In A Word!...

Incredible! Amazing! Invigorating! Challenging! Fun!!! Oops that's five words... But ONE for each kilometer!

That was seriously one of the coolest experiences of my life! At least in recent years. It has been SO LONG since I've experienced a rush like that! Back in the days of performing, I felt it all the time but maybe the only time I've felt it to this extent was when I finished my first performance of A Chorus Line after having survived it!

Anyway, there really are no words and I want to be able to continue doing this for a really long time!

The morning started off horribly. Just even sticking with my commitment to get out of the house by 5:30 am was a challenge, but I made it out of my driveway a few minutes before. At first it felt like a rather mild and ok morning with only an occassional sprinkle on my windsheild, but then about halfway there the rain came pouring down and it was dark and all the stoplights were flashing manaically and the few other cars on the road were whizzing past me spraying rainwater. Had no idea what lane I was in! Since I had driven downtown yesterday at least I knew about all the road closures and construction going on so I made my escape off Fulton as I approached downtown on my way to find a place to park. At one point I turned the wrong way down a one way street. Thank goodness I didn't realize it until I could make a quick escape... and that there were no cars coming. Finally after winding my way around the block a couple of times I decided to park at a meter on the Lyon Street hill next to the GRCC campus (at least that felt sort of familiar.) But I wasn't 100% sure that the meters were free on Saturdays, especially since there wasn't another single car parked there. No seriously, there were no cars driving around or parking at all! It felt like a ghost town!

I locked my car (after turning my wheels towards the curb)and headed down to DeVos Place with umbrella held high! On my way, I encountered numerous passages blocked by chainlink fences as well as countless ankle deep water puddles and still very few people. I can't tell you how badly I was tempted to just go back to my car and drive back home to the safe haven of my warm, dry bed! (Before I might not have a car to come back to!)

But as I got closer to the staging area I began to see race volunteers going about their preparations, setting up tents and provisions along the finish line, covered in trashbags for protection from the rain.. and I thought "If THEY can do this then so can I!"

There was seriously no better feeling than entering DeVos Place. Warm and Dry!... with a number of runners already there. (A half hour later you couldn't even turn sideways in that "place"!)

It was great (and very comforting) seeing so many of my good Fifth Third friends working the "Situations" area... :)

And I just cannot say enough about all the wonderful volunteers at the Information Desk (who confirmed that meter parking WAS free on Saturdays!) and at Geer Check (who let me check my huge umbrella even though it didn't fit into my assigned plastic drawstring bag...)

I could probably go on and on about the excitement of getting ready to run. I must have gone to the potty and retied my shoes a dozen times each!

Then on to the starting line, where I chose to line up somewhere between the 11 and 12 mph pace groups and where I met a couple of other friends from work and got to chat for a while to calm my nerves. Oh and also, by some force of good nature it had also pretty much stopped raining for the most part...

Staggered Start... I think I started running at about 7:06.

I must be somewhere in here!

Running... (So, when did I start liking this?)

It took me about 5 minutes to remember that running is really, really hard! But those first few minutes were... Incredible!

There were police cruisers at every intersection with their lights flashing and that's when it hit me that they had closed down all the major streets of Grand Rapids for a whole morning so that we could do this! The logistical planning of it all?... Amazing!

And then I was just running along with my music and to the sounds of spectators cheering. Dodging in an out, avoiding, leaping, jumping... and at times even dancing almost! :) There are simply no words! Oh yeah...Invigorating!

But I have to admit that I was never so thankful in my life when I began to see the occasional walker, because I SO did not want to be the first! And I wasn't!

I'm having a hard time remembering it all. I do remember weaving around some of those areas I'd visited last September during ArtPrize, and running the overpass over I96. The volunteers at the half point Aid Station were holding out cups of water and Gatoraid to us, and even though I didn't feel like I needed one, I still grabbed one...

Up around mile 2 there were some pretty hefty inclines, but I still kept going as hard as I could.

Running over the 6th Street Bridge was really cool!

That last long stretch down Ionia was... Challenging! Because it was not only the last mile but because it had also started pouring again. But listening to Ingrid Michaelson helped!

