (have emails from Charlotte and Stetson, both on my list). I've seen John Marshall when we run the Sprint for Cancer and don't care to be in that part of Atlanta, but the postcard made me oddly excited. It's all becoming very, very real.

2 Miles

2008-06-10T18:32:00.000-07:00

Funny how you try to argue with yourself. Even after my last post, I stood up, sat back down and said to myself, "Well, if I go out and run tonight, I really won't be able to go run early in the morning." My logical self then piped up with, "Like you'll really get up early anyway and go run". Good point. So, logic won out and I pulled on some running clothes, my trusty Bondi Band, Garmin and Road ID and drove over to Westchester. I had taken out my contacts already, so I took off my glasses and prayed that I could see enough to run. I could, but had to look at the road because everything ahead of me was fuzzy.It was still 90 degrees and humidity was high. I knew that my firt mile was fast, for me, but I felt really strong and was surprised when it turned out to be 10:11. That may be my fastest mile yet. Mile 2 was slower, but at 10:53, I'll take it. So, the moral of my day is that when you are stressed, run... and when you are really stressed, run FASTER!!

Tuesday can sometimes be Monday

2008-06-10T17:14:00.000-07:00

The highlight of my day: Having lunch with Jeff. Better yet, Jeff wanting to have lunch with me, even after spending all weekend with me.

The lowlight of my day: another crappy score on an LSAT practice test. Was the test on Saturday just an easier test? I really don't think so. Could it be that because I took that one in the middle of the day, my brain was better equipped to handle it? I certainly hope so, since my actual test is at 12:30.

Oh well, no use crying over a poor test. Right now, my average score is a 158. Still far below where I want to be. So, to make everything better, I am going to fight the heat and humidity and go out for a run.

Connecticut Run

2008-06-08T07:47:00.000-07:00

Flew into NY yesterday after an easy flight from Charlotte. I worked on a practice test on the plan and while waiting for Jeff to get the rental car. It took about an hour and 40 minutes just at Budget to get the car because their system was down. But, at least I redeemed myself and saw how that 1 day off from studying helped. I had a 162 on this practice test.

After we got the car, we headed into Connecticut and made a stop at Stew Leonard's, the world's largest diary store. We were like kids in a candy store (but it was a grocery store) and had a lot of fun going through the aisles, tasting the samples (we passed on the salmon burgers) and watching the "show" in the dairy aisle. I'll post pictures after we get home. I had some pichastio yogurt (yum!) and then we had a burger and split an ear of steamed corn for lunch. We then headed to Statford via Westport, Southport and Fairfield. The day was beautiful and we wanted to relax as much as possible before the services begin later today. After relaxing, catching up on emails and surfing the net, we went for a late dinner to Uno's Chicago Grill. They actually had a kiosk in the front lobby where you could select their menu and choose an item and up pops all its nutritional information. I love that and wish every restaurant were required to have one.

So, we got up this morning, threw on our running clothes and took a brief drive over to Short Beach. I had found a route on mapmyrun earlier in the week:

Lighthouse GC
Find more Runs in Stratford, Connecticut

While the temperature was only about 78 degrees, the humidity made it feel much warmer. The first mile felt good with good breath control. The second mile was a little tougher, I was sweating a lot and beginning to feel the cheese bagel I had half of in the car creep up on me. At 2.05, I made a quick stop at the car to drink a little bit of water. We would now be running back up Prospect to Cove and run along the Sound. As I turned the corner on Cove, the view was beautiful. There were ferries in the water going to and from NY. I was longing for an ocean breeze, but there wasn't one. I fought boughts of nausea I'm sure were brought on by the heat and humidity. As I turned around at the end of Cove, the water looked like their were millions of diamonds twinkling on the top. That's one of my favorite times - when there are sparkles everywhere. Made it back to the car and went a few more steps to get in a full 4 miles. I also made a decision that this will be my last weekend run so late in the morning. Looks like I'll be out at 5:30 from this point on to try and beat some of the heat.

We are back at the hotel, getting ready to go to Bea's services. Today will be a hard, but inspirational, day for everyone. I am blessed to have known Bea and am thankful for the role she played in Jeff's life. She will forever be loved and missed.

What ever happened to standing on your platform?

2008-06-06T17:38:00.000-07:00

Seems like today all the politicians and wanna-be politicians have to inundate the public with messages about how they great they are. Whether it be by television ads, billboards, signs along the roadway, mass mailings, or *pisses me off* telephone ads, it's all about getting their name out there. Now, if they were that great, wouldn't their name already be out there? This is not just limited to our presidential candidates. Driving home tonight I noticed a stretch of a 4 lane highway with signs for one Solicitor wanna-be lining the ENTIRE ROADWAY! How much money are these signs costing? How much are the mass mailings, billboards, television ads? It used to be that politicians could stand on their platforms - what they would change or improve, how they could raise the value of life in their district. Now it seems like whoever has the most bells and whistles wins. I've never been one to succumb to the "squeeky wheel gets the grease" cliche. I would like to know what the platforms are of the candidate and heck, I can't even find that! I've found cute slogans, such as, "It's not just a career, it's a calling" (for coroner of all things!), and "Years of experience", but experience in what? None of my candidates for Clerk of Court have any court experience. I guarantee that some of them don't even know a docket from a donut. And we wonder why our court system is so backlogged. Because we put people in office that don't know anything it! I would much rather cast my vote for someone who is going to put the funds back into the community (and I don't mean by trashing it with signs). I know the critics of my statement would say, "That's campaign money, it is meant to be spent on the campaign". Okay then, how about spending it on lunches for the homeless and less fortunate while you do a town hall meeting to hear about their needs. Oh, they don't vote? Then does that mean they don't matter? Or how about spending some campaign money to host something for members of your district who have a low income school - you know the one - where the kids don't have winter coats and proper shoes. Enough with the signs and mail and calls! I honestly do not need to see your face everywhere I look as I drive up my street. I will be so glad when this election is over!! And by the way, after it is over, how many signs do you think will end up in the trash can versus being recycled?

Trying not to Defeat Myself

2008-06-05T18:32:00.000-07:00

The LSAT is 10 days away and I am at that high stress point that it is affecting me in very negative ways. Earlier today, I had an incident at work that was truly petty looking back on it, but at the time had me almost in tears. I would like to blame this on hormones, but I know that's not the case. The more I think of it, Jeff's explanation of the testosterone that builds up as a result of the marathon and it will take awhile to get my body back to normal, makes a heck of a lot of sense. Apparently, today the estrogen has taken over. Or maybe my new bra is cutting off circulation to my brain.

