Posts Tagged ‘Wetumpka’

Happy New Year, everyone!

Saturday, September 4th, 2010

Happy New Year!

No, I’m not crazy!

Where and when I grew up, school started the Tuesday after Labor Day. My big brother started school when I was about 3 and I couldn’t WAIT to start school myself. I was enamored with school. I wanted to go and I remember waiting for him each and every day to come home. I remember my mother finally relenting and sending me to nursery school the next year, because I was so insistent about SCHOOL.

I spent the next 19 years in school – 2 in preschool, 11 in elementary, junior high and high school, 4 in college and 2 in grad school. When I graduated from college, I married a guy who worked in the school system. Before he left, we had a son who was ready for preschool, himself. He spent the next 19 years in school. Until he was in college, school began either right after Labor Day, or at worst, a few days before the holiday weekend.

From the time I was three till I was 47, the year began in September, ended with the end of June and then there was the summer – a time out of the regular year. Fall was always a time of new beginnings. Shopping and new clothes. New subjects, new teachers, new friends, fresh chances. Enervating summer heat gave way to new energy as the air turned crisp. Reinvigorated, we both embraced our new academic challenge and reveled in our free time, now scarce and precious in a way it wasn’t at the end of summer.

This year, even though I’ve left academics behind for a while, a number of things have changed in my life, and I’m feeling the same reinvention of myself that I felt in years past. I’m ready to get moving, get things done and feel the newness of a “New Year!”

So, I challenge you to feel the freshness in the air and renew your commitment to yourself and your personal growth, spiritually, mentally, emotionally and in physical health. Get out, enjoy the weather, enjoy new and old friends, enjoy God’s creation!

Happy New Year, everyone!

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Posted in Adventures in Living, Friendship, Support, Weight Management | No Comments »

Blogging about not blogging…

Wednesday, August 25th, 2010

It’s been months since I’ve written anything coherent enough to post here. Many days, I haven’t been together enough to write my name. And yet, for all that, I’m still hanging in.

You see, the first weekend in April is the last time I did any exercise that didn’t result in at least mild discomfort within hours. Somewhere in the week preceding Easter, I did something, or more likely a combination of somethings, that caused pain in my lower back.

It took 5 or 6 weeks of chiropractic and medical care to be healed enough for me to resume most of my activities. Long enough to lose most of my cardio conditioning and a fair amount of muscle tone. And, even though I’m able to do almost everything I used to be able to do, there are many more limits on how much and how often I can do things like run 6 miles or ride the trails on my mountain bike.

Add that to a crisis in my home life and what I got was depression. An ever deepening fog that sucked me in and blanketed my days. Makes it tough to do the basics, almost impossible to do what moves you forward and blind to the light at the end of tunnel.

Fortunately for me, my business is fitness. So, sooner or later, the basics of my day includes exercise. Hard, sweat inducing, heart-pounding, muscle-tiring exercise. Daily! Because I advertised the classes in the moments I was lucid enough to realize I had to. And slowly, the daily dose of endorphins are performing their magic. The fog is lifting.

Not all day and not every day. But enough to see the path that God seems to be leading me on. Enough to see encouragement in the response to my running classes (still a month away). Enough to be grateful for my friends and students (often one and the same) and, finally, enough to put fingers to keyboard to write again.

So, now, I’ll shut down for now, get myself out of the car, drag my bike out of the back and thank God for this gorgeous, slightly cooler and drier morning and go get me a dose of endorphins —- and since I’m riding alone, maybe even a bunch of adrenalin!

This is the day the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it. Psalm 118:24

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Posted in Adventures in Living, Friendship, Injuries, Mountain Biking | No Comments »

Trees don’t get scared…

Monday, March 8th, 2010

Perhaps I should remember certain facts more often… One thing that I know but don’t bother to think about very often is that trees don’t get scared. Not even if you ride directly at them on a mountain bike. Not even if you yell at them. At least, they don’t get scared enough to move out of the way.

Trees probably don’t get scared because they KNOW that you won’t really damage them if you do hit them. In fact, they’re pretty sure that you’ll walk away the loser. And, you know something, THEY’RE RIGHT! Running into a tree hurts!

How did this come to mind this week? Well, you see, it all started when I couldn’t find my biking gloves – something which actually happened months ago, and I stopped riding with hand protection. But, yesterday, out riding with a friend, I managed to get a briar vine running through my fingers (ring and middle) as I was riding. And it was doing a pretty painful thing to my hand. So, my attention was pretty well diverted.

