Fun Friday

Started my day off by heading to the Springfield Greenway to walk with my new friend, Shirley. We have been going to the same church for a couple of years but never really took the time to get acquainted until just recently. She texted to invite me to walk with her last eve but I was busy with David, so we arranged to meet at the church this morning at 7am and ride to the greenway together. Initially, we had planned to keep to her plan with the Couch to 5K (C25K) program by doing walking/running intervals. However, when we arrived and I mentioned that the course was about 5 miles....she wanted to do more walking since she is just getting started with exercising. This offered a nice opportunity to get to know one another a little better since we talked and walked more than we truly trained today.



Just a snapshot along the path

 

We managed to complete 4.9 miles in about 1 hr 20 min. We stopped several times to take pics, grab a drink of water at the fountain, etc so this time is a bit skewed by multiple starts and stops. I did manage to burn about 530 calories so that didn't hurt my feelings at all. 

After we finished walking, we drove back toward home. We had been talking about smoothies so we made our way over to Pleasant Thyme Cafe for a frozen coffee drink. I went ahead and bought a veggie panini to enjoy for lunch before getting on with the rest of the day.

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After a quick shower, I took my baby girl, Gretchen, to the vet for a visit. She has been gaining a little weight and starting to have some nasty stinch from her skin irritation on her back legs....so I wanted to get the vet's viewpoint on diagnosing the problem. They suspected that she is hypothyroid but needed to get blood work on her to confirm. Apparently, this is pretty common in small pure bred dogs. The blood sample that they collected today was "too fatty" to analyze. So...they asked me to hold her dinner tonight and tomorrow's breakfast. David will take her in at 8am for another blood draw. They gave us a spray for the skin irritation that is thought to be yeast and ear drops for the yeast in her ears. According to the vet, dogs with hypothyroidism have yeast infections frequently as well. Wow...such complicated creatures.

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By 1230ish I was dropping Gretchen back by the house and headed to surprise Dannah at school by signing her out early. Thought she might enjoy getting a little extra time out of school on the last Friday of school. If all goes well, I will get Katie out early on Monday. Only 3 more days of school next week...then summer break begins. After I signed Dannah out, we headed to mom's house for a few minutes. We had planned to take my grandmother to a late lunch/early dinner. Steak and Shake seems like the best pick since she loves the chili and milkshakes there. 4 generations sitting around the table sharing laughter and stories...always a good opportunity to make sweet memories :)



Like mother, like daughter

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Finished up the day by spending the evening with David's mom. She loves for all the boys and their families (she has 4 sons) to get together for holidays and celebrations so tonight was the best for all of the them to celebrate Mother's Day together. We all pitched in and bought her a new gas grill. She had fixed an amazing meal for the family around 6pm...ham, deviled eggs, chicken tetrazzini, scalloped potatoes, white beans, cream style corn, rolls/cornbread, and caramel pie. I ate responsibly since I had splurged with the Jalapeno Burger and fries at Steak and Shake earlier in the afternoon. All in all, the day was packed full of fun and good food...but I think I balanced it pretty well since I had burned those 500+ calories this AM on the greenway.

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Last but not least, today is weigh day Friday. Drum roll please... 195.1

(Down 3.1 pounds this week)

I have made my way back down to the mid 190s again.

Looking forward to seeing another couple of pounds disappear this week, if possible.

Shindigs and Celebrations

 

My walk in from the parking lot in the mornings...doesn't get more peaceful than this.

 As I walk into the office many mornings, I find myself day dreaming. It is exactly 1/2 mile from my parking place in the lot to the back door of our clinic. I take advantage of every step along that path to enjoy the scenery and smell the sweet smells of mother nature. Amazing how you can prepare for a busy workday or unwind from a chaotic afternoon in the office with only 1/2 mile of peace and quiet.

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What an awesome surprise this morning as I walked in the back door to our clinic! The MDs and administrative staff went over and above to recognize nurses for Nurses Week. From the balloons lining the ceiling to the signage throughout the clinic...I felt like the red carpet was rolled out all the way to my office. The fun didn't stop there. 
 

