=(

My running is at a complete stop. I either got the stress fracture running chickamaugua or either on the first 2 miles of running zooma. Either way, I can't run! I am having to take 6 weeks off and this is week 4. I think the mental side of not running is the worst part. I need to move! All the junk I used to could leave behind when I ran is piling up on my shoulders. I guess I can unload at Disney. I will be at the start line and who knows how it will turn out. I have a feeling that I will finish it even if it causes me more damage but it's been such a goal that I have worked so hard on that I just have to do it. I don't care about the time at all. Just the finish line. Either way, I miss the running club. I miss my buddies. Miss the energy from everybody... Hope to see you all soon!~

oh yeah, I have lost 6 pounds in the past month on the stress diet! It really works! Stay stressed all the time, forget to eat, work all night and before you know it... weight loss!

theres too many side affects to mention that go along with this diet but it's working pretty well... =P

Chickamaugua Half Marathon

Great race! 2:40:37 was my time so I was satisfied with that. Zooma half is coming up this weekend and im bound and determined to atleast do it in 2:37. That's "the goal".

Chickamaugua was a pretty big race. Lot's of folks freezing our butts off but within an hour everyone was peeling of the gloves and jackets. Bartram Marathon is in 2 weeks and Disney Marathon will be before I know it =O

The knee.... grrrrrr!

Damn this knee!!!!! That's about all I have to say!

I do good to run 2 miles before it starts feeling the size of an elephant leg. My question is, how the hell am I supposed to be ready to run the Disney Marathon. =( oh well I guess that's just "one of those things".

My next race will be the Jim Herrin 5k. It seems like every 3 or 4 months I have to start all over with running. It's a bit discouraging but I guess as long as I do get the chance to "start over" then it's ok.

Zooma half and the Disney will both be here before I know it.

druuuuuunk times!!!!

9:30ish Vodka and redbull
10:30ish Smirnoff and some nasty rasberry that made me think bad thoughts!
then between 11:30-12am I downed almost an entire bottle of rum. The first drink was mixed, 2nd was mixed... after that was 2 shots of straight rum... now for the timeline of only 30 seconds apart...
"Why not just drink it straight and save the calories of pineapple juice"

Bike Week Baby! ohhhh yeah!!!

I look on my left shoulder and there's this devil saying "Leave work, go to bike week, go cole slaw wrestle and live it up". I look on my right shoulder and there's this angel wearing white leather chaps saying "I think you should go to bike week". What do I do????? Ok... I give in =) I'm outta here! I will leave next Wednesday night and come back Saturday night. Then haul butt to Atlanta for the team to perform twice at NASCAR on Sunday. I cant run right now so I might as well find something to do... right??? =)

Yehaww a new week!

This weather is awesome! Still kinda on the mend with the knee. Some how I let Leora talk me into going to Spinning class at the gym this morning. For anyone who has ever taken one of those classes can understand when I say those seats suck! 45 minutes of butt whoopin is what I call it! We then hit a quick abs class that was a lot of fun. Thanks Yora for making me go! I start teaching the new Boot Camp class tonight at the studio. This is where I get a chance to make people hate me =) Wahoooo! Good Luck to those of you doing the Snickers marathon this weekend. I sooooo wish I were going. Instead its the AAU state taekwondo championships. This is usually where our studio kicks some serious tail so hopefully it will be another good year. Have a great week everybody!

Great weekend!

ok this weekend made up for last weekend! Had a great time down in Jacksonville. I hate that I missed the Sweetheart 12k in WR and the Frog Hop in Athens but I said goodbye to that goal of doing 50 races this year. Dr.Pope tells me today that if I have surgery really soon (as in the next week) that I can still fight on March 15th which is a MUST. I was expecting to hear the usual doctor words of "dont push it". The Al Toll races are this weekend in Macon. I had been running the 5k course to get used to it and had planned to PR. Now I will be a "volunteer"... like I had a choice with Deb asking me at gun point! (jk)

Had a client this morning so I took her down to riverwalk for some cross training. I ended up finishing up the workout by walking 2 miles with her. I feel better simply for getting out and moving but my knee is not happy with me. I guess that's called "takin' the good with the bad"? Everyone have a great week!

Florida bound again.... round 2 and this one soooo better be better than last weekend!

After all that arm twisting =) from Deb to go to Florida this weekend I finally gave in. How can I turn down a girls weekend at a condo on the beach.. I mean really? May I just give you all a word of advice from past experiences... Never turn down a girls weekend with a bunch of married women with kids because when they do get away from home they have more fun than anybody else! I started learning that early on!