Anyway, another night and another practice test. Problem is that over the last 2 nights, my scores have dropped instead of staying the same or increasing. Whether this is caused by stress, by lack of sleep, or a combination of these factors, I'm not sure. However, I want it to stop! I need a good score on this and I'm fully capable of getting it. Jeff recommended that I take a day off from studying and I think I am going to have to do that in order to decompress and refocus. Assumption and strengthen/weaken questions continue to be my nemesis, but I control them and not the other way around. Really, I'm just putting all this down in order to vent and get it out. Otherwise, the negative thoughts I am having will fester and grow and ultimately defeat me.

On a good note, I spoke with my former boss and he said that he will be happy to write my letter of recommendation and will do whatever he can to help me. I have an appointment to go see him on July 8, after he returns from a mission trip to Panama. This will give me my LORs. Since I already have my Personal Statement drafted, the only thing I will have to complete is the applications themselves, and I'll have everything ready to go as soon as applications open.

Also, I was surprised to get my package from Team Tiara today in the mail. And, the coolest thing is that my tiara (which I will decorate at a party mid-training) is PINK! I can't wait to add some bling and pizazz and make it my own. I can promise that everyone will see me on the course.

With all this being said, I'm going to go to bed, get a good night's sleep and start anew and refreshed tomorrow. Tomorrow evening I plan to get in a run and then I get to have dinner with the girls and Jeff will be home. Yay!! I'll have to pack tomorrow night for our Saturday morning flight.

First Post-Marathon Run

2008-06-03T18:33:00.000-07:00

Whew! Today was a slow, slow day at work. I guess summer is officially here and if I remember correctly, last year around this time I was really bored too. The good thing is that the down time enabled me to have some more study time so that I wasn't locked in to spending my whole evening on a practice test. I was able to complete 3 of 4 sections before I left work.

I went to assist with the No Boundaries weekday workout, a 40 minute run. This was a wonderful opportunity for me because I knew that I needed to get in a run and this put me accountable for doing so. One person was there from the group, Diane, so she and took off for our 5 minute warm up walk and then headed toward down toward the park to begin our 40 minute run. While I'm very familiar with Cleveland Park and the area downtown, from Cleveland Steet I had to wing the route. While a recovery run is supposed to be slow and easy, mine was anything but easy. The first mile is always difficult for me; it seems to take me about 15 minutes or so to really get in my groove. We wound our way through Cleveland Park to Falls Park and up to University Ridge. The hill beside the park got me and I had to stop and walk for a few seconds. I told Diane that I would catch up and I did. The heat and humidity was definitely a factor. At one point, I had to tell myself that I had just completed a marathon, there was no way I was going to stop on a 40 minute run. We logged 3.35 miles in 40 minutes. Diane was happy and said it was a good pace for her. I'm glad because anything faster and I may have tossed my lunch.

Got home, grabbed a quick bite and then settled in to complete the last section of practice test. Scored a 159. If nothing else, I am consistent. This would at least put me in the median at USC and in the upper 25% at Charleston, Charlotte, Stetson and Cumberland. Not even on the map at Alabama, though. So, come on 163!!!

Jeff just called and informed me that his grandmother passed away. Bea was a wonderful woman and we just celebrated her 90th birthday in March. She lived a long, wonderful life and she will truly be missed. I know that this will be hard on Jeff because Bea was basically his mother figure. One of the things I appreciated the most about her was that she never made be feel uncomfortable or awkward, but always made me feel like part of the family. I know she's in heaven now with Jeff's grandfather, celebrating their reunion. I am blessed to have known her.

Hopefully, I'll be able to get some sleep tonight. Last night's Stanley Cup game going into 3 OTs affected my sleep in a really negative way. Going to sleep at 1:15 am is WAY past my bedtime.

Just Another Manic Monday

2008-06-02T19:47:00.000-07:00

Today started off with the usual craziness of orientation. People showing up unexpectedly, people not showing up when expected, and the usual uncooperation between staff members. It all makes for a frustrating morning. Is it time to go to law school yet? I wish!! But, after orientation and lunch, things slowed way down and gave me some time to get some other things (on a more personal note) done. Important things, like ordering transcripts and reading through study notes. I ended up staying at work past 5 and heading to Port City Java to get some iced coffee and study before a 6:30 meeting. Compounding my crazy day, the Port City near my office has closed down. How can a business close and yet leave it's tables and chairs outside to decieve the public and look like it's open? Oh well, there was another one on the way to the meeting, so I got an Iced Mocha (made with 1/2 decaf, no sense staying up all night!) and settled in to complete one LSAT section. On to my 6:30 meeting...

Team Tiara is the fundraising portion of Girls on the Run and the goal is to raise money while training for a full or half marathon. Our local chapter is training for the Spinx RunFest on October 25. I will do the half marathon, because training will be during football season, and let's face it - we all know where my priorities lie from the end of August through November. The minimum goal is to raise $262. There were 4 ladies at the meeting and we all agreed to 3 runs during the week and a long run on the weekend. While trying to coordinate the best time to plan the weekday runs, it was agreed upon to do them early morning, like 5:45 or 6:00. WHAT???!!!! I actually agreed to this on my own accord without anyone holding a gun to my head? Yep, I sure did. Knowing that there will be other people waiting on me in the park will make me drag my lazy tail out of bed on Monday, Tuesday and Thursdays and get my runs in. This is one of the main reasons I wanted to do this training - the accountability and companionship during the training process. This begins on July 7, so until then, I can at least sleep in a little bit.

After the meeting, I came home and settled in with my LSAT test. I completed the next 3 sections, untimed. My test score came to a 160. Whoo hooo! After 157, 158 and 159 over the weekend, I'll take a 160! My ultimate goal is a 163 for the actual test in *GULP* two weeks. So, now it is 11:00 pm and I just realized that I never ate dinner. I guess my mocha freeze will have to suffice. I'm off to bed to dream of analytical reasoning, logic games and visions of reading comprehension all through my head. After all, tomorrow is another day and another practice test, this one will be timed.

Marathon Day

2008-06-01T15:00:00.000-07:00

Sunday, May 25, 2008 - It's finally here!

