Beary Returns!

I went for my 3 mile run yesterday morning at the Columbia Trail. It was misty...with fog floating over the fields...just beautiful!


In the evening I walked the Par Course at Vorhees State Park expecting to complete all 14 exercise stations. After finishing the 8th exercise station I was face to face with a black bear...sure looked like my bear...who I call Beary.

Beary

Beary didn't move even after my loud cough (usually works). Beary was intent on feeding on insects on logs along the trail. I decided to turn around and walk back to my car.

Tomorrow I am going to run my 7 miles at the Par Course..7 times around..in hopes of seeing Beary again!!

Final Warrior Dash PA 2011 Update...Part 3!

 Five beautiful, smiling and victorious warriors:

Five beautiful smiling warriors!

We left our muddy shoes to be recycled and given to those who cannot afford running shoes:

Muddy donated shoes.

We were surrounded by temptations:

Mud man will never tempt us!

We carried each other's load:

Cheryl holds up my backpack from a distance...warriors are the nicest people!

We were really muddy ladies!

Yeah....mud!

But, we had fun:

Grinning Warriors!

Victorious Warriors!

And, don't forget, we did get that free beer!

Ahhhhh.... the free beer!

We just cannot wait until next year!  Hope you join us....Warriors unite!

Warrior Dash, Part Two!

We had the best frickin' time at the Skirmish, Pa Warrior Dash on June 11, 2011!  I cannot wait until next year! 

                                    

Before the race we were pumped!

Our shuttle arrives!

Our shoes before the race...

.....our shoes after!

Mud...does a body good.......

......so does a free beer!

I FINISHED THE WARRIOR DASH!

Yesterday...after hyperventilating at the start of the Warrior Dash race (I panicked..why would anyone want to run a race like this...I was petrified of the "battleground"...what was I to expect?  I almost turned around and ran right back through the "start-line")...I continued on...I ran...walked...stomped...and struggled through the thick itchy mud...crawled through the black out on my hands and knees...almost broke my neck climbing over a hurdle...ran through a river...then a freezing, rocky creek....slowly maneuvered over the teetering traverse...maneuvered over logs, rocks and roots...imagined climbing a 20 foot cargo net while I walked around it...made my way though a web of terror...ran over tires...climbed over junk cars...jumped over fire ...and crawled through mud with pebbles underneath to avoid the barbed wire!  But...I made it...I finished the Warrior Dash! 

Maybe next year I will climb the 20 foot wall!

I finished 23 out of my age group...not too bad!

Three of my friends, Cheryl, Joni and Lori competed too.   They completed all the hurdles and two of them scaled the 20 foot wall!  I am so proud of them! 

Covered with mud at the end,we were triumphant!

Cheryl, me, Joni and Lori...the "Four Warriors"!

Next year I am going to do better!  I am going to not only work on my speed, but my core and upper body strength. 

Congratulations to all the Warriors....you are incredible!!!  It was a blast!!!!

I got a Warrior helmet for my grandson Alex...doesn't he look adorable!

My little Warrior Alex!

Gotcha Sarah!

Sarah said: "Paul Revere made shots and bells to warn the British".  Sorry Sarah, Paul Revere rode his horse and held a lantern to warn John Hancock and Samuel Adams about the  approaching British army. 

Here we go again...Sarah Palin shows her ignorance...her stupidity...her extreme lack of respect for the history of our great Nation.  She not only showed that she didn't know the accurate telling of the ride of Paul Revere in front of school children, but she now she insists she got the story right....now she thinks if she says her version is right it makes it right! 

http://blogs.abcnews.com/thenote/2011/06/sarah-palin-i-didnt-mess-up-paul-reveres-story.html

Well...Sarah, you were wrong!  Wrong is always wrong!

Now, a report that some of Sarah's followers attempted to rewrite history on Wikipedia: http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9217359/Sarah_Palin_fans_try_to_rewrite_history_on_Wikipedia
I think that is really scary!  Who are these people?  They certainly are not supporters of the truth, they are willing to falsify history in order to further their cause.  Maybe you do not agree with me, but I think this is scary stuff and I am shocked that this could happen in 2011!

Sarah, I admired you as a runner:   http://www.runnersworld.com/article/0,7120,s6-243-544--13221-1-1X2X3X4-4,00.html  , but I wish you (and the old, bad-haired, pizza eating Donald) would disappear.  You may be a runner and a person who embraces healthy living, but you are a lousy politician..a lousy historian...and, by golly I think you would be a lousy President!

I Am Running My Butt Off!

A year ago I was finishing my participation as a test panelist for the book Run Your Butt Off .  Author Sarah Lorge Butler guided us through many weeks of making small, healthy changes in our diet, while introducing us to a running plan that would result in a much healthier lifestyle.

Well, I am living proof that the program works!  I am loving life and feeling better every day.  I am now injury free and decided to follow The Non-Runner's Marathon Trainer book schedule towards running my first marathon in the Fall. 

I was so critical of myself when I saw the before and after pictures in the book; it took my 2 surviving children (now adults) to convince me that the after picture was much better than the before.  I think I look even better now.  I have lost more weight (I kept weight off over the holidays...I have never kept weight off over the holidays!) and I am now running longer distances without discomfort.



I look forward to starting the Rock 'n Roll Half marathon in September and my first marathon in October.  This Grammie is getting stronger every day!  If I can do it, anyone can!

Run Your Butt Off !