 

Lining the hallway in the clinic





I share an office with 3 other nurses, and we all had awesome little baskets prepared with some of our favorite goodies along with a caricature hanging on our computer monitors. In fact, each nurse (total of about 13 of us) had personalized baskets and decor in our offices. As you can see in my cool green basket below, I have several goodies to enjoy...trail mix to ritas with Skinny Cows and Kashi Bars thrown in. The docs all went in together to get each nurse a large Vanderbilt golf umbrella.  The signage hanging from the ceiling set the mood for the day...

* Due to the current workload, the light at the end of the tunnel has been switched off!

*Sarcasm...Just one more service I offer.

* I need chocolate STAT!

*Nurse Parking Only...violators will get a rectal exam

*Be Nice! I might be your nurse someday.



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I wanted to share a small piece of mine and David's daily regimen with the world. I have to giggle as I post this pic because we have officially crossed over that bridge of youth to middle age based on the size of our pill planner. David's are stretched out in the top 2 rows and mine in the bottom 2 rows. Now, one might say...this is a planner designed for one person that takes medications four times a day...not 2 people's medications. Well, yeah, I thought the same at first. But...I need David to hold me accountable since I am such a "non-pill-taking" kind of gal. He does so well and I want to be like him when I grow up :)

All of these compartments are filled with nothing more than vitamins and minerals. Neither of us take any prescribed medications...thank goodness. I have promised a few friends that I would share my regimen despite me not being the most compliant at taking them so here goes...

AM

2 Acai Berry capsules

1 Chromium Picolinate

1 B-Complex

1 Viactiv chew

PM

2 Acai Berry capsules

1 Multivitamin

1 Chromium Picolinate

I tend to fill energized and "healthier" overall when I am good about taking my day's allotment as packaged so nicely in these little bins. Why is it so hard for me to remember to take them? Who the heck knows...guess it is the early onset dementia that gets me some days. Here recently, I have added a couple of Osteo Biflex to morning and night to hopefully help with the residual left hip pain. So far...I can't tell a difference but I will follow thru for 2 weeks for continuity if nothing else.

Running in Circles

 This fine Monday morning was spent at the Downtown YMCA on the indoor track. I took a few snapshots along my route just to share the craziness of running in circles with such a beautiful skyline just on the other side of the window. I had made my mind up that re-calibrating my Garmin foot pod was my #1 goal for today.  In reading my new book (see below) along with some fancy google research, I have lost faith in the treadmill distance since the data favors that most treadmills are miscalibrated by sometimes as great as 1/8 mile. When you are sweating and burning calories at 5am, every inch of that black never-ending belt counts, and I want it to be accurate. In re-calibrating the pod along the middle lane on the indoor running/walking track, I found a significant discrepancy. The last calibration was setup on the treadmill which put the factor at approx 920. This morning's calibration was 820. Now, the factor can be different based on the treadmill keeping me at a steady pace or even from the difference in my new shoes. Either way...Mission accomplished! All in all, I ended up racking up about 2 1/2 miles this morning and burning 335 calories based on the Garmin.

Gotta love this guy's theories...

Top 3 Goals of a 5K/10K Runner

1. Finish in the upright position.

2. Have a smile on your face.

3. Want to do it again.

Before I forget to tell you...my hubby has officially been sucked into the fitness vortex. He is reading another of Galloway's books every night at bedtime. As I lay exhausted and cross-eyed while trying to read a page or two of my book, he is highlighting his way thru each page of his. If I didn't know better, I think he is probably preparing ME to take a test at the end. Instead of listening to romantic tunes or watching a few minutes of our favorite sitcom, he is reading me bedtime stories about how to run correctly and how to train properly. In addition, he emailed me a grid that outlines our training schedule for the 1/2 Marathon in November. But...I wouldn't change a thing! I so love this handsome, bald man and look forward to spending many short/long runs together in the years to come. If their is one thing you must know about David Farmer...he does nothing half-ass!