I woke up that Sunday morning feeling well-rested and oddly calm and peaceful. Normally, I have tons of nervous energy, even for the shortest of races. Perhaps it was that I knew I was going into this marathon with no expectations, short of finishing. Or perhaps I was just too stupid to know what loomed ahead of me. I had layed out my clothes the night before to ensure that nothing was overlooked. I put on my favorite Mizuno runnning skirt (it has a deep zippered pocket), my Saucony tank top, my Mizuno Wave Rider shoes, Balega socks (which actually came before the shoes), and put my hair up in a ponytail. I had purchased a Bondi Band at the Expo on Saturday in the hopes that it would hold any hair back from getting in my face, keep sweat from pouring into my eyes, and be cooler than a hat. It did not let me down. I ate my 1/2 PowerBar and 1/2 banana and took the bagel for the shuttle ride. Jeff and I did a last minute check and readied to leave the room. I looked at him and asked, "Are you ready to go change our lives?" He responded with a resounding "Yes" and down to the lobby we went to wait on the shuttle that would take us near the Start Line. We were both impatient as we waited, but not nearly as impatient as a woman who walked up to us as we went outside. Keep in mind there was a large, yellow sign that said, "Shuttle Bus for Marathon Boards Here" right outside our hotel. There were no other large yellow signs in the parking lot at all. This lady walks from the parking lot to the sidewalk with a surgical mask hanging from her ears. Since she didn't have a scapel in one hand, I figured she probably wasn't there for surgery. However, as she got closer and I noticed the snot running out of her nose, I wished that she had put the mask in place. She was so freakin' worried about the bus and if it was going to be late that she kept walking out to the parking lot to look for it. On time, it pulled up and we didn't offer to share a seat with runny-nose lady. The shuttle ride was relatively short, there were many conversations taking place and it reminded me of my middle school bus ride, minus the bullies and someone taking my lunch money. The shuttle stopped and off we walked, following the sounds of music and announcements. We must have looked like a line of lemmings heading toward the cliff.

We found The Cathedral of St. Paul, where a short, ecumenical service was being held for the runners. We found seats and turned ourselves over for a few short minutes. I do have to admit that I found it peaceful and calming to be in the Lord's house before taking on such a daunting task. While blessings from various cultures were being offered up, I said my own prayers for safety for us and the other runners; for Jeff's achilles which I knew had been bothering him; and for strength to persevere. We left the 15-minute service and went to Battery Park to check our bag and use a last-minute Port-a-Potty. The line to check the bag was short and the line to use the restroom was long. But, there were plenty of facilities so we knew the lines would move quickly. While standing in line, I realized that I had made a HUGE error! I had put my iPod in the pocket of the jacket I had on. I had initially intended to discard the jacket at the Start Line once the event started, but at the last minute, I put it in the bag without removing my iPod. I stepped out of line and went over the truck where bags were being loaded. I explained to the woman who was loading what happened and asked if she could find my bag. While she was looking, a gentleman came running over saying over and over again, "I've messed up so bad, I've messed up so bad". Turns out he had left his gels and nutrition in his bag. Luckily, she was able to find both of our bags relatively quick and back in line for the potty I went. As soon as Jeff and I exited potty area, they were announcing for everyone to line up. Yikes!! IT WAS TIME!!

I approached the pacing areas. This was the first race I had done with pace signs and I was remiss to see that the slowest pace time was 5 hours. Jeff and I stood together in the front of that pace group while the National Anthem was played and it was then time for me to move to the very back. I kissed him and wished him luck. It seemed like only seconds before the gun went off and away we went.

The first 3 miles were through the downtown and surrounding neighborhood. The crowds were large and loud and easy to draw energy from. I was "running my race" and struggled to not go out too fast as I had in previous races. I felt comfortable, in control, and my breathing was not labored. I did not wear my heart rate monitor because for long runs, it tends to press too hard in the areas my hernias were repaired and cause me discomfort. I passed kids with their hands outstretched and made sure to give them high fives. I thanked police officers and volunteers. I saw a man in a Speedo playing an accordian. Where else are you going to see that? I told myself that I was there to enjoy myself and not compete. After mile 3, we went into a highway area, known as the Beltline. The area was closed to traffic and on the way, I got to see some of the wheelchair racers coming the opposite direction. Once on the Beltline, the leaders were coming. They looked fast and strong. I often wonder if I don't have it better being slow. I at least get to enjoy my surroundings, while I imagine that they only have one goal in mind - finish fast without throwing up or passing out. I knew that an acquaintance from Greenville, Justin, was attempting to do it in 3 hours or less so he should be in this group. I didn't know how I would recognized him, but then I zoned in on the Fleet Feet Greenville shirt. I yelled out, "Way to go, Justin, you've got this!" A few seconds later, I heard, "Gerri, is that you?" I turned and gave him a wave. Justin would finish in 3:05. I enjoyed the Beltline and got into a good rhythm. I was listening to my book at this point and realizing that it did keep my mind occupied. I made sure to walk through every water stop and beginning at the third one, I took in Gatorade at every other one. This made me nervous as I had not used Gatorade on any other run and it tends to upset my stomach. But, it was painfully clear that the temperature was going to be higher than forecasted and I would need to replace my electrolytes.

At mile 10, I started slowing down. My breathing still felt good, but I was beginning to have terrible cramps in my calves. I tried to walk and stretch them out, but they were so tight and painful. I tried to run some and they felt better when running, but as soon as I stopped to walk for a few seconds, they tightened right back up. I truly began to wonder if I could do this. Could I go on 16 more miles feeling this way? The negative voices in my head began to scream at me. I knew I was in way over my head. I also knew that an aid station was approaching at mile 11.1. I thought that I could go ahead and turn in my chip there and make it to Waterfront Park to wait on Jeff to finish. I battled this for what seemed like an eternity. I walked mainly by myself, being passed by people that looked like they were much less fit, much older, or weighed much more. I was on a part of the bike path that had railroad tracks to my right and there was a train going. I though briefly about hopping it just to have it take me away. I approached the aid station at 11.1 and realized that everyone there had their back to the runners. It appeared that they were packing everything up and so, I just kept going. I knew that I would get to Waterfront Park at around 14-15 miles and I could just stop there. So, for the next 3 miles, I listened to my book, walked as fast as I could, ran in brief spurts, and thought, "My day will be over soon." But then a funny thing happened as I neared the park. I could hear the music blaring and the announcer calling out results. I saw the large hill on Battery in front of me. I had a decision to make....