I had a great Valentines day yesterday. I went and got a bunch of balloons to decorate the studio and gave all my students candy. Then went to Giuseppi’s. If you haven't been there you need to go! It's my new thing to do on Thursdays. I just went with a few friends last night and one of them was bound and determined to see who would fall off the bar stool first. Can I make a suggestion... stay away from shots called a water moccasin!

Well im off the Jacksonville. Monday I go for the xrays and mri. I still cant even attempt to run which really really really sucks but it’s all good. Who knows this might make me slow down a bit at work.. Nah probably not! =) Have a great weekend!

hmmm... am I doing something really wrong???

I guess it's about time to blog! I had to take a few days to chill out after everything that happened this weekend. Incase you havn't heard the story of my wild weekend then get ready. Left here Thursday night and drove almost 7 hours to Tampa. I actually stopped at 3 exits trying to get a hotel just to sleep for a few hours. They were either all booked or over $150. Well for one thing Im cheap! and the fact that I would only be there like 4 or 5 hours just seemed crazy to spend that much $$$. So I decided to drive on down to Tampa and parked on the side of the road in a busy section of town. (where I thought was safe). At about 3am I look up and see 6 or 7 big college age guys who were really drunk. One of the guys walked to the SUV in front of me and kicked it as in hauled off and kicked it. So here I am thinking "oh ____ this is not good and im about to die". Im looking everywhere for my key's (by the way they were in my lap) right as I find them the guy seriously kicks my car. I say again for the 50th time "Thank God I did not get out of that car". I think I would have either 1- gotten raped by a big group of drunk guys 2- gotten killed or 3- I would have f'n killed the guy that kicked my car. It would have been one of the three options. Ok I fight for a living and for me not to get out and want to beat the mess out of this dude... that had to be one of the hardest things ever. I was beyond pissed. So I drive around trying to find a cop, come back to the area and they are long gone. Then I drive about 20 minutes outside of Tampa and check in the most ghetto hotel EVER. They didn't even have hot water ok! I stayed there for almost 3 hours and it cost me $72. (grrrr!) but that's not even the best part. I leave there and check in to my real hotel which cost me $532 for 2 night... just don't ask. It sounds just as stupid now as it did when I was checking in but oh well. It was a kick ass king suite and it was sweeeeeet! The hotel had free cocktails from 5:30-7:30 every night so atleast I got some of my money back! =) The expo was great I brought back enough souvenirs for just about everyone I know! The race Saturday morning was amazing.. well with the exception of tearing my meniscus in my knee. Im not sure yet if it's a full tear or partial but that junk hurts! I did it only .31 miles into the 5k and ran the rest of it and ran straight to a doctor afterwards. Keep in mind that was the 5k that I just did for fun to get ready for the half marathon on Sunday that I ended up not getting to go to. I also missed the BBFC banquet in Orlando that I was supposed to speak at Saturday night. Instead I spent the evening icing my knee and drinking rum and pineapple juice. (remember I had to get that $532 back some how). I spent the day yesterday with my brother up in Atlanta. Went and bought a pizza and sat at my cousins grave and talked her for a while. The interesting part is after I left there I went to my other house over on lake Sinclair. Noones been there since I walked out the door during my divorce and haven't been back. I had actually forgotten that when I left I left all my clothes, shoes, purses, guitar, all my pictures and all kinda of other stuff. So last night was like Christmas. I packed everything I could fit into the car and brought it home. Tomorrow I get to go pay the $190 speeding ticket from a few weeks ago and the taxes are due on both houses this week. Hmm... maybe this is what God calls "tough love"... happy Valentines Day!!! =).

"Tampa... here I come"

This is a pretty big weekend. I leave tonight for the Gasparilla 5k and Half Marathon in Tampa as well as the annual BBFC banquet in Orlando. This coming up week will be the 2 year anniversary of losing someone really special. Almost every day I relive getting the news that my cousin had committed suicide. I lived with her and her family during my junior and senior year of high school and I thought she was the exact person I wanted to be. They own Lake Lanier Islands, the Georgia Force football team, air planes, a helicopter and everything else money could buy. To a teenager I thought they had it all. She was also the person that taught me about God, showed me how to treat and love people. She opened the Boys and Girls club in their town. Took in 3 elderly families after the Katrina Hurricane. She was an amazing person with so much to give to this world. On February 13th (the day before Valentine's Day) she walked out side of their extravagant home and shot herself. My mom drove to Macon to come tell me in person and I still remember falling in the floor and crying the hardest I had ever cried. Within hours I was on my way to her house where I just sat in my room there and asked God why something like that could happen to someone like her. I believe that it's by her death is the reason why I chose to LIVE. Every single race I run, I run it for her. She was always so proud of everything I ever did. This race this weekend will be an emotional one. Not only is it my first half marathon but it's just a few days before the anniversary of losing her. The amazing thing was just a few months before her death she had paid me $1,000 to make a video to celebrate her and her husbands 20th anniversary. Because of it I ended up spending alot more time with her and it also gave us a video to watch of her life and the many accomplishments they had made. I wouldn't trade that time together for anything. I thank you for taking the time to read this blog and I hope in some way it causes you to tell someone you love them or maybe just appreciate what you have.