In thinking about this morning's events, I have to giggle as I share my "OOPS!" moment. As many of my friends know all too well, I drag myself out of bed and to the gym about 3-4 mornings of the week. Aware that I am quite absentminded in the early morning hours, I pack my gym bag the night before. Over the course of the last 18 months, I have forgotten a bra, underwear, and socks at various times. However, my makeup bag seems to have never ended up on the "Forgotten" list until this morning. Yes, I presented myself to the Vandy world today...totally naked. Well, bare faced that is...hehehe. Not even a lick of mascara on the pitiful lashes. Thankfully, all of my work mates have restrained their laughter and joke making considering I look like the walking dead on a Monday morning. Heck, I will just blame it on a rough weekend :)

Speaking of the weekend...



David's "Birthday Cake"



Saturday was full of fun and memory making opportunities. I can honestly say that I had a great time getting my 14-year-old baby girl ready for her 8th Grade Formal despite my worry that I would have been stressed out just trying to make it thru the day. David's B-Day was Saturday as well so I wanted to do something special for him as well. David and I had been looking at home scales that measure body fat %. Our current scales are not the most consistent and don't measure %. Honestly, we were just looking for more consistency with weight checks but wanted a few more bells and whistles on a newer model. After a little research, I decided on one and purchased it thru Amazon for his birthday. I know that sounds odd for a birthday gift, but I am noted for this kind of thing. For his 40th birthday (4 years ago), I gave him Metamucil. To be perfectly honest, I went to Walmart for miscellaneous items and thought of the Metamucil for him while I was there since my mom had been swearing by it for our "aging bowels". In retrospect, I should have held off in giving it to him on another day besides May 5th. Needless to say, it didn't go over very well :/ . However, I think the scale idea was a hit. It should be here this week so I will post pics of his (our) new toy once is arrives. The other dilemma was what kind of dessert to make for his birthday since he is watching his calories, etc. Considering I knew he wouldn't eat more than a small piece of a cake and the rest would be tossed in the trash within a couple of days of sitting on the counter growing stale, I decided to make a tempting and tasty creation that could be eaten in moderation.



Formal 2012...Class of 2016



We had a great evening at dinner. Katie and her friends decided to eat Japanese at Shogun. We (David, me, and Dannah) were chaperons (aka body guards)..hahaha. Actually, many of the parents asked if we were going since none of them wanted to so we decided to follow the limo there but sit separately from the crew (as to keep from embarrassing Katie with our presence) and celebrate David's B-day dinner there. More or less, we tagged along for the other parents' and our own peace of mind since 10 eighth graders could have been too much for any Hibachi chef :) Each and every one of them were well-behaved and made me proud to be associated with such a fine group of teenagers.

Loved our cook!

The guys and gals were all chauffeured back to the school for the party. David, Dannah, and I  made our way to the couch at home. Lots of great memories...

Back on Track

Spending this Friday...working from home...thank goodness! I am starting the day out ready for a nap already. Guess the yummy dinner and drinks last night at Stoney River didn't allow for a restful night's sleep considering I was up at 1am drinking water and 2am drinking Pepto Bismol (love the pink stuff). I had the opportunity to hang out with a few work friends and listen to a pulmonologist from TX speak about Pulmonary Hypertension (my specialty at Vandy). I tend to enjoy those kind of talks since I seem to learn a little something different each time. Dinner was amazing...started with jumbo chilled shrimp and a ripe, juicy slice of tomato topped with mozzarella for appetizer. Followed that with a nice dinner salad and swordfish plus mashed potatoes with caramelized onions on top. I tried the sauteed mushrooms and au gratin potatoes too...why not, I was intending on making the best out of those family style plates positioned in the center of the table :} I don't remember ever eating swordfish before but it was quite scrumptious. I wish I could have grabbed a pic of it but I didn't want to be rude since the speaker already had gained  momentum in the talk and it was dark in the room. The flash could have drawn attention to my obsession with sharing pics with my small group of readers. Based on how full I felt after dinner, I think I ate a portion more like this...