And so was my direction. To the other side of the trail and a bit beyond… and there was the tree.

It didn’t move.

My brakes didn’t stop me fast.

I screamed at the tree.

It still didn’t move.

My brakes still didn’t slow me fast enough.

Lessons learned?

1. Protect yourself. My head was fine. I had a helmet (never ride without one, road or trail!). But my arm is scraped, my wrist is jammed, and of course, there’s a nasty tear between 2 fingers. If I’d had gloves, or even mentioned it to my friend and she’d lent me a pair, this wouldn’t have happened.

2. Pay attention. Don’t be distracted by small discomforts. Especially when bigger, nastier dangers lurk.

3. Trees don’t move. Rocks are gonna be there. The planet doesn’t care. Adventure sports can be a blast. But sometimes, you come out on the short end. Be ready for it. Anticipate it, but don’t fear it. Minimize the damage and move on. I rode for another half hour, then went running on those same trails for another hour. Had a blast. Feel a bit stiff and sore this morning, so I’m going golfing.

Stay safe out there!

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Posted in Adventure Racing, Adventures in Living, Courage, Mountain Biking | 3 Comments »

I challenge you to…
Beat me at my own game!

Thursday, January 14th, 2010

I’ve been doing the weight managment thing a pretty long time. Four years to lose what I needed to lose (YEP, FOUR years – it’s a process), almost two years maintaining, and NOW, I’m starting to let it creep up! EEEK! NO, this WILL NOT HAPPEN!

I stepped on the scale yesterday morning and saw I had passed the NO PASS zone… those of you who have lost weight know what I mean – the number you never wanted to see again. I was doing great through Christmas. I even did pretty well on my vacation. But, last week was the pits. A combination of hormonally and emotionally induced eating, travel to Houston (lots of good restaurants here!) and the creeping bad habits which has been going on the last few months combined to push me over the top….

So, I’m officially putting out a challenge – I’m gonna lose a minimum of EIGHT pounds in the next month. 31 days. (I’m not going to lose more than 13 pounds, since that would reflect to fast a weight loss.) I know how to do this. I know how to bring myself under control without going crazy. And I’ll be doing this!

So, what’s the challenge part? I’m challenging you, wherever and whoever you are (you don’t have to be a current client), to beat me at my own game! Lose more than 7 pounds or more than I do (if I fail to lose 8), and win. It’s that simple….

Johnny, tell ‘em what they’ve won!!! Well, if you win, not only have you won better health and better fitting clothing (or in some cases, the right to a shopping spree for clothing that fits!), but you’ve won your choice of the following:

  • A one hour personal training session, either in the gym or at your home (you must live within 30 miles of Wetumpka – sorry, Karen!)
  • One month of online training programs with feedback.
  • One month personalized running coaching

Even better, just for doing well at this, I’ll give you a $10 discount on any service from Ignite! (that’s right, running, climbing, biking, training, whatever you like!) If you lose at least 4 pounds, just one pound a week, I’ll give you a $10 discount to use however you like with Ignite! (excepting products in the store – sorry!)

So, here are the rules:

  1. You have to accept this challenge within one week (by January 21, 2010). You then have 31 days from the day you start to complete your challenge.
  2. You must accept the challenge here, as a comment to this post. You can either post your weight or send it to me in an email, but you need to publicly accept the challenge!
  3. Post back weekly to tell me how you are doing. I will post my progress weekly so you’ll have something to post to.
  4. Lose between 8 and 13 pounds and you win! (If you lose more than 13 pounds, you may have been going about it in an unhealthy way. I don’t want you doing that, so if you lose more than 13 pounds, I won’t be awarding a prize, UNLESS you can justify it. If you do, we’ll talk and decide!)
  5. Select your prize!

Remember, if “I” don’t stick to my plan and lose 8, you may win by losing a lot less! I’m starting yesterday – January 13th – at 151 pounds (UCK!). Come on! Beat me at my own game.

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Posted in Adventures in Living, Support, Weight Management | 1 Comment »

Courage in Action!