While not the most sane thing I've ever done, I reached in deep and decided that I had not come that far to quit. Quitting was a word that I despise. I was not injured, puking, or dehydrated. I wasn't running, but I could walk and if I had to walk the next 11.2 miles, dammit, I was going to do just that. I don't remember ascending the hill, but I do know the Tyco drummers were gone at that point, packed up figuring they had helped out all of those who would finish. I jogged when I could on the downhills and my calves were finally beginning to release a bit. In a neighborhood, I saw a very welcome site - other people! yay!! I rushed my steps and caught up with some of them. I walked/jogged for a bit with a girl from California. This was her second marathon. She was very nice and offered me a snack if I needed it. I then came upon a mother and daughter. The daughter was encouraging her mom to keep on going. They were awesome! I remember at Mile 20, thinking and saying, "Only a 10K left". I knew long ago that I would not meet the 6 hour time limit. But I knew that I was going to meet my goal and finish this marathon. For the next 6 miles, we were on a narrow bike path. I kept looking for views of the lake, but all I saw were trees, weeds, grass and the backs on homes. By this time, many of the residents who had waited so patiently to use the path which had been closed during the marathon began to zoom past me on their bicycles. I started to try to barter my Garmin for a Schwinn. By this time, my feet were burning and I felt that I had blisters on my small toes. Since mile 4, I had some pain in the first metatarsals each time I raised my foot off the ground. I could feel that my back, shoulders and neck were getting sunburned. I could see the mother-daughter up ahead and California and I continued to play cat and mouse. I could also see two of the members of the "End Stroke" team. RELENTLESS FORWARD MOTION, RELENTLESS FORWARD MOTION, I CAN DO THIS, I AM STRONG, were some of the mantras I used. However, the book did help give me an escape. If I felt my mind wandering to the pain my body was feeling, I simply said, "let's go back to Grafton" and concentrated hard on the words coming through my earbuds. At Mile 25, I noticed that California kept stopping to run something on her hamstrings and glutes. She was cramping up. I asked her as I went past if I could help and encouraged her to keep moving, we were almost there. As bad as I wanted to stop and help her, if I had I knew that I too would cramp up and it would be oh so difficult to get started again. As I got closer to the end of the bike path, more and more people passed me in the opposite direction, their medals shining in the afternoon sun, their arms full of bagels, bananas, apples and water. Ahhh, water... the aid stations were gone for us after Mile 22, so I had now gone over 3 miles with no water. I was chewing a piece of gum like a champ, just trying to keep my mouth moist. As I came off the bike path, I saw the most wonderful site. No, it wasn't the Ben & Jerry's truck. It was my wonderful husband Jeff, cheering for me, telling me I could do this. His medal was proudly hanging from his neck. I was SO proud of him and so happy to see him. All that I could get out was, "I didn't quit". I heard him say that there was only about .3 of a mile left. I turned and confirmed that he said 3 tenths, he had and said he'd meet me at the finish line. I knew that I had made a promise to myself to finish this thing running. Never had I crossed a finish line walking and I knew that I had it in me. I picked up my pace. I started running. Now, it was not a sprint, nor was it really a run, but more like a slow jog, but at that moment to me, it felt like I was flying. I turned one corner, I could hear the announcers telling us that they would stay and announce until the last person crossed, so not to sprint and risk injury. I turned another corner and was closing the distance on the Stroke team. As I approached them, I told them that I had been behind them all day. They told me to go ahead and go around them and that I was awesome. Me? Awesome? No way! We were all awesome! There were still a few people left in the park and they enthusiastically cheered me to the finish line. I heard the announcers say, "And here comes 1261, that's Gerri Plain from Easley, SC." Holy crow! That's ME!!!! They then said they were from Bluffton and I gave them a thumb's up for SC. And there, in the sun is the Finish Line. And there I go - crossing it. Jeff rushed out and hugged me and we both cried. I still kept saying, "I didn't quit, I didn't quit". My time was 6:22:24. Not stellar by any means. But the time doesn't matter because no matter how long it took me, I went the distance and I am a marathoner!

On the way to a marathon...

2008-05-30T17:14:00.000-07:00

Friday - May 23 to Vermont we go!

On Friday morning, we awoke what I would consider to be stupid-early and headed to the airport. Our flight was on time and after a brief stop in Philly, with 3 gate changes, we made it as scheduled to Burlington, Vermont. This was my first trip to Vermont, one of the few states I had never visited. It was a little cooler and overcast with rain in the forecast for the evening. We got in our rental car and headed to the downtown area. We stopped in at the local mall, did a little shopping and asked for recommendations on a good place to have lunch. Sweetwaters was located in a pedestrian mall area behind the main mall. We were shown to a small booth for two and I ordered the chicken wrap with sweet potato fries. It was yummy! Jeff had the turkey wrap and cole slaw. We both took a chance and ordered iced tea. While Jeff's palate told him that the tea was raspberry, it was clearly peach and tasted almost as good as you can get in the South. After lunch, we headed out to our find our hotel and relax a bit before we met Jeff's friends Norm and Lori for dinner. Jeff asked me if I wanted to drive part of the course and I declined. Fact was - I was in Vermont and absolutely terrified of the 26.2 miles that loomed before me. I knew if I drove around even a small portion of the course, the butterflies that had been in my stomach would turn into missiles and I would be tempted to back out.

Dinner was at Trattoria Delhia, a nice small italian restaurant. Norm and Lori were fantastic and I liked them immediately. Both were very down to earth and Norm is so flippin' funny! Jeff had the filet, an odd choice for an italian restaurant, but he was beginning to tire of pasta. I ordered the spaghetti with meat sauce. I just was not about to tempt fate and be adventurous this close to the marathon. And truth is, my stomach was still not back to normal. I was still having reflux and just didn't feel 100 percent. For dessert, we split the Tiramisu and it was fantastic! After dinner, we just went back to the hotel to get some rest.

Saturday - the Expo

We woke up fairly early on Saturday, took our time getting ready and headed in the direction of the Expo. We both knew that this would, by far, be the largest Expo we had attended. After a breakfast stop for bagels, we arrived at the Sheraton and made our way to the back to pick up our packets. We realized that we had to know our bib numbers first, so made our way over to another area and looked those up. I was Bib number 1261 and Jeff was 1259. My lucky number is 3 and I'm always remiss when my Bib number doesn't have a 3 in it. Somehow I just always feel better when there's a 3 and this was one time I definitely wanted all the mojo I could get. But since I don't assign numbers, there wasn't anything I could do. I also wondered how someone managed to register in between us, and looking back on it, I never even thought to look at who was 1260. We got our race packets, bibs, chips and shirts and walked around to some of the vendors. It was almost sensory overload. There were gels in every brand, viscosity, and flavor; there were walls of shoes; vendors telling you why everyone needs orthotics; clothing in every size and color; sunglasses; and yes - even Ben & Jerry's was there with free samples. We made our way through the vendors and charted out an agenda for the day's activities. The Expo included mini-seminars on everything from a mile-by-mile course preview; to racing and training smart; to recovery; there were also adventure movies. We decided to see 2 movies and attend the course preview and 2 seminars. The first movie was "The Russian Wave" about 2 expedition kayakers who were commissioned to go to the far ends of Russia and paddle in order to boost the appeal of white water kayaking in the area. There was one problem - they couldn't find any white water. I did learn that they eat an awful lot of fish and other food that looked really, really gross. I think I would starve if I visited Russia. We then went to the course preview. The race director was there and went into some advice for the marathoners. When asked how many was this their first marathon, quite a few raised their hands. One piece of information she gave was that water would be in white cups and diluted Gatorade would be in green cups. While that may have seemed very elementary at the time, it came in very handy to know. We were only able to stay through about mile 6 when we had to duck out to make it to the next movie. "Running on the Sun" is a documentary about the Badlands 135, a race run in the hottest place (Death Valley) during the hottest time of year (summer). There are 40 participants and they run 135 miles. At times it was hard to watch. There were huge blisters that were popped right along the side of the road, a lot of vomiting, heat exhaustion, black toes, lost toenails, and overall pain and agony of the runners. One man's prothetic caused a blister that covered his entire stump. The one thing that stood out to me through the entire thing was the sheer determination these people had. It wasn't easy and I'm sure at times they felt like they would rather die than go another step, but they continued to persevere. In the end, I knew that while my marathon would not be as extreme, I would have to call on the same inner strength that they did. Once the movie was over, we were hungry, so we decided to skip a seminar and go have lunch at the hotel. After lunch, we attended a seminar on Recovery and Periodization. I learned that you should take 4 weeks after the marathon before beginning to rebuild a base again.