"Oh Snap"

This post goes with the one I did earlier today. Well, the fashion show went GREAT. 400+ people so the energy was rockin'! The stress levels were mad crazy. 10 seconds before everyone went out im yelling "oh shit give me your gum", fix your dress, pull that up, tighten that... can someone hit the lights, wheres the spot... What the hell is he wearing". It was great. People tell me all the time that I thrive on chaos and stress... I think they might be right! =/

How do I get myself in these things???

Alright so here's the deal. My friend that does run way fashion shows called me last week and said "hey I need a really big favor. I need help running this high school run way next week". Ok that's cool I can help not a problem. Somewhere along the line I missed the part about how she wouldn't be there. Then I have another friend who is the assistant manager at Men's Warehouse and was taking care of all the tux's. Sunday night she calls me hysterical crying because her Grand father just killed himself. She shows up at my house Monday morning to load up my Navigator with 12 Tuxes. The interesting part is she told the school that I would be there to take care of everything for her. I found this out after getting to the school. You can only imagine the words going through my head when I found that out. So here I am trying to run everything back stage, do the entertainment long enough for 12 girls to change into new dresses and take care of tuxes. Let's just say it's been an interesting week! Then there's the studio... let's just say tax season and leave it at that. Point is I am REALLY ready to leave for Tampa tomorrow. I booked a room at the Hilton Embassy so all I have to do is walk down stairs and show up at the starting line. The fitness expo is Friday, 5k is Saturday, banquet in Orlando Saturday night and then the Half Marathon on Sunday morning. Wahoooo!!!

Bubba Roast

My brother's surprise party was so awesome. My big ol' 45 year old 6'4 brother cried like a little girl. It was great =). Here are some pics. Enjoy. By the way... this is where I lived from Friday to Sunday of every week while Monday to Friday I went to school in Atlanta. No wonder I can't decide if I want to be a city slicker or a country bumpkin!











My brother and his family
Me hugging my dad after he agreed to book the Swinging Medallions for my bday party =)
My brother crying
Dad, nephew and Mom
Elvis sang
Nephew Zac
me and my 94 year old g' ma
Horses
My sister in law being her usual self
April again

Tobys new name will be tripod...

Tonight is our annual studio banquet. Last night was "oh so fun" unloading 150 chairs and a butt load of tables! Tomorrow im headed to good ol' South Georgia for my brothers surprise birthday party. By the way... it's being called a Bubba Roast. yes, my brothers name is Bubba so I guess that considers me a red neck! BUT the good thing is im going to go get my bike out of storage this weekend. Ohhhh yeahh!!!! This is the pic of my 94 year old grandma sitting on my bike. Notice the bedroom slippers =)

This week has been really productive at work but I have done almost NO running. I have yet to have a night this week where I left the office before 1am. I have joked about putting a bed in considering im here about 16 hours a day. So pretty much my 8 pound dog enjoys our 2 story 4 bed room house all to him self. Which I don't even think he likes me! Speaking of my dog... His (3rd) surgery is scheduled for next Thursday. I will officially have a 3 legged dog. Look how cute he was and then look how pissed off he looks in the other picture.

a new week, where did that come from?

Monday was a no run day. It's funny how I used to have to make myself run and now I have to make myself NOT run. 9 miles at the loop felt great on Sunday. Thanks for pushin' me Deb! Thanks to Leora, Monika, Amy and Troy for interrupting my great shower to invite me to crackle barrel where I consumed back every calorie I had just ran off! =) Comedy club was greeeeat. Several of the tracksters came with me. Amy I wish you and Troy could have come but our phone conversation made up for it. Too bad either of us can remember what we talked about. Btw- Deb will be doing her CRAZY 40 miles this Sunday at the loop.