Now, the rolls there are phenomenal....but I restrained myself and only had one. Of course, it wasn't because I was trying to behave...it was more because I knew the chocolate cake and cheesecake were the dessert options on the menu. I knew that I needed to save a little loop in my gut for the "something sweet" after dinner. Yes, I did enjoy a small portion of both from the family style plate. I warned you that my eating was out of control this week!

On the upside, I did make it back to the gym yesterday AM before work. I had a chance to talk to a fellow beginning runner enthusiast (Tricia). She started running last fall in the Women's 1/2 Marathon and has completed 3 or 4 Half Marathons by now. She offered me some advice on (hopefully) preventing those nasty blisters and sore toes again. She said that tying my shoe laces a little snugger should prevent  my feet from slipping and banging the ends of my shoes. She divulged that she lost a toe nail after her first 1/2 but had gotten better at lacing since then. Needless to say, I will hope for the same. On a positive note, my toes are feeling better by the day....I should be able to stop belly aching about them in a week or so...hahaha.

After 4 days off of doing barely anything to constitute as fitness training, I took it a little easier. I spent about 25 minutes on the elliptical cross trainer in the cardio theater and then followed up by about 20 minutes on the treadmill at a 3.5-3.8 mph pace. After it was all said and done, I ended up burning about 330 calories. Of course, I blew those all out of the water with the before and during dinner drinks. Loving the margaritas and lemon drop martini!

Weigh Day Friday has rolled around way too quickly this week considering all of the over indulgences. Considering  the quantity and quality of my eats, I was quite scared to get on those dreaded scales this AM.

I wasn't kidding about the eating...up from 195.5 to 198.2. A whopping 2.7 pound gain in 7 days. Wowzers...I can pack it in from Friday to Friday as you can see. Well, this is what blogging for accountability is all about....GETTING IT BACK ON TRACK! I made my mind of last night that today marked the day that I would start tracking my food again on http://www.myfitnesspal.com/ As I have seen in the past, writing it down is the best way to keep track of every calorie that crosses the lips.



Friday's Breakfast of Champions...logged at 410 calories



Tomorrow is my sweetheart's B-Day. He is a Cinco de Mayo baby...no wonder he loves Mexican food. However, we don't plan to eat Mexican tomorrow. We are tailing a limo holding 10 or so 8th graders to Shogun Japaneses Restaurant for dinner. Knowing that my 14 year old baby girl would be in the limo and at dinner without a parent chaperon, I felt it would be a better choice to make sure they ended up back to the school for the "8th Grade Formal" after taking the limo ride to the restaurant a few hours earlier. Over cautious...perhaps. But...I think a couple of the other parents are thankful for that as well considering the text messages I have received.  I will definitely post pictures of her all dolled up and ready to dance the night away after we get her completed with hair, nails, and dress tomorrow. I am hoping to surprise my sweetie with a little something special as well to recognize him on his special day. Considering he occasionally reads my posts...I think I will leave it a secret until tomorrow.

Before I sign off for the day, thought I would share a pic of The Gang (Gilda's) that was taken just before the race last Saturday. Dannah, Katie, and I are on the front row on the left. I ordered a couple of pics from the photo website as well. Those darn things must be lined in gold since it cost me $45 for 2- 5x7 pictures (including S/H and tax). I will share those once I get them in the mail. The price for memories...