Short little cut away thru Monroe Mall and up Ottawa past the clock. I saw that it said 7:39 so I knew I had totally exceeded my goal of 39:10! (I started at 7:06!)

Crossing the Finish Line was so much Fun!!! Even though I honestly felt like I was going to throw up or pass out. But I didn't.

And after that, the whole experience was... still such an experience! The Michelob Ultra Finish Fest! Mingling with friends (and strangers!) Witnessing the Elite Athletes finishing their 25k's! Wow! I am so totally hooked on this now!

The only thing that would have made it better would have been to have had someone to run with! Maybe next year!

Anyway, to put things into perspective... amongst all genders and ages I was:

2390th out of 3694 overall...
1218 out of 2184 women...
22 out of 63 women in my age group (60 to 64)...

So to place in the top three in my gender/age division (and to win an award!) I would only need to shave about 4 minutes off of my time... and I can totally do that!

Next year!

Competitive much? :)

Countdown...

Ok, so I've got 3 more weeks to pull it together! Not that I'm trying to win it or anything (HAHA) but just finish somewhat respectably!

Thank goodness for Planet Fitness! At $10 bucks a month? Can't be beat! (Even though sometimes it feels like Planet Fitness is beating my ass!)

I always think I'm going to enjoy the treadmill. I mean, I have to admit I always feel really great afterwards! But once it starts rollin' I'm like.. "Oh no! Here we go again!"

And all the Ada Trails, those are helping too. And they're even cheaper!

Anyway, what follows will be my countdown journal. Beginning with last Friday...

Friday, April 17th... After doing 30 minutes of lower body machines until my legs felt like jello, I did 2.3 miles on the treadmill in 30 minutes, which equates to a 13 minute mile. My plan was to run 3 and walk 1 but I just couldn't do it! So I eased into a run 2 walk 2 which was a whole lot more do-able. I have no idea how some of these people around me can run for 30 minutes at a stretch!

Saturday, April 18th... So I drove up to Roselle Park today where they have an actual 5k trail, just to try and get some perspective. It was a gorgeous day and I have to say the trail was packed with walkers. Not too many runners, so it felt sort of cool passing people. :) I was exhausted by the time I came to the first marker that said I had only gone 1 1/4 miles!.. but just kept trying to think about everything I'd learned at the "Good Form Running" clinic last week. It was alot to think about... and to be honest none of that really makes any of this any easier.

Anyway, I ran as much as I could, and when I had to stop I just continued walking at the fastest pace I could. Running alongside the river was a trip with the sun on my face, the wind at my back and THIS SONG playing in my head. Did I mention that it was a GORGEOUS day?

The 5k marker up the way was such a beautiful sight to see! Made the trek in 37 minutes which equates to an 11:55 minute mile. Whew! Because as I understand it, the pacer groups stop at 12!

Does anybody ELSE ever feel like their running shoes are laughing at them?

Monday, April 20th... The plan today was to go to the gym and run an "easy" 2 miles.. and to be honest I was dreading it all day! Because I have never been able to run for more than 4 minutes at a time on the treadmill. So I guess today must have set another milestone.. because I was somehow able to do it! Except for that one little glitch... when at about .3 miles I somehow hit the emergency stop button and had to start over again so my overall pace got all skewed, but within a matter of seconds I was back running. But what's crazy to me is that at that very second that I fell forward on the button???... it's because my mind was somewhere else completely and I wasn't even looking at the timer or thinking about how painful this all was. Which I suppose could be considered both a good thing and a bad thing!..

But anyway, somehow I ended up running for a full 25 minutes without stopping once (except for those few seconds...) And I seriously never, EVER thought I'd be able to do that!

But just one *note to self*... "Please wear different underwear next time!"

Friday, April 24th... It's been a tough week schedule-wise for getting to the gym.. and the weather outside has been frightening! But made it to the gym today and ran 3 minutes/walked 2 minutes for 30. Killer! Why did it almost seem easier on Monday just jogging 2 miles straight? I really need to start planning my race day strategy.