A Blessed Day and an awesome run

I have this over flow of emotions I just have to share. At this very moment I am on cloud 9. It's one of those moments where I just have to stop and say ''God, thank you so much for this moment and please let me experience this again''. This mornings race was AMAZING! Over 2,200 runners but the thing that made my day was the fact that my mom showed up. She brought her camera (with dead batteries) =) I can't begin to tell you how much I love and (am starting to appreciate) my mom. To know that we were so close to losing her just a few months ago has really caused me to appreciate her so much more. She's been there for EVERY fight at every tournament. That means all the ambulance rides, broken bones and was even there a few months ago when I majorly got punched in the face and broke my nose (thanks again steven lol).



She's been there for my two surgeries and everything else but something about her being there standing in the cold to watch me finish the race. It was awesome! Ok are you ready for this??? She says today she ''might'' try to do the 10k in Australia when I go do the marathon. I actually cried. Right now she's still recovering from the surgery but she's going to start walking and try to work up to it. If have 2 things to finish with. Live your life to the absolute fullest! You never know what could happen tomorrow. And 2- Live to inspire others. You never know how just a simple smile can change a persons day. I have the greatest friends in the world and for that, I am so very thankful. I just met up with Steven to give him my tomtom. He's on his way to the Foo Fighters concert in SC. He was so excited. Now im headed to Leora Basketball game at Mercer to cheer her on being the best coach ever! Meeting Deb in the morning for 9 miles at the loop and then off to the Comedy Club tomorrow night. I still have 4 tickets left if anyone else wants to go.

By the way, I have a new 5k PR of 32:17... still kinda slow but it gets better at every race. (and yes... that is the polar bear pajamas which were quite a conversation piece during the race) I finished up the race with 3 songs-Dolly Parton's light of a blue clear morning (that's right!), Johnny Cash- Ring of fire and Big & Rich- Save a horse ride a cowboy... true runners music =)

Frozen Polar Bear on the run!

Ok well maybe it's not a real Polar bear. It's actually just me freezing my butt off in the ATL. Weather channel says "light wintery mix"... to me that says "It's freakin' cold"!!!. Last week I had made the comment I wish this were at least a 10k. I now take that back and I will be happy when I am at the finish line and back in my warm car. =) We had so much fun going to watch the Spirit of the marathon movie this past Thursday. You should read Amy's blog for an extended version... www.30yofseeksmarathontorun.blogspot.com I will add more later after the race. (of course I will add a pic of my polar bear pajamas)

Dang Grandma, slow ya roll!

Ok so I got my butt kicked by great grandma! I just opened a new office in Atlanta so I have been going up there Tuesdays nights to work then Wednesday mornings I go run the 5 mile loop around stone mountain. Well this morning im out running my little 9:50-10:20 pace when out comes Grandma. She was walking faster than I was running! The loop up there is ALL rolling hills so she would run down all the hills and speed walk up. I'm thinking to myself "you gotta be kiddin' me I just got passed by an 75- 80 year old... what the hell". THANKFULLY when I got done I mentioned it to some folks that were parked by me and they said "she's a freak of nature and she's here all the time". That made me feel a little better but dang!!! So grandma you better slow down! Don't make me trip you! =) I did my usual stop at the Whole Foods market so this means I have real food for the next 3 days till I go again on Saturday. Wahoo!!!

3 birds, 1 stone...

Ok it's official I have gone race crazy! I just registered for a 5k in Tampa on Feb 9th, haul butt to Orlando for a banquet that night then back to Tampa for the Half Marathon on the 10th. I will be covering some serious miles driving and running.
check out the website www.tampabayrun.com

Aviation race was great!

Oh heck yeah! Aviation race was awesome. Running in the rain was great for the 5k runners. By the time we were about done is when the real rain started. I have so much respect for those marathon runners who were out there bustin' their butt's to finish. Hat's off to everyone who showed up. Might I mention the Macon tracks rocked it! I was so proud of everyone for how well they did. I think everyone on the team came in with a new PR or placed in their age division. It was awesome. Totally to my surprise I cut almost 2 minutes off my time giving me a new PR and got a cute little 2nd place trophy. What does this tell us? It means that there must NOT have been that many in my age division!!! I am getting "faster" but wouldn't use fast and my name in the same sentence. Give me some more time though! 3 things that I thought were pretty great about the race. 1) The rain was awesome, it was perfect if you ask me. 2- Monika was the greatest finish line cheerleader... those polish chicks are crazy! =) and 3-during the race I had an argument with my Garmin... I was randomly saying every 4 letter word I could think of because it kept beeping from not being able to find my heart rate. Problem is at that same time someone I knew went past me and said hello. So Holly if you end up reading this post... I wasn't cussing at you I promise! It was the _____ Garmin!!! Grrr... btw- just to let you all know the Garmin is amazing it's just that im an idiot and forgot to pull up the heart rate monitor. (user malfunction) "gotta love it".