Out of Control

Monday was "Pamper Kimberly" Day. Thankfully, I had the day off so I spent it just like I wanted to rather than how I needed to...such as cleaning, laundry, etc.  I started out the morning with a 1 hour total body massage at Massage Envy. Linda and I decided to head out to Hendersonville since they had the best deal. $49 for 1 hour of relaxation and stretching with the massage therapist...I would have paid twice that based on how much I needed to relieve those generalized sore muscles. After the massage, we drove around the corner to get a pedicure. Just as the sweet fella was taking off the old purple polish, I had one of the scariest experiences ever. As I looked down, I caught a glimpse of my 2nd and 3rd toe nails on my right foot. Now, if you remember, those toes were pretty darn sore just after the race and the day after was no better. That soreness equated to BLACK and BLUE toe nails. Yes, I said it...BLACK and BLUE. The toes looked basically normal but the nail beds lacked beauty for sure. The huge blister on my big toe beside them was looking minuscule in the big picture. Jeez a meez, guess I was taking a bigger beating than I thought. But...a few sore toes won't stop this gal from doing it all over again.

 Caught a couple of pics of me and Linda getting our pedicures.

We followed our massages and pedicures with a nice lunch at Cheddar's. The remainder of the day was spent shopping for a few decorations for the Dos de Mayo party at work on Wednesday.

Tuesday night was my night to cut veggies and mix up a good homemade batch of pico de gallo and cheese queso. Those that know me best are aware that I tend to throw some ingredients together and hope for the best. This pico was no different. I promised I would share my "recipe" though so here goes...

6 fresh jalapenos, seeded and diced

1/4 of large yellow onion, diced finely

1/2 bunch of cilantro, rinsed and chopped

8 Roma tomatoes, diced

Juice from 4 ripe limes, kneaded and squeezed

2 tbsp. salt (I love salty pico)

Wednesday (today) was our quarterly birthday celebration at the office. We celebrated the birthdays of staff members that were born in April, May and June. I was super pumped to have mexican food on the menu for my B-Day celebration (June 25th) because all mexican food falls on my favorite food list. We called it "Dos de Mayo" since we celebrated with a mexican theme on the 2nd of May. Unfortunately, we had to use Cinco de Mayo decorations :) If there is one thing I can say about our clinic, we know how to eat good.



Steak and Chicken tacos, mexican rice, homemade quacamole, pico, queso, black beans, refried beans, salsa, and so on and so forth

  



Gotta have dessert



Love the sombreros doubling as chip holders


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Me and my nurse manager at today's celebration

 Out of control eating doesn't even begin to describe this week for me. Since the 1/2 marathon last Saturday, I have not stopped "enjoying" food...any and all food apparently. My portions are out of control, and my choices have not been the best. I think I have been bummed because of my sore toes and the need to give them a break from the gym to allow them to rest/heal. But...it's time to turn this train around and gain steam in the opposite direction. Back to the gym tomorrow even if I just end up on the elliptical.



A Saturday to Remember

 

Saturday's Race Day Recap

My official stats from the Competitor.com website:

 

Finished In:

03:14:01

Overall: 19048 out of 22277

• Division: 1770 out of 2098
• Gender: 11611 out of 14189

My Garmin was a bit different on timing (3:11) because (in all the excitement) I had forgotten to touch START as I crossed the line. I remembered about 0.15 miles into the course (based on when we passed the 1 mile marker at 0.85 on my watch).





Me and the girls just before making our way to the corrals





 

Cathy (the reason I ever signed up for this craziness) and me



After reviewing my splits, I averaged a 14:41 minute mile along the course. My average heart rate was 169 with a max of 178. No doubt that I was pushing hard based on that rate for sure. I have to giggle in that my starting heart rate just within the first quarter mile was 160 but the last minute of the run shows me at 155. One might say I was quite relieved that it was nearing the end and that I could see the finish line :) By 1/2 mile into the race, my left hip reminded me ever so kindly that it was not completely recovered. By 6 miles in, I was beginning to wonder if a hip replacement was necessary. I failed to  mention that if I could have stripped that long sleeved white shirt off while keeping pace then I would have stripped it off in a heart beat and tossed it to the side of the road....I was so damn hot!!! Dannah and I both agreed that by mile 10 1/2, our silent thoughts were screaming "What the H#!! were we thinking when we even considered the 1/2 marathon?"  We both seemed to hit the proverbial "wall" at about mile 11. She had pressed thru like a real champ up until that point. Of course, I was hating life by about 9 miles but persevered. Luckily, I felt like I got my last burst of energy about the time she was dog tired so at least we were not both running dead on our feet at the same time. As usual, we pulled one another thru until the end. If I had to guesstimate, I think we actually jogged a total of 4 of the 13 miles.