I keep wondering what it is that makes me want to do this so much, or perhaps "want" isn't the right word. "Need" maybe? I mean, afterall, I did the "Monster Montage" in "A Chorus Line" 8 times a week for a really, really long time... and before that, high kicks down Disneyland's Main Street in "America On Parade" daily for over a year (wearing at least 50 lbs of fluff and fiberglass!)... and then there was "The Rich Man's Frug" in "Sweet Charity" back in 1976 which was probably the most exhausting thing I have ever done in my life! But I have never been able to run. (Or at least not since I was 10!)

And now I am 60... :)

Two more weeks!

Sunday, April 26th... So, I wasn't really looking forward to this today and was sort of hoping the weather would be cloudy and grey so that I'd be able to come up with some sort of excuse, but wow!... what a beautiful morning it turned out to be! So I headed up to Roselle Park again. I actually considered trying to run somewhere else a little more scenic, but I just really like the mile markers there and the fact that I can time my 5k time there pretty easily.

First stop... Port-O-Potty. Why? Because I always get nervous that I won't have another chance to go before I really have "TO GO!"

But now... can we please address something that is pretty disgusting?.. Why is it that everybody who uses the Port-O-Potty always seems to have such a serious case of diarrhea??? I mean, can they really not figure out a way how do "that one" at home??? And also, (btw) the right combination of fiber, fruits, vegies and exercise can really help with that! Please!...Google it!.. and take heed! For the sake of ALL of us who have to use those things???

Anyway, I keep forgetting how long that run feels to me. But it always feels great to pass people along the way, especially when we're going in the same direction! :)

But now that it's over the memory is a really enjoyable one in my mind. :) I ended up jogging it in 37 minutes which equates to about an 11:54 pace mile. So not too terrible I guess.

Then when I got home I thought I'd see how fast I could speed walk around my block (1.l miles) and I came in at a 14.3 pace. What a fun way to spend a Sunday!!!

Oh, and BTW. the only reason I knew that it was 1.1 miles around the block was because I got into my car afterwards and measured it. Although while I was getting into my car I also jammed the car door corner right into my shin!!! Ouch!

But how fun that the bandaid matches my shoes!

And my shirt! :)

Wednesday, April 29th... I'm definitely one who is motivated by music because without music it just ain't happening. Some people enjoy a nice walk in the woods listening to the sounds of nature. But I get enough nature sounds at 6:00 am outside my window every morning which is not necessarily always a good thing. Especially on the weekend!

But anyway, I have this playlist of walking/running songs that I've been compiling probably since last summer and there's not a single song on that list that I don't love! And it's always been fun to just sort of put the songs on shuffle and take my chances with what comes up and matching my pace to the beat. I guess you could say that I'm a fan of interval training (I know, I sound like I know what I'm talking about!) lol

But for the past week or so, after working out, I've been deleting some of the songs from my iPod that I've found don't completely energize me and give me that extra boost that I think I'll need... as much as I may love them. But don't worry, I'll add them back in after just as soon as this thing is over. (Because I know you are concerned!...)

I think I must sound crazy to be making such a big deal about a 5k for goodness sake! Still, I just want it to be a really great experience and so I'm methodically trying to make it one, but I guess in the end, it could really end up being anything... and that's what actually makes this so exciting! But I've now got 58 songs that I'm pretty confident will see me through!.. and that's close to 3 hours of music for a race that I will hopefully be able to complete in less than 40 minutes! haha

Today I ran 5 minutes and walked 2 for 28. And it felt amazing!

Saturday, May 2nd...... So I was trying to figure out an interesting 5k route to take today and remembered how nice it was walking along Thornapple River Drive last year. So I mapped out a route from Lion's Park up to the top of Windcrest Drive which turned out to be about 4 miles and I figured, being just a week away from the race I'd push a little harder this time. Little did I realize that further down Thornapple River Drive the walking path becomes something pretty much resembling a roller coaster. I DID know that Windcrest was a really steep incline because I almost bought a home up there 22 years ago. Walking past it today made me wonder what, if anything, might be different in my life today if I had bought that one instead. (Which I probably would have if somebody hadn't snagged it out from under me...)

