What a difference!!!

Thank god for Trac, Sherrie and Sherry!!! Thursday's run went a lot better than all the other runs last week.

First thing I did on Thursday was to show up late for Trac's cycle class. Ok that was not better, but at least I showed up!!! My cycle shoes did not twist on me!! They clicked right on the pedals - that was a first. Of course I wanted to take it easy, but Trac kept me motivated to finish the class and work at a regular pace. All except for the Hovers - boy do I hate the hovers!! My legs could not take anymore Hovers!!! Trac always says that the Hovers are good for shaping our buttocks. At that point I did not care what my butt looked like!!!

Then I met Sherrie and Sherry for our run. Usually they run on Wednesday, but this week they ran on Thursday.....That really helped me. I knew that I was not alone on the treadmill - the dreaded treadmill!!!! So they ran 2.5 miles....I ran 2.0 miles. Trac told me too!!!! She is right I should not do too much at one time.

But because Trac and Sherry was talking to me.....I was not looking at the clock, concentrating on my clomping feet, checking on other things that I should not be checking on.....I was able to run with "hardly" no problems!!!! I'm Polish.....I have to complain about something!!! But I felt so good about that run!!!! That made me feel a whole lot better about running the Jingle Bell Run tomorrow.

The weather looks cold for the Jingle Bell, but I am ready. I was able to talk to Melissa and Sherrie about where we are suppose to meet. And I left a message for Tina. I'm going to stand in front of the registration tent and I will try to make myself stand out. HA HA!!!

While talking to Sherrie, we said we are going to take it just like any other Saturday Run that we do. I'm really not that nervous, at least right now. Of course, my Mom and Dad are going to show up and see me race.....They have not missed one yet!!! Teresa is thinking about coming, but she has to work tonight and that would be too hard....But if she comes I would not mind at all. Ron and the Kids are going to be there also. The whole family again, but this time it's for Millie!!!

I wish Melissa, Shannon, Kris and Tina the best.....Enjoy this first run. You will always remember it!!! Remember it's not the time.....That will come. (I have prove that to myself in the Apple Run) But the sheer joy of knowing I FINISHED, I CAN DO IT!!! will help you any task that you set in front of you a little bit easier!!! Right Trac!!!

What is going on this week.

Well, it has been a tough week. I tried to run on Saturday, but I could only do about 1.75 miles. It was a tough 1.75 miles on the treadmill. I know that it is mostly mental, but it seems so damn hard to run on the machine. My shins and legs scream everytime I'm on the treadmill. No matter how high I have my MP3 player on, I can hear my feet go "clomp, clomp, clomp". I feel like one of my grandfather's old horses, but clutzy. I know that I ran the day before and it was 3.1 miles, but I ran it slow that I should not have had such trouble. I was so discourage that I did not go to open cycle. I just wanted to get out of the Y with the boys and finish my grocery shopping. Also it had been a tough 3 days any way and I did not want to push/hurt myself before the Jingle Bell Run.

On Monday, I met with Tina and we ran inside again. I felt like the big old horse again. I ran about 1.75 miles at 5.1 mph on random. I felt like an old women getting off the machine, I was so stiff. Tina did not do much better. But she is so determined to start and finish this race, that I want to back her up. I'm just worried that she is going to get so discourage that her "time" is not good that she will not run again. I think that she would do great if she keeps on going and does not stop running during the winter.

I saw in some magazine that some marathoners are doing running so many minutes/walking so many minutes during a race. I think that if I do this with Tina ( run like 12 minutes, brisk walk for 1 minute) she will not get discourage and would want to finish the race on a strong note!!! I have already proved to myself that I can do it. She needsd to know that she can do it too. Would that be considered cheating, if it keeps somebody running during the winter and running a race in the spring?

I do have some good news about swimming. Kate looked at my "techique" for my front crawl and she said that it looked great. Now I just have be able to swim more that two lengths of the pool before I stop because I'm tired. I also want to practice some other strokes, just in case I need them in the tri.

I run again on Thurday with Sherrie and Sherry. I hope to be out of my slump, I just hope that the reason that I'm having trouble is the treadmill. If it is, what am I going to do come winter? Time will let us know.

What I did this week.

Ok......Just a quick run down of what I did this week.

Saturday I ran 30 Minutes with Trac's class. I ran with Melissa most of the time and we did great. It really did not feel like I ran that long.

On Monday, I ran 2 miles with Bridget and Brandy, while Trac ran 30 minutes with Shannon and her friend (sorry but I think her name is Chris). I don't know what our time was because it was soooo dark and I forgot to start my watch when Tracy said "Go". It was ok.......I don't know why it felt hard and my shins and calfs hurt.......I think it was my mind playing tricks because I could not see because it was so dark. I guess that it is the treadmill for me during the week since I can't run before 5pm. Yuck!!!! The treadmill!!!