Week one - do nothing more than light walking;
Week two - ride bike and maybe slow, easy runs of 2-3 miles, no more than twice that week;
Week three - begin to add some miles or days to running
Week four - rebuild base

I knew with the injuries that I had, I would probably be in a lot of pain after the race. I was prepared for it and knew that my recovery may even be double this schedule.

After that seminar, we prepared for another one on biomechanics that Bill Rodgers, 4 time winner of Boston, would be speaking in. Actually most of that seminar was droll and Bill came in toward the end. I found him a little difficult to follow, but entertaining overall. There was about 30 minutes before the pasta dinner, so we just killed some time. Jeff wanted to get our poster signed by Bill Rodgers, so I asked him to sign it. We stood at the table and spoke with him for about 10 minutes. I still found him a little difficult to follow. At the pasta dinner, we had a couple from the Burlington area and a couple from Poughkeepsie, NY sit with us. We were the only couple running the marathon - the wife from Burlington was running and the husband from NY was running. She had run it two years prior and we picked her brain about the course, the hill at mile 15 (she said the one on the beltline was worse in her opinion) and how rated her first experience. The gentelman from NY had joined a couple of friends to train for it and both of them had to drop out due to injuries. He felt that he was running it for all 3 of them. After we ate, we left the Sheraton and headed back toward the hotel. We made a stop at K-Mart for me to buy a cheap jacket to wear the next morning and discard before the race and a stop at Hannagan's to get a banana and a PowerBar. I had success before to do 1/2 banana, 1/2 PowerBar and 1/2 bagel for pre-race meal and I had to go with what worked. However, I had learned that the PowerBar Protein Plus did not work. I needed to avoid protein pre and during runs. Once we got back to the hotel, we layed out our clothes for the next morning, put the chip on our shoes, put the Bibs on our shirts, and tried to relax. I had decided several weeks ago that I was going to download a book on my iPod to listen to while on the course. I perused audible.com and attempted to find a book that would hold my interest and be the right length. I settled on "T is for Trespass" by Sue Grafton, a 5 hour 49 minute reading. I also downloaded some new music to have before the book. I then took a hot bath, both to shave my legs and try to de-stress. I crawled into bed and, unexpectedly, fell asleep fairly quick. It is not unusual for me even under the best circumstances to take about an hour to fall asleep, but now that night. I was able to go to sleep quickly and soundly. The marathon was now only hours away.

Funny that even though I knew I was horribly under-trained and was risking injury, the thoughts of not doing this marathon never entered my mind. Come hell or high water, I would cross the start and finish lines. But, it is amazing how quickly thoughts, intentions and limitations can change over 26.2 miles ...

No Longer a WannaBe

2008-05-29T16:40:00.000-07:00

Well, I did it! I completed my first marathon on May 25, 2008 - the Vermont City Marathon. It humbled me and taught me a lot about myself, determination and the value of training (of which I had almost none). But, it's been awhile since I blogged so let me catch up.

At the end of February, I was still struggling with injuries to my left leg. These injuries would continue to plague me until 2 weeks before the marathon. While my shin splints were healing up, I began to have swelling and pain in my left ankle. And when I say swelling, I mean cankle in a major way. It was not any more painful to run than it had been, but after runs of any length, I had pain for several days. Needless to say, my motivation to run was diminishing. I was also coaching Girls on the Run twice a week. My choice of evenings to run was cut in half. In late March, I went out for a 12-mile long run. Well, at least that was my intention. I was attempting to do walk/run; it was cold; I was tired; and, I just could not seem to find my ju-ju. After 8 miles, I stood in the middle of street and cried. I wanted this so bad, but I could not seem to wrap my brain around the physical aspect of it all. I seriously began to wonder if I could do a marathon. Two weeks later, I went out and got in 8.5 miles and I knew I was still short a lot of mileage, I felt somewhat relieved.

On April 26, I did the Greer Earth Day Half Marathon. This was yet another reality check. I went out way too fast (first 4 miles were all under or right at 11:00 minute miles) and I had to stop and walk beginning at mile 6. For the next 7 miles, I struggled with my legs to move, my head to push the negative voices from my mind, and my will to just keep going. You see, it had become easy to quit in the last 2 months. Long runs got hard, so I just stopped. I moved from running with no walk breaks, to running 10 minutes, walking 1; to running 7 minutes, walking 1; to running 5 minutes, walking 1... and well, you get the point. Once strong-willed and determined, I wondered if I would ever find that certain something from within and overcome the running demons that seemed to have possessed me.

I was still having swelling and pain in my ankle and lower leg. Around this time, I had the opportunity to speak with another orthopaedic, who told me to take out the heel pad and switch to a neutral shoe. I explained to him that the heel pad had helped my shin splints. He encouraged me strongly to live with the shin splints and explained that the heel pad, along with my stability shoes, were causing too much stress on my tibialis tendon and that was causing the pain and swelling. He also went on to inform me that if I caused a tear in that tendon, it would require reconstructive surgery. The heel pad was removed right then and there and new shoes were purchased. I began to get some relief almost immediately.

From April 26 to May 25, I ran all of 3 times - the longest run being 5 miles. And guess what happened on that run - yep! I stopped running and walked. My training had officially gone to hell in a handbasket and now it was too late to get it on track in time for the Vermont City Marathon.