What an exhausting run that was! And I say that only to sound cool because, of course, I walked up most of those hills! But I DID run a few!

Still, I CANNOT WAIT to get back to 'just walking' as a hobby!..

Anyway, here is the route a ran/walked today..

Wow, when you look at it in perspective.. it barely even equates to the length of the Kent County Airport(GRR)! I mean, if I'd been a plane I would have been back to Lion's Park long before I'd even started!!!

But as it turned out (NOT being a plane) it took me about 50 minutes to run/walk 4 miles. So I'm still pacing at around 12 minutes or so, but there were hills today people! MAJOR HILLS!!!

Friday, May 8th...... So the run is tommorrow. My training schedule said I was suppose to run a mile today but I'm not going to. It's as humid out there as a... (fill in the blank!) But I've followed the rest of my training schedule to a T this week! Yesterday at the gym I did 40 minutes at 1 minute run/walk intervals. By the end, my finger was more exhausted than my legs... with all that speed adjusting on the treadmill!

Ok, funny story... Kind of.

At about 20 minutes in yesterday my iPod just suddenly stopped playing. And as you read up there above, it's just REALLY hard for me to run without music, but I just kept going anyway. And then at the end of my workout, being somewhat distracted by my iPod dysfunction, while fiddling with it I walked right into the men's locker room! Something DID seem a little backwards to me, but then I always feel a little dizzy after getting off the treadmill. Luckily the guy standing there in the buff set me straight!!!

OMG, how embarrassing!

As it turned out my battery was just dead. So whew! Because honestly?.. I think all plans might be off for tomorrow if I had to run without my music.

I went downtown after work to pick up my Bib. What a madhouse! I am so thankful that I decided to pick it up today though, rather than try to do it tommorrow morning. Parking tommorrow has me a little nervous, but hopefully I'll be able to get there early enough and park east of all the action as to not be impacted by road closures later.

Who am I kidding? The parking situation isn't really worrying me at all! But THIS SURE IS...

Wow! 5K starts at 7:00...

But ya know what? I'm just going to go forward with this as best I can. I certainly won't melt in the rain! (Of course I haven't tested that theory yet!)

My personal goal tommorrow is to not only finish but to try to finish within my age/gender graded time of 39:10, which would be a really respectable finish time for me. Oh and also to just try to RUN it as much as I can!

Anyway... please watch for me and cheer me on!

Oh, and throw me a towel!!!

I Did It!...

Today I ran a mile without stopping! And not only did I run a mile, but then I ran another one back with only a minute of walking in between. And that's just completely crazy, because I never, EVER thought I'd be able to do anything like that! A year ago this would have been unimaginable!

Looking back... I remember the first time I ever went out walking (for fun that is)... because I had definitely walked before, like down into the village if I had to pick up my car or something... but it was never a thing that I would have ever remotely considered calling FUN!)

But back to my point...

The very first time that I actually went out walking for "fun" I remember this young girl suddenly coming zooming past me at lightning speed... (scared the heck out of me!! btw) and then 10 minutes later she came zooming past me again, but from the opposite direction, and I was like... really? And it was probably at that very moment I decided that I SO wanted to be able to get from here to there and back again as fast as she just had!

Ok... let's face it, I will never be able to run as fast as that girl...

But I can try my best!

In elementary school, there was only ONE person who could outrun me... and he was a boy.

I love running! I hate running! I am completetly new at running. And I probably look completely ridiculous when I run. And it's painful. But it feels so incredibly good afterwards!

I bought these shoes a couple of days ago...

And then I bought these ones yesterday...

And so now at least I've got all my outfits color coordinated!

OH, and I also joined PLANET FITNESS a couple of week's ago and what I get for just $10 down and $10 a month is completely insane!

I am just feeling so very blessed to be Sixty and yet to still be feeling rather Twenty-something!

My 15 Minute Mile...

I just jogged a mile in "just under" 15 minutes! (oh my... really???)