I started swimming lessons on Monday!!!! I think that I'm going to like them. Kate is great and it helps that Melissa is in the class and wants to get her strokes ready for a tri!!!! That way I have someone to practice with me.


I did not run again until Friday.......With trying to get ready to go to Schenectady, the wake and the funeral.....I just did not have time to go until then. I ran the same route that I ran the Burnt Hills Apple Run (5K), but I did it in 38.06 minutes. Of course, I was alone and did not have anyone to pace me......And I forgot my MP3 player, so I had nothing but my thought and me trying to sing the songs that I usually run to. Oh joy, oh joy......That was hard to try to keep some kind of normal pace. But of course, my mind was on other thing and I did not stop....So I'll call it an ok run.

Andy has swimming tomorrow, so I will run on the treadmill (Yuck) and then do open cycle class. I really have to change the songs on my MP3 player. They are the same songs I had on there when I was training for Willow Bay 5k.

I will give you my new list once I have them program in. I think I'm going to add more weird 80 tunes and some more Alternative/Heavy Metal. I know that I have enough county and hip hop on there now. I just have to find a good mix to keep me going.

In Memory of Millie

I'm sorry that this has become when ever I can write......But everybody knows that I have been training. As Trac says, things get in the way.

This time it was my Grandma Millie. She passed away on Sunday, Nov 5th. Of course, Teresa was the one that called me and told me. As the good sister that she is, she wanted to make sure that I knew right away and called me from the hospital. Millie (that is what all the grandchildren would refer to her when we would talk about her, but to her we would ALWAYS call her Grandma when talking to her) was a main staple in my life. When my Ma started working again, we would go to Grandma and Grandpa's house to be watched until my mother got done with work.

We learned so many things with Millie. We knew that Bo really loved Hope while watching Another World EVERY DAY. We knew that 19 was under the I in Bingo. She would always take us to Bingo if we stayed overnight at her house. For the longest time, my brother thought that letters had to go in front of the number when counting!!!!

We all learned how to play cards and be the perfect host while having at Stanley Cleaning Product Party. I guess they never had Pamper Chef or Party Lite Candle parties back then, but at least 3 times a year Millie had to have a Stanley Party and the "Older" Grandkids (Michelle and I) would have to serve snacks and get drinks. All during the party my mother would be shaking her head and then comment to my Grandmother at the end of the party that we were not her "slaves". Millie would then tell her that she was preparing us for our husbands. So What happened to me then? But of course, I now know how to make an awesome Wine Cooler because of the party (I tell you later)

Millie had Arthritis so bad that she had plastic hips at the age of 55!!! That was back in the 70's. I think I was around 5 years old when she got them. (I'm now 37) Thinking back, I don't ever remember a time when I did not see Millie shuffle her feet, walking slow, or not being in some kind of pain.

I remember the time when she broke both of her wrist, because she tripped on the side walk because she could only pick her feet up just so high. I must have been around 10 years old, that would make Teresa 7 years old. She left my 8 year old brother Mike at her house (you could do that back then) because Ma or Grandpa would be home soon. She then told us to get in the car. Me in the back seat and Teresa in the front seat. She got in the drivers seat and told Teresa to start the car. We just looked at her. I wanted to call the ambulance, she told me NO we were going to drive to the emergency room. So off we went. We did what she told us to do, she was the adult!!! Millie did the gas and the brake. Teresa took the right side of the wheel. I had the left side of the wheel reaching over Millie driving her to the Hospital!!!! Boy did I want a cop car to stop us. But we made it with out hitting anything!!!! I think she got more than a few word from Ma about that.

The last few years have been heck for her, my Ma and Teresa (My uncles would come over to see her and take her places, but for the most part Ma did most of the work and Teresa would help her when she could because Teresa's schedule would allow it). The last few months have been Hell!! She kept on falling down because of all the other problems that she had, but because of her arthritis it would take her twice as long to get back to walking again. It got so bad that she broke her foot, and after that she was not able to really walk again. She had to go into a Nursing Home and was trying to get rehab, but it was just not working. Towards the end, she was not getting enough oxygen to run her body and having mini strokes and heart attacks all the time.

We all knew that it was coming soon and it was only a matter of time. Well the time was Sunday and she went peacefully, just the way we all wished for since she had been in pain for most of her life.

I remember a time when I went to the Dr's and I told him that I was training for a 5K. I really though he was going to tell me no, that I was too fat and I would hurt myself. He was all for me running. He told me that the exercise would probaly slow down the arthritis that I have or going to have. I think that made me want to do it even more. In the back of my head, I knew that I did not want to be in pain like Millie. I wanted to be able to run around with my grandchildren, something I don't remember Millie ever doing with us. But mainly I wanted to be able to walk up until the day that I died.

So even though I was going to run in the Jingle Bell Run for Arthritis trying to cheer on Tina like T did with me, now I am running in memory of Mildred Helstowski, my Grandmother. She might have not always done the right things, but she was there for us and loved us!!

I will miss you Grandma, but you will always be in my heart!!!