I had a tough decision to make and and anyone with any sense at all encouraged me to not move forward with this. I seriously considered on several occassions not doing the marathon and just going along and cheering Jeff on. But I just could not give up on a goal I had set for myself. I had spent the last 12 weeks with the Girls on the Run teaching 10 young ladies about setting and reaching goals, never stopping, doing their best and not quitting. Many of those girls were overweight, had never exercised and some of them were probably picked on and bullied on a daily basis. But in the end, they all went out and ran a 5K. No matter how hard it was for some, they did it and they crossed the finish line. So, I dug in and determined that I would participate in Vermont. I knew that I would have to walk some (or a lot!), but I promised myself that I would cross the finish line running, no matter how bad it hurt or how tired I was. There was a 6 hour time limit to the marathon and I thought it was doable.

The week before the marathon, I had yet another speed bump. I awoke on Saturday morning with extreme vomiting and nausea. The vomiting lasted several hours and I couldn't get out of bed at all. It took me 4 days to feel somewhat human. It was now Wednesday and the marathon was on Sunday. I was dehydrated and still weak, but never waivered in my will to participate in Vermont. Looking back on it, I was in complete denial about my lack of ability. I had promised myself that I would just go and have fun. I had no goal time in mind, I just wanted to finish, preferably standing. So, Thursday night I packed my bags and got ready to embark on a trip that would change my life forever...

Finally on the Mend!

2008-02-25T16:26:00.000-08:00

Tonight I went out and ran 3 miles and in a lot of ways, it was freeing and liberating. After the run, it's the first time I've not had signficant pain since January 10. Man, it's been a long, long weeks. As often as I wanted my brain to push the pain from my body, it just would not happen. I began to wonder if I would ever get over this injury. Since the HM, I just haven't been able to push through the pain and run as I wanted to. That was the frustrating part. I attempted to run last Monday and after 7 minutes, I just had to quit. Quit- funny, that's a word that I've always refused to acknowledge. I would be many things in my life, but a quitter wasn't one of those. When the pain in the leg was bad and then my ankle went wonky, I knew I had to stop. One week and one heel wedge later, I feel almost new. Okay, slightly used would be more like it, but definitely going in the right direction. On Saturday, I went out and ran three miles, but at mile 2, I had to revert to walk/run intervals. It became a mentally taxing run when my iPod wouldn't play. I heard all the negative voices in my mind, voices that I thought I had banished long ago. I was pumped up all day today to go out and run. The weather was beautiful, about 65 degrees and sunny. The first mile was a struggle, but I felt different than I had. There was no pulling sensation in my leg. My gait still felt slightly off, but with the heel wedge, it's going to be different and will probably take several runs to get used to. After mile one, I felt good and strong. The pace was pretty good - about 11:40. Mile 2 came quickly and I was surprised when my Garmin beeped to indicate it. The last mile was good, felt like I worked everything out of my leg and ankle. Who knew that a simple piece of felt/foam would make a HUGE difference? I was a bit skeptical at first myself. After the run, we walked back to the car and when I got there, I realized that there was no pain my leg. Whoo hoo! Exciting!! The worst pain for me, especially after the HM, came within a few minutes after I stopped. The only issue I had was my sock rubbing my ankle where I had put the capzasian. I guess the leg was heated up, so my sock rubbed a small place on it. Lesson learned - no capzasian below the sock line.
So, all in all, it was a great evening. I no longer doubt that I can do the 10K Saturday. I may have to take a walk break or two. I will definitely keep with my strategy to walk through the water stops, because that has served me well. I got my mojo back. Yay me!!!

Oh My God! I Did IT!!

2008-02-04T17:31:00.000-08:00

I am officially a half marathoner! On Saturday, February 2, 2008, I ran 13.1 miles at the Tybee Half Marathon. It was an incredible experience and I am so freakin' proud of myself. I still can't believe that I did it and it seems surreal.

Jeff and I got to Tybee around 5:30 Friday evening and picked up our race packets, which consisted of a t-shirt and a number. No frills in this race! We then headed over to Savannah to find a grocery store and hopefully somewhere that I could pick up a technical shirt with long sleeves that would be cooler than my Under Armor cold gear top to race in. We went into Publix and got some water, bananas, and pretzels for the evening and headed off in search of a Target. Neither one of us could figure out what we wanted to do for dinner, so we agreed to eat pretzels to keep it light. We found the Target and I grabbed a long sleeve top to wear the next morning. We headed to the hotel to begin the relaxation process. We had a lovely dinner of pretzels and oranges. At 10:00 pm, it was lights out. I only wish my mind would have turned off with the lights. It was a fitful night's sleep to say the least. Oddly enough, I smelled what seemed to be a paper mill until after 3 am. I was anxious, worried, excited, and concerned. 5:30 am came so quickly.