After we met up with David at the finish line (yes, he surprised me and came to meet us despite his terrible back pain), we walked another mile or so back to the Jeep.  If he hadn't shown up, we would have been facing the walk from downtown back to Vandy's campus...aka The Green Mile (about 3 miles uphill). Considering that I felt like I had grown another toe in between my big toe and 2nd toe on my right foot I was so glad to see his smile at the end. When we finally made it back to my car parked on Vandy's campus, I took a sec to check my foot for any anomalies. Yep, just as I had suspected...I had earned myself another blister or two but not in the usual places on the side of my feet. I managed to develop a nice size one along the inner edge of my big toe nail and along the side of that toe as well (as it presses up against the next toe). Of course, my 2nd and 3rd toes had apparently taken a beaten again because they had blisters on the tips of them as well. Can't quite figure this out since my shoes are seemingly big enough. I think it must be that I am squeezing all those toes together when I run since the left foot looks unscathed. :) Guess I will read up on possible causes and solutions before the next long run.

According to my Garmin, I managed to knock out 1,568 calories from this 13.1 miles of manual labor. However, I made up several of those by enjoying a ice cold chocolate milk and some frozen fruit at the finish line followed by lunch with the girls and David. Lunch at Chuy's was a nice finale to the 1/2 marathon experience no doubt. I was so tired, thirsty, and hungry that I could barely think straight. However, I did have enough wits about me to order a salt loaded margarita. All runners need to replenish their fluids and sodium...so I thought this would be the best option...hahaha. Never mind that I didn't need the ETOH on an empty stomach. The belly was quite stuffed after the bucket of chips and salsa followed by the little piece of heaven that the menu called Chicka Chicka Boom Boom. I did drink a ton of water and Gatorade along the course plus had a couple of nice tall glasses of H2O following the rita so hopefully it all balanced out in the end.

After feeding my face at Chuy's, we headed home to shower and rest a bit before the After Race Party back at Gilda's along with the concert to follow at the Bridgestone Arena. David didn't feel up to going since he had walked way too much to unite with us after the race so I invited my friend, Amy, to tag along to keep from wasting the extra ticket. The gathering at Gilda's was great! Had a chance to see all of the gang all dressed in real clothes. The ladies actually had makeup on and their hair presentable...unlike all those Saturday mornings that we were facing mileage with sweat and tears at 8am. "The Gazelle" had made it back from the Louisville 1/2 Marathon that he was running just in time for the party. I was excited to see all of the folks that I had worked so hard with over the past 15 weeks all in one room gathered to celebrate our accomplishments. An honorable mention would be that we had raised $113,000 for Gilda's Club as a total sum with all of the fundraising.



Katie and Dannah appeasing me for pictures



Amy and me as we got up close and personal with Rodney



 Rodney Atkins was the main act for the night. The concert was free to the Marathon participants so we went ahead and made the trip back downtown because we wanted to have the full experience of the event. With no assigned seating, we didn't have a great view but had fun singing along with the songs that we remembered.



Dannah's best pose with her cotton candy while Katie appears scared to death.



You can't help but giggle at this one.

To Summarize my first 1/2 Marathon experience ...I wouldn't have missed it for the world!

Weigh Day (Friday)

In all the craziness on Friday, I forgot to divulge the verdict from Weigh Day (Friday). Yes, I am happy to say that I have successfully lost a few pounds this past week. My Grand total: 195.5 as of Friday AM. I think this places me about 3.4 lbs down for the last 7 days. The only change I have made that might have worked in my favor was that I drank more water and no ETOH (yes, I had avoided the ritas) along with increased my protein intake. Overall, I feel a bit thinner but I realize that I must push harder toward leaving those 190s behind. Now that I have this 1/2 marathon behind me, I am heading back to the gym 5 days a week...3 heavy days (consisting of run/walk) alternating with 2 days of cross training. That was the magic formula before so I will drink from that same cup again to see if it works for me. Increasing exercise not only burns more of those calories but also kills my appetite.