Monday, November 30th, 2009

Sometime around April, I met Nicky, when she joined one of my beginning running classes. This fall, Nicky decided to run the Callaway Gardens 10k and started training with me for the race. She was doing great, running almost 6 miles when “it” happened. The unexpected injury. Out of the blue. While running. A muscle tear. 3 weeks before the race. We talked via email and Facebook and the news felt grim. Nicky sucked it up. And did what the doctor told her.

AND, when the doctor told her a week before the race she could run, she opted to go. We talked before and she agreed to take it easy. And she went. And ran. The whole thing. And finished. Slow, and one step at a time, she did it.

Did that make a difference in the next part of the story? I don’t know. I believe that success breeds success; that we learn to succeed. I also believe that the more courage we find in ourselves, the more we have in there to find.

She got an invitation to go mountain biking with friends. She called me up to take her riding BEFORE so she could learn the basics. After an intro to the basics, we rode the first mile and I could see her growing skill and confidence.

Then, we headed over try one of the bridges. They are a bit tricky and I wanted her to try them in a controlled setting, rather than with a group of experienced friends. I showed her once and then walked down to coach her. After a couple of successful attempts, we both started relaxing. Of course, that’s when everything went wrong.

The next time across she slipped out towards the edge of the bridge and all I could do was watch as she came off the bridge, hit the bank of the stream and went over her handlebars. It was clear that this was not a good thing. Minutes passed as we dealt with the aftermath, with Nicky’s foggy memory of what happened and with the physical realities of her fall.

But here’s where Nicky shines! I could only talk her into promising that she’d go to the doctor or ER if the fog didn’t lift. After checking the basics, we walked our bikes out to the road. And then, she really surprised me. She insisted on riding back to the cars, and then to trying just a bit of gentle off-road riding. Then, she insisted that she was ready for another lesson in just a couple of weeks!

While I don’t recommend by-passing the doctor (and Nicky has been to see the doctor and is again following the doctor’s instructions!), I am in awe of Nicky’s courage and grace. What could have been a disastrous crash, she turned into an adventure and a learning experience. What could have turned her off forever, she turned into a gateway. Her last words to me as I left her with her family were “I was having fun right up to that point. And I’m looking forward to going riding again. Promise we’ll go?”

Find your courage! Dare to try! Follow Nicky’s lead!

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Get out and play with your kid!

Monday, July 20th, 2009

It’s summertime! Kids are off from school and the days are long and the weather warm and sunny. It’s a perfect time to add some activity to your life by going out and playing with your children!

Your kids make perfect exercise buddies for the summer. They have boundless energy and love adventure. You can find new activities in the park, in the water, with bikes, at the Y, any number of places. Imagine discovering a new hobby to share with your child – something that could bind you together even when the typical mother-child disagreements happen.

You can rediscover a old favorite – tag, hide and seek or Red Rover. Be the mom where everyone comes to “see what’s happening!” Gather the whole neighborhood together for silly games on a summer evening. Bring out the lemonade and spend an evening away from the TV and video games.

How ’bout practicing for fall sports? Or even getting a jump on next spring. You can learn how to help with batting or fielding practice. Or throwing passes. Or volleyball, tennis, or golf! Even if it’s just increasing overall fitness by running together in the early mornings.

I got a chance to experience this this summer. My son, too, has the summers off from school. Just because he’s a high school English teacher, doesn’t mean that we couldn’t find some time to “go out and play!” Our choice was kayaking – take a look at our trip down the Nantahala River in North Carolina.
Jamie and Jeanne play the Nantahala

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Posted in Adventures in Living, Friendship, Whitewater | No Comments »

Summer Time, River Time!

Friday, June 12th, 2009

It’s summer time in Central Alabama. That means it’s time for lazy river days.

Here in Alabama we have all kinds of river seasons –

In the spring, we have rainy days that means our rivers come up and the “natural rivers” run high enough for FUN! They are cold and rough-and-tumble and they can be dangerous to the uninitiated. For people with the right training and the right gear, they are a playground.

In the fall, generally the water is low, and the rivers run sluggishly, if at all. Dams don’t release with regularity and kayakers are reduced to hoping for rain and considering other sports.

Rains return for the winter, but the cold makes kayaking a sport for the hardy (or maybe foolhardy). Some take to the ski slopes to enjoy frozen water, some head for Central or South America for big water, and others don cold weather gear and head out to the local rivers for whatever they can get.

But, ah, summer – lazy days on dam-controlled rivers with known levels! Now’s the time to learn to kayak, to improve skills, to enjoy the summer days. Now’s the time to challenge yourself. Now’s the time to feel the grins develop and smiles overflow…

Get out there! Enjoy yourself! Try a river!