As I crawled out of bed, I reached for half a bagel. I knew it would be key to get fuel in my body, not only to give me energy for the race, but also to take my anti-inflammatory. I dressed quickly and went to put in my contacts. Dang! It burned!! I guess when I put the Zostrix on my leg the night before, I didn't clean off my hands well enough. Tears sprang forth, and it took me several attempts to get my right contact in. Finally, I was successful and after putting my hair up, ready to go to Tybee. Normally, I have tons of nervous energy so I sing and make up silly dances. This morning was different. I could barely make a sentence. The drive over to Tybee was breath taking. The sun was rising above the water and it brought back a flood of memories of our wedding. I knew today would be a special day as well. We parked the car near the walkway we used to get to the beach on that day and headed over to the gymnasium. It was cold and I hoped that we could wait inside (we could, thankfully!). We found Michael and his girlfriend Kelly and spoke with them for a few minutes, made last minute potty stops, and headed outside. Jeff and I went over to a short side road and just took in the sun above the ocean. Funny, the ocean seemed so still. I really do not remember seeing any waves, just calm. Jeff told me to use the energy and I did. I thought about how far I had come over the past 8 years, about how proud my dad and brother would be of me, and prayed for God to give me strength of mind and body. We then went to line up. The half marathon and marathon lined up on one side of the street and the 5K lined up on the other, facing opposite directions. For a brief instance, I thought about switching sides and just running the 5K. But I knew I was trained, I was ready and could do this. Before I knew it, the 5K started and the crowd in front of me started to move. Oh my God, here I go! A quick kiss goodbye and good luck from Jeff and it was on. I fought the urge to speed up. As slow as I run, I hate to be passed by people. But, I had a goal (2:40) and knew it was a long race to run. The first mile, I took it all in - the runners, the island, the pounding of my feet, the beating of my heart, and the sheer exhilaration of it all. That lasted approximately 11 1/2 minutes. After that, I pulled out the iPod because I knew I was going to need some music. I ran for a brief while I ran next to a lady in a 50 Marathons in 50 States shirt, Mama Jean. She was wearing a red flowered bathing cap. I told her this was my first half marathon and I had a long way to go to catch up to her. She told me that I also had a lot more years to do it. She was a hoot and I saw her after I finished the race, passing the 1/2 way point in her marathon. I spoke to a lady who had run the Houston half marathon. But mainly, I just ran. I ran with a mission, a purpose. Now, I will never be the fastest runner, I'll never win any awards, at best I am a back of the pack runner. But, I run for me and me alone. There was excellent support at almost every turn. There were residents on the sidewalks and even a group of kids on their roof, cheering us on. At mile 8, I told myself only 5.1 miles left. Gosh, 5.1 miles seemed like an awfully long way. But I still felt strong and good. I was below my pace and just kept on chugging. At about mile 8.75, I passed the Sugar Shack and the car. It gave me renewed energy. There was the walkway again, as I ran past, I turned to look at the ocean and thought fondly of that beautiful day 4 years ago. There was the Tybee Island Inn, where we stayed. I never really could see the B&B, just the parking lot and gate. We turned the corner and headed to the lighthouse. There was a lot to see right there and it kept my mind off of what my body was going through. However, at mile 11.5, my mind began to play tricks on me. It began to tell me that I was ahead of schedule and could slow down, it told me that I could stop and walk, that this was the furthest distance I had ever run and I might not be able to do it. One of the residents had set up a bubble machine and it was blowing hundreds of bubbles across the road. It was really cool to run through all the bubbles. I now know what it feels like to be on the Lawrence Welk set. I pushed and I pushed. At mile 12, there was a water stop, and as I had every one before, I stopped to walk and take in some water. At mile 12.5, I looked around me and realized that many people were walking - I caved in and allowed myself to walk for 25 seconds. By this time, I was rounding the corner, back at the Tybee Island Inn. I was close! I could feel it! I got it together, knew the end was near. Only 2 1/2 more songs and I would be done! Here comes the Sugar Shack. Here I was back on the main road. I could hear the music at the Finish Line. I could begin to see the people lined up. I willed my feet to move one in front of the other. I was going to do this. I dug deep within me and prayed for energy. I looked up ahead and saw a yellow shirt and white hat. It was Jeff! He was leaning out to look up the roadway. I was overcome with feelings. As I neared, he jumped off the sidewalk and ran for a few seconds with me telling me over and over again I had done it and to finish strong. I put every cell of my being into getting across that finish line. As I crossed, I thanked God and became very emotional. All the pain, tears, miles, time, doubts, feelings of inadequacies were shattered as I stepped over that mat. A medal was handed to me. I just wanted to find my husband! Someone pulled me over to a chair and removed my timing chip. Where is he? Oh, there he is! I ran to Jeff and got the biggest hug and I love you ever! This was an experience to savor. Here I am 2 days later and I still wonder if it can be true. Me? The one always chosen last in gym class; the one that was comfortable with her brain, but never physical ability; the one who was content for so long to sit from the sidelines and watch, but not participate; and me, the one who fought back from health issues and refused to take no for an answer. That's right - that's me! Me, who ran 13.1 miles; me, who beat the goal by 3 minutes and ran it in 2:37:07; me, the one who will run a marathon. Gone is the other person, the person I was. Because the person that I am is a half marathoner!

Learning as I go

2008-01-27T12:17:00.001-08:00

Have you ever noticed that when you are a child, you constantly ask, "Why?" Then, as you get older, you are taught not to question. We don't question our parents; we don't question authority, such as the police, our teachers, etc; we don't question our bosses; and, we certainly don't question doctors. If I had adhered to this last power, I would have burned my running shoes. But, never being one to go down without a good fight, I went for a second opinion. You see, since May, I've had an orthopedic who just can't get it through his head that running is a way of life for me. On my last visit, his nurse (he didn't even get on the phone with me) stated with finality that I had another stress fracture and was not to run under any circumstances, and that the doc didn't need me to keep my follow up appointment unless I had any questions. Huh? What? No treatment, no prognosis, no nothing? Now, I'm not in the medical field, but that just didn't sound right to me. After an evening of devestation and a lot of tears, I decided to do something about it. I called a sports medicine ortho and got an appointment for 2 days later. After taking in reports, films, and history, it turned out I have shin splints and the hot spot, previously declared a stress fracture, was more than likely what had healed over the summer. I could run. And not only could I run, I can still do my HM on February 2. Sure, I'm on some anti-inflammatories and a deep tissue rub and need some new shoes, but that's a heck of a trade off. If I had listened to Dr. Kevorkian and not questioned what I was told,

I wouldn't have run a 5K yesterday (with an admirable 35 minute time);
I wouldn't be watching the weather forecast to see what I need to pack for Tybee Island
I wouldn't feel good about all I've accomplished so far and all that I have to accomplish in the future;
I wouldn't be able to run with those that I have encouraged and motivated to become runners; and,
I wouldn't feel like the person I have become over the past year.

Now, running is not all that I have in my life. I am blessed with a wonderful family, friends, job, and a bright future. But, running is an outlet for me. It is a place where I can work off stress. It is something I am good at. And, as the girl always chosen last in gym class, it is nice to have something athletic that I can do and do well. It is the discipline of running that I love. The fact that I can push my body and set and exceed goals. It is the competition against myself for every run that I love.

So, the next time someone asks you, "Why?", instead of brushing them off or answering, "Because", realize that if it didn't mean something in their life, they wouldn't be asking. And, don't be afraid of asking the questions yourself, no matter how hard they may seem or how hard the answer may be.