'Twas the night before...

What is today? Some may say Finally Friday. I say...It's the evening prior to the Country Music 1/2 Marathon!" I am so excited that I can barely contain myself. I have been working off nervous energy all day. Thankfully, this was my scheduled Friday off this week, and I am off on Monday as well. In addition, I took off from the part-time job as well so I could rest up after the 13.1 miles tomorrow. Yikes! I don't quite know how to act with 4 full days off from all employment.

This week has been packed full of after-work activities including meetings on Monday and Tuesday for the girls school/sports related stuff. Wednesday was supposed to be somewhat low key with sports physicals being the only item on the evening agenda. Unfortunately, David hurt his back at work in the late afternoon on Wednesday so I ended up spending the evening in the Vandy ED with him. Poor fella...he is trying to be a "patient" patient but being sick is not his strong suit.

Today was filled full of house cleaning, yard work, and laundry. The yard work is usually David's job but he is trying to recuperate. So...I started the Mommy Do list about 730am and am just settling down to blog a few lines now at 7pm. Ugh! This "not-so-small" stack of laundry is just about 5 days worth. I do need to admit that I hit the road in the late afternoon to run a few errands so I wasn't completely locked in at home all day. Needless to say, mowing/trimming/weed eating was the best part of the morning because I so needed to smell the cool breeze and feel the sun shine on my head. Refreshing!

I am super excited to get my wedding band back from Zales today. I had to get it sized down from 8.25 to a 6.5 due to my weight loss. WOW! That feels good. Weird how your fingers shrink faster than your bootie though. I am holding off on getting my diamond set (solitaire and wrap) sized until I reach my goal weight. Rewarding myself with diamonds rather than food...hahaha.



Getting ready for tomorrow AM is the highlight of this evening. Most importantly...the race number. But next in line is my Garmin. Yes, I rate this above my water and snacks for the course. I am addicted to knowing how many miles I have gone and how many are remaining. The calorie count and heart rate info is like my true medal at the end of this journey.

Almost forgot to share my Gilda's Gang shirt with the world outside of the "gang members". As you can see, I had a few names added. These are some of the most special people that have blessed my life along the way. My fond memories of them will surely carry me another mile tomorrow when my 'ole muscles and bones are screaming to give up. Just to recap: Daniel (the step-father that I remember as "dad" who lost his battle to lung cancer after 2 1/2 years of struggle), Sherry (one of my best friends from high school that lost her life to an unknown primary cancer), Bobby (my uncle currently battling kidney cancer), and Terry (my father-in-law that is a head/neck cancer survivor)

My plan is to wear my black exercise pants and a white long sleeved T-shirt underneath this shirt tomorrow morning. It is supposed to be about 60 degrees at 6am so I don't want to start out too cold. Of course, my Bondi-Band Headband "Make Time Not Excuses" will be a must.

OH! Almost forgot to mention...tomorrow's agenda at a glance.

4am: Rise and Shine

5am: Meeting up with my buddy, Cathy, at the local gas station and hitting the road toward Nashville.

6am: Picture time with The Gang followed by making our way to the designated corral. I am set to be in Corral 30. As you can see...I am 32, 672 out of approx 35,000 participants.

7am: The race begins!

10am: Hoping to be crossing the Finish Line! (3 hours or less is my goal)

Lunch somewhere followed by a nap (hopefully)    :)

5-7pm: After Race Party at Gilda's Club (Massages and snacks are enough to draw me there for sure.)

7-10pm: Concert at the Bridgestone Arena with Gloriana and Rodney Atkins

Tomorrow starts with the alarm at 4am so I better get busy folding a load of clothes and hit the sack. Sweet Dreams! Definitely more to come...