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

So, somehow I've come up with this crazy idea of wanting to do the Fifth Third River Bank Run this year.

Not the 25k... Lord no! Just the 5k, but STILL... I just turned 60! Wow, that sounds really old all of a sudden!.. even though I still feel like I'm only, maybe 35... or 40 at the very most!

That is, until I try to run!

Oh my goodness, whoever knew running could be THIS HARD???!!!

Even though I've been doing some pretty serious walking for quite awhile now... this running thing is a completely different beast! A killer beast in fact! So why in the world do I even wanna try to do this? I truly have no idea.. In fact none, whatsoever!!!

Nonetheless, I went out today in yet another attempt to tame it. And I ran as hard as I could and as fast as I could for as long as I could (which was actually not very far or very fast..) and it was still the very best I could do!

For some reason this has just become this obsessive THING of mine, this crazy idea that I have in my head... and I just REALLY wanna do one of these 5k's at least ONCE in my lifetime... AND SUCCEED... and not humiliate myself too terribly much in the meantime.

And well... so here I am on Day One of my "official" 5k training schedule just trying to figure it all out...

Glorious...

I don't usually become obsessed with things (please don't roll your eyes if you disagree) but for some reason I did become completely obsessed with the song "Glorious" sung by David Archuleta from Meet The Mormons, after seeing the trailer for it a few weeks ago. SO obsessed, in fact, that I actually went out and bought a ticket to see the movie! And I NEVER go to movies! (and sadly enough, not very often to church either...)

But in a nutshell "Meet The Mormons" is a feature length documentary that looks at the very diverse lives of six devout members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints filmed on location across the globe. Each story paints a picture as rich and unique as the next while challenging the stereotypes that surround the Mormon faith. The film opened in theatres across the United states on October 10th with all net proceeds going to charity.

But this post is not about the movie exactly, though which by the way I thought was extremely well done and the cinematography was incredible!

"Glorious" ~ written by the talented singer-songwriter, Stephanie Mabey from the movie "Meet the Mormons."

And then low and behold, David and Stephanie along with Meet the Mormons gave the fans an opportunity to record their own versions of the song to share with the world, in addition to having a chance to appear in a Fan Supercut Video... Wish I'd have known! The deadline for the entries was November 3rd and I only found out about this a couple of days ago. Not that I would have ever recorded my own version or anything (Good Lord!) but I think I know a couple of other people who might have... ;)

So here I was, snowbound at home last week during "Snowvember of 2014" when I somehow ran across this link... The Fan Supercut Video of "Glorious".

And I guess that's when my REAL obsession kicked in. Because there were 410 entries and I listened to every single one of them! (Or at least 5 seconds of every one of them, because that was more than enough for some, if you catch my drift.) But there were also SO many good ones! Great ones! Unbelievable ones actually. In fact, in my opinion, the final supercut video vastly pales in comparison to some of these individual performances, which I have somehow managed to whittle down to my Top 50!

It was really difficult to choose which ones to actually embed in this blog and so at times I just had to take the eeny, meeny, miny, moe approach. But I really, really love all the ones that I ended up with. It's just "So Amazing" to see what every unique individual came up with. It makes the lyric to this song even that much more meaningful.

If you'd like to watch all of my picks (which I really hope you will!) just go here to the The Supercut Video and you will see them all listed to the right and sorted by entry number... Sorry I didn't have the time to create a link to every single one of them. *g* But my obsessions only go so far...

By entry number:

ENJOY!

#10 Hannah M - Bountiful, Utah

#17 Stephanie A - Lindon, Utah

#20 Yahosh B - Spanish Fork, Utah
#21 Halayna A - Mechanicsville, Virginia
#24 Sandra T - Gaithersburg, Maryland
#52 Lindsay L - Henderson, Nevada
#53 Grant Z - Provo, Utah
#57 Lucy S - Prosper, Texas

#62 One Voice Children's Choir - Draper, Utah

#67 Reese O - Lehi, Utah
#75 Eric M - West Bountiful, Utah
#83 Dominic B - Bonn, Germany