The running club is motivating me to push harder and the people have become family. 1- I let them take over my house 2- fish in my pond and 3-I even cook for them! I don't do that for my own family!!! I love you guys! I think it's about time for another bond fire. I must say that the running club should come with some sort of warning label. "WILL be addictive"... "Will cause you to drink alot" "will cause you to sign up for multiple marathons" and here's the best of all...Will cause you to allow others to persuade you (push you) into signing up for the "bare run". (3 miles of nakedness)... "Forgive me Lord" lol Either way it's going to be one hell of a girls trip and there will have to be alot (I say again) a lot of alcohol involved. What surprises me is how many have already agreed to go run. That will be the week after I get back from running the marathon in Australia. Good thing is all I have to pack is a thong, a sports bra and a cowboy hat lol. This could be bad. Till then... Yeeehhhhaawwww!!! "It's On"!!! and Deb- you are on my Calendar for Feb 2nd, 40 miles it is! I would love to do atleast 15 miles with you for sure! I gotta get ready for the ING and I will just use you to get there! =)

"Dirty runs the City 10k" is tomorrow. Polar bear run in Atlanta is Saturday... I am soooo running in my polar bear pajamas!

My best run so far

This morning I decided to go somewhere new to run. Went down town and parked on a random street, pushed start on the Garmin and started running. I had a really bad day yesterday so I needed some time to clear my head and just chill out. Thankfully I left my ipod at home because it caused me to actually think more instead of jam out. Before I knew it I had already ran over a mile and had not stopped at all to walk. Btw- that's a first for me. I usually have to stop atleast at the 1 mile point and walk for a minute then go again. I was happy, makes me feel like im accomplishing something. Steven and I meet at Outback every Tuesday night and last night I was telling him how I know how our white belt students feel. Starting something new surrounded by a bunch of black belts who make everything look so easy but it's not. It's the same thing in running. I have came into this thing super excited but im realizing it's really a process much like the belts in martial arts. 1-Get down the basics and after a while you start seeing small improvements. 2- Lot's and lot's of repetition 3- as I say about 50 times a day "technique first, speed will follow". The more I run the more I see how it's so similar to martial arts. I guess after a while you will be kickin' ass with the rest of em'. Atleast that's my goal. Kerry, Dave, Sam, Monika, Amy, Troy, Leora, Deb and all those other "black belts" outs there inspire me to keep on pushing and eventually I will move up one step at a time.

Today I learned that running with a bad chest cold is not cool! I also missed the race in Athens because I was sick. However we had an awesome dinner and bond fire at my house. (Dave, Kerry, Amy, Troy, Monika, Leora, Deb, Deb's aunt, Sophie, Noah and Madison). It was a great time. Madison caught a huge catfish out of the pond in my back yard. Dinner was awesome and the bond fire was just perfect. Thanks again for coming. We have lot's of "goods" still left in the frig for next time.

1st race of the year 1 of 50

Check it out... It looks like im running 30 miles an hour! I soooo wasn't! I'm not sure how my hair was doing that. That would take alot of hair spray! Ok so I have this crazy goal to do 50 races in a year. Today was my first of 08'. It was way freakin' cold and all hills. The only flat spot was the last 200 yards to the finish line. Most runners almost missed the finish because they literally had it hidden on a tiny side road. It was odd! The thing that amazed me today was all the kids running. When I say running I mean haulin' butt like there was no tomorrow. Then there was this 10-12 year old slightly heavy set girl that really didn't want to be there. She was crying and looking like she was about to hurl. Her dad was being a total jerk saying things like "I told you you need to work out more". I wanted to trip him or something.. kick him in the face, key his car...something! People like that really tick me off. I guess that's just part of it. I also had my first experience with a really bad side cramp today. Usually when I get those they only last about 20 seconds. This lasted from around 1.2 mile maker to past the 2nd mile. It's really hard to run with those. I'm pretty sure it was because of my breathing. I was so cold that I was taking much shorter breathes. So note to self, don't do that again! Next race is this weekend in Athens and im hoping for a good run. We shall see... Till next time "Live to inspire others and inspire to live your life to the fullest"