Sometimes the Body IS in control

2008-01-20T16:58:00.000-08:00

What a difference a week makes. Last Saturday, I ran 10 flippin' miles! And, it was great! I had negative splits, my heart rate was awesome, and I felt that I could have done 3.1 more miles to make to HM distance. But, as soon as I started out, I had some pain in both of my shins. It was painful, but not debilitating and obviously, I was able to run through it without a struggle. I thought this must just be shin splints and a few days of rest would clear it right up. By Monday, my right shin felt fine, but the left one still had nagging pain. Unfortunately, the pain got worse and was in a localized area. I knew in my heart that the possibility of another stress fracture existed. I tried to will the pain away. I tried elevation and staying off of it as much as possible. By Thursday morning, I knew I had to go have it checked it. The ortho confirmed my fears that it may be another sf or compartment syndrome. I am facing a bone scan tomorrow and am fearful that it will be the worst. But, I just don't think that it is a sf. The pain dissipates throughout the day, even if I am on my feet a lot. Yesterday, I did a job fair and was on my feet all day. It felt fine at the end of the day. Plus, the pain seemed to have moved down lower today than it has been. Maybe I am just looking for any light at the end of the tunnel. But, it just can't be another fracture. You see, if it is, there is a lot more than just recovery I have to face. My dr. says if it is, I will need to stop running and find another form of exercise, period. If it is, Jeff isn't going to let me run, period. So you see, there is a hell of a lot riding on this bone scan and the results. I still think that it is not running, but the fall I had last year that started all of this. After all, they keep showing up in my left leg, not my right - the leg I fell on. When I run, don't I put the same impact on each leg? It just doesn't make sense to me. So, I am going tomorrow and through this week with the following thoughts:

I will do the Greenville News 5K next Saturday
I will participate in the Tybee Island HM on February 2
I will participate in the Vermont City Marathon on May 25
I do not have a stress fracture
I need to change my training schedule to run on Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday to give my body a rest in between
While running does not define who I am, it is something that I love and giving up something you love just shouldn't have to happen
This is a tiny speed bump in my life and I know overall, there is a meaning to it

So, one of the longest weeks of my life begins tomorrow. I am going to try to get the radiologist to tell me if they see something. But if not, I just have to wait until Thursday when I go back to see the ortho. Saying lots of prayers...

I learn as I get older

2008-01-08T18:21:00.000-08:00

As I age (gracefully, I may add), I continue to learn things. Here are just a few...

What we do in our late teens and early 20s may affect the rest of our lifes, hopes and dreams and regardless of what we may think, we are not invincible nor do our actions go without consequences
Life would be much better if we could all work barefoot, or if you have ugly feet, in socks;
There really isn't much that chocolate won't make better;
If you are not walking, you are running. The only difference between a runner and a jogger is a race entry form;
I cannot, no matter how hard I try, do it all on my own. However, if I want it done right, my way, and in a timely manner, I'd better do it myself. Now, where's the logic in that?
Get a group of professional people in a room together and give them a group exercise, they will all simply speak over one another and more than likely none of them have anything intelligent to add to the conversation. Heck, they'll just say things that aren't even on topic in order to show that they are the superior one in the group.
If Waffle House is open 365 days a year, 24 hours a day, why do they have locks on the door?
When there is nothing else to do at work, you can always put a lot of files on your desk and play with the label maker. You look busy and get organized all at the same time.
One day maybe I will understand exactly how the LSAT will gauge my success in law school. Right now, I don't understand how knowing what color hat Susie is wearing and what place she may be in line for the movie indicates how I can make an argument before a judge and jury. Unless, of course, Susie is on the jury, wearing the hat.

9 Freakin' Miles!

2008-01-05T19:08:00.000-08:00

Today, I surprised myself and everyone else. I ran 9 miles. This was my longest run EVER. Yes, it was slow. Yes, it hurt. Yes, I felt that running may be overrated. BUT - when it was all said and done, it felt great. It was a huge accomplishment and I really do think that I can do the half marathon in 4 weeks. Here were some thoughts that went through my mind in the hour and fifty minutes that my body was moving:

I can do a lot more than I give myself credit for. I may never be the fastest or the best, but I'm doing a whole lot more than I ever thought I could do;
God is incredible and has given me so much more than I ever could deserve. One of those things is my health. I know all too well what it's like to not feel well all the time and feel much older than my age. With exercise and diet, I am feeling better than I have in a long, long time. I know it will just keep getting better;
I wish I had not left my iPod in the car, because some jammin' music sure would have come in handy and helped to pass the time;
I have to write a jam-up personal statement to get into law school. My undergraduate performance was less-than-stellar and I need to get the Board's attention in 2 pages or less and it has to impress;
Ow, this hurts a lot (ok, these are thoughts I had while running);
I am very lucky to have my husband out there with me, supporting and encouraging me every step of the way;
It's not worth it to sweat the small stuff. I could get uptight and stressed out over every little thing, but doing that only shortens the time I have here and with my family. Not worth it!

So, next week I will tackle 10 miles. I am PUMPED up about it because I know I can do it. Once I conquer 10 miles, a half marathon will be in my sights. Tybee, here I come!

P.S. Saturday night television sucks!

Thoughts on the first day of 08

2008-01-01T15:33:00.000-08:00

Today started out with a bright, sunny, cold 5 mile race. It was the Hair of the Dog 5 mile in Spartanburg. I was a bit grumpy this morning, having not gotten enough sleep (fireworks should be banned after 12:10 am!). When we got to the Y, I saw Wanda and Kay - this was Wanda's first attempt at running 5 miles. We all lined up at the start together and it looked like the two of them were at a good pace for me, so we fell in together on the run. Jeff took off at his comfortable pace and was soon out of sight. The course started downhill, but I knew there were many hills to come. We went through the historic area and were soon in Converse Heights. At mile 1, I ran for a little bit with a 70 year old marathoner who was a hoot! He told me all about an ultra marathon he had done and how if you don't enjoy training, you will never enjoy running. I told him that I had learned running was my sanity. At about 1.3 miles, Wanda and Kay slowed down a bit and I was just getting into my groove, so I passed them on a hill. The course was very hilly and many more uphills than down. At mile 3, Wanda and Kay were back on my heels and they stopped to enjoy some champagn at the water stop. I took a couple of sips of water, not wanting to upset my stomach, which was in a funk yesterday. I had to take a brief walk for .2 right before mile 4 on a steep hill. However, I was pleased with my time of 57 minutes and an average page of 11:35. Jeff was at the end waiting for me with a big smile on his face. I was 2 minutes slower than my last 5 miler in May, but was better conditioned, less fat, and Jeff paced me with a 10:15 mile.
So, I am thinking this was an excellent way to begin my year. It is hard to believe that a year ago, it was a struggle to run for a mile and a half. What a year it's been. But, I'm not looking in the rear view mirror. I'm ready to line up at the Start line of 2008 and see where it takes us. So, with that being said (typed), here are some thoughts/goals I'd like for the upcoming year:

Half marathon (February 2) and Full Marathon (May 25)
Only use credit cards for emergencies
Save more than I spend
Get eating habits under control (no fried food, no fast food, and eat veggies/fruit with at least one meal per day)
Read the Bible daily
Take the LSAT, apply and get accepted to law school (preferably University of SC)
Listen more than I talk
Be a better wife, mother, and daughter (not be so critical!)

If I don't reach these goals, it will not be the end of the world (except my marathons and law school!). But, I always have to have something to work towards and this is it for right now. There is flexibility in any good plan, and I am allowing for it with some of these. But, I want to 2008 to be the best year yet!