#85 Clayton and Olivia P - Kansas City, Kansas ♥

#93 Payton K - St. George, Utah
#104 The Five Strings - Nashville, Tennessee
#106 Anika G - Galgary, Alberta, Canada
#120 Fitri A - Malang, Indonesia
#127 Isabelle K - Johnson City, TN
#142 Camille, Candice and Lisa D - California
#143 Stephanie A - Lindon, Utah
#144 - Jimmy H - Chandler, Arizona
#145 Ashley H - Provo, Utah

#147 Abigail L - Bountiful, Utah

#159 Hailee C - Laramie, Wyoming
#178 Caralee W - Mantua, Utah
#179 Shanae D - Cardston, Alberta, Canada
#212 Kara S - Las Vegas Nevada
#227 Kiah W - Las Vegas Nevada
#228 Janie D - Salt Lake City, Utah

#235 Ralph M - Cebu, Philippines

#265 Lexi Walker - Salt Lake City, Utah

#280 Braden R & Jonathan B - Provo, Utah (Definitely one of my favorites!)

#283 Rachel K - San Diego, California currently a student at BYU Idaho (Wow!)

#284 Michelle - Berwyn, Pennsylvania (Oh my goodness!)

#287 Jarna & Dani K - Provo, Utah
#288 Beau S (Sweet!)
#296 Evie C. - Mesa, Arizona
#318 Ganai O - Lehi, Utah

#330 Working With Lemons - Salt Lake City, Utah (Waitforit!..)

#337 Itunu B - Canada

#339 Elenyi - Seli, Desi and Ari

#346 Becca B - Benjamin, Utah

#349 Nathan O - American Fork, Utah

#351 Hoai L - Hanoi, Vietnam (No words..)

#354 Brandon - Syracuse, Utah
#358 Samantha - Boise, Idaho
#388 Hope - Redmond, Washington (Pretty cute)

#390 Teddy W - Somerset, New Jersey (Love this!)

#393 Susan L - In ASL (Speechless!)

#404 Nick S - Spanish Fork, Utah (The guy's incredible! Wish he'd lose the hoodie. :)

#409 PS22 Children's Choir

And finally...
#410 Madelyn M of Firefly - Gilbert, Arizona

So many beautiful voices on this earth!

It's like a symphony!

Just keep listening...

UPDATE
And then... just when I thought the song couldn't be any more beautiful... my beautiful daughters gave it to me for Christmas!

The Very Best Summer Ever!... Part 2

Well, it's only taken me until November to get this blog posted, and probably because Fall is definitely my busiest (and most stressful) time of year.

And just to prove that point...

What is wrong with this picture?

But back to summer...

Due to my job and yardwork they usually fly so quickly by, not giving me much time to enjoy myself. (Not that I don't enjoy both of them immensely! :) But what I discovered this year was that, by making plans to get outside and do something in the evenings and on weekends, it always just made the days seem to last so much longer and so in a sense seemed to give me much more time.

So anyway.. I'd take really, really long walks every weekend and somewhat shorter walks in the evenings. In the meantime I discovered SO many wonderful paths and trails along the way.

Please see The Very Best Summer Ever! Part 1 :)

And then after that, one thing led to another and I found myself paddling down the Thornapple River several times during the season (which has now led me into a full blown obsession of one day living on the water!)

"Portage-ing" the Ada Dam

Under the Ada Covered Bridge

And let's not forget about that trip to Idaho in June to visit the kids and the grandkids.

And the endless hours of Yardwork

You have to admit though... Isn't it gorgeous???

Last Stop Art Prize! (If you don't know what it is you can click here to read about it.)

Though typically thought of as a Fall event, the weather was so beautifully gorgeous the entire 3 weeks that it's definitely going into the Summer pile.

I think Cheryl and I must have gone down town for hours of exploring artwork no fewer than 10 times! Ok, I exaggerate, but it was a blast!

Infinity Boxes

EggPrize

NOW

Outcry

:)

In fact I got into it so much that I even had my own on-line "List" of all the pieces I voted for.

Here's a picture of me (taken by Cheryl, of course) with the 2014 Winning Entry.

Intersections by Anila Quayyum Agha

Anyway... What a great summer it's been and just SO hard to let go of what has been one of the best ones in a really, really long time.

I had SO much fun and SO many great moments that I had to stick the rest of my pictures into a slideshow.

Summer Slideshow

And now? Welcome to Snowvember!

The Very Best Summer Ever!... Part 1

This summer began pretty much exactly the way every single other summer has begun for the 20 years since I moved into this house.

After the spring cleanup, planting and landscaping had all been done and there was by now (June) very little threat of frost (haha), there was never really too much else to do besides, working full time and going to school (when I was going to school) or dealing with transportation logistics for all of my children's summer activities (when I had children at home) and of course mowing my lawn incessantly and neverendingly (which typically means 4 evenings a week plus most weekends). And that was pretty much the extent of it, until of course, the grass would die from heat exhaustion sometime around the end of July and shortly after that the leaves would start to fall and then raking season would begin...

So it was MUCH to my surprise when just today, at the beginning of October, I actually looked back on my summer and exclaimed.. "Wow, that was the Very Best Summer Ever!" (or at least in comparison lately!)

I think my summer actually started in April when I stepped on the scale and realized that I had somehow gained close to 10 lbs over the winter. Now I'm lucky that I'm tall and so 10 lbs on me doesn't make a ton of difference, but it was enough of a wakeup call for me to realize I had to make a few changes.

So the first order of business was to find a couple of good workout videos on YouTube, which believe me there is no shortage of! The problem however is finding good quality ones that work for you! But with a little effort I had finally come up with a collection of short workouts targeting different parts of the body that I could string together in order to get some pretty decent full body workouts. But don't let me kid you, I really hate working out!... and so would do it everyday just as soon as I got home from work, before doing anything else, just to get it over with!

But then of all things, my youngest daughter became a BeachBody Coach and so all of her challenge groups helped a lot with my motivation, and when I went out to Idaho to visit her in July we actually went on a couple of JOGS! I hadn't jogged in YEARS, if ever!... and didn't realize that I even could! Anyway, it felt so great and I really began getting hooked on the idea of it.

Then in July I entered a walking competition at work called "Sole Patrol" which lasted for 8 weeks and earned my team "The Agony of Da Feet" 3rd place out of 24 teams! So needless to say that between July and the end of August I did ALOT of walking. Walking on breaks, walking after work, walking on weekends and of course all that mowing...

But the magical part of the summer, after living in this town for 20 years, was finally discovering the magnificence of all the walking trails which line just about every major street in Ada. So that's where I would spend many, many hours on the weekends. Just me and my little jPod! At times it was euphoric!

I DO have to say though, that it took me a while to purchase her. For the first few weeks I tried jogging with my old 1st generation iPod in my pocket. Then when I bought jogging pants without pockets I tried putting it into a little case that would clip to my waist. I can't tell you how many times it would fly off of me and onto the ground almost taking me with it!

Anyway, I think I pretty much covered every single trail in Ada. But the path to the Cascade Trail (aka The Bloody Trail of Rape and Death) eluded me...

That is, until I bought this...

And then it became my favorite place to jog!

Or at least until my friend Cheryl introduced me to my NEWEST favorite spot!

I don't know what it is about being out there feeling like you're miles and miles away from everything, even when you're really not. I brought my camera out with me a couple of times just in order to capture some of the lush green I knew I'd be missing desperately once the snow began to fall. What follows isn't necessarily what I'd planned to do with those pictures, but I think overall it works and will definitely serve to pull me out of the doldrums come February!

Anyway, whatever this thing is, I am definitely hooked! Or more likely ADDICTED!

SaturdayAfternoonRockyRoadFever
The title will make MUCH more sense afterwards... :)

Song Credit: "Overdose" by Little Daylight

P.S. Today Cheryl and I took a 2 hour trek through Seidman Park and in a word... A.M.A.Z.I.N.G.!

...

And so now I am REALLY confused as to what my favorite trail is!

Stay tuned for Part 2 of The Very Best Summer Ever!