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Posted in Adventures in Living, Coosa River Challenge, Whitewater | No Comments »

National Running Day – Get out and Run

Tuesday, May 26th, 2009

I just found out that next Wednesday is National Running Day. It’s a day to celebrate our ability to run. Just run, no races, no pressure, just run!

Friday is my 5th anniversary of being a runner (and my son’s 29th birthday, coincidentally). 6 years ago, I couldn’t run. Five years ago, I decided to run. My first “run” was a grand total of 3 minutes. Each minute was separated by a 5 minute walk. BUT, I became a runner that day. I began running and never stopped.

Now, I’m passing it forward, by training new runners and runners who want to run better. I’m a running coach and I race for fun. So, Wednesday, June 3rd, I’ll be getting out and running. Who’s joining me?

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Posted in Support, running | No Comments »

Run forever!

Friday, April 10th, 2009

I teach new runners to run. I know people think “What’s the big deal about that?” Well, when you’ve never been able to make a running program work for you, and you have walker’s envy of the runners or you can’t figure out how to start, running programs are great! The groups are highly motivating, and there’s a lot of knowledge that I had to learn on my own that I can pass on.

It works. In 4 weeks, these women increase their running distance 500%. In 4 more weeks, another 500%. Twelve weeks in, women who never believed they could do it are running a 5k race and doing well!  Part of it is that we run in a group twice a week. There’s a lot of time for talking in these runs.Often, one of the group will ask me questions like “When does it get really easy?” or “This isn’t very tough for you, is it?”

Well, no, it isn’t very tough. When I go out for a run with my groups, it’s rare that I struggle. After almost 5 years as a runner, a two or two and a half mile run with people who are just starting aren’t likely to be that tough for me. And there are lots of days that running is a pure joy for me. In fact, most runs have wonderful periods in them, whether with the group or by myself.

Not all runs are perfect. Not all of every run is great. The runner’s high doesn’t happen every time or for all of a long run (often)… But, OH, when it does! When it all comes together, the sweat doesn’t matter, the road doesn’t matter, the cars going by don’t even come into your consciousness. Your beat is strong, the songs in your head are in tune with your stride. Aches and pains go away and the world is a good place. Your body is healthy and alive and it does anything you ask of it. It’s magic!

So, when does it happen? When you least expect it! When everything looks like it’s not working. Keep running, you’ll find it!

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Ignite! runners smoke the course!

Monday, December 15th, 2008

Saturday, December 13th was the scheduled date for the first race for the first ever session of A Season to Run. On September 22nd, 3 women joined with me to spend 13 weeks learning to become runners. For Gisele and Sarah, it was a leap of faith. Neither believed they’d be runners, able to complete a 5k in just 12 weeks. Maggie was more confident, but still not convinced.

We started slow, running one minute and walking 5. Each time they ran, the runs got longer and the walks got shorter. Each time they ran, their confidence grew and, although they didn’t believe they were ready 2 weeks before the race, they were pretty sure they’d make it through the race. I was pretty sure their time was going to impress me!

We were scheduled to run in a local 5k, part of the Christmas on the Coosa celebration. (It’s a 12k and a 5k – the 12k’s of Christmas.) The race was supposed to be at 8, but some of the publicity went out with 9 as the start time. SOOOO, Thursday, I got a call saying the race had been moved to 9. Great – I had a new group of runners who were supposed to meet me after the race for their run. So, I sent out emails and made phone calls and everyone was set for the correct times – beginners at 8, racers meet me at the start line at 8:30. It would be tight, but manageable, since the race started 2 blocks from the gym where the beginners were meeting.

Saturday morning was COLD! for Alabama. There was a hard frost covering the ground and my bushes

Rose bushes covered in frost

Rose bushes covered in frost

when I took Harry out and I was somewhat worried about clothing for the race, especially since I would be going out with the beginners before the race. I threw extra clothes on the pile, and ate an omelet and headed out for the gym. One girl was a little late, but I got everyone else warmed up, had her stretch just a little easier than the rest of us and we were off… this group is currently running a max of 2:45 (that’s 2 minutes, 45 seconds). We did our runs and made it back to the gym in good order.

I switched gear and hurried over to the start line. The cool thing about running in a small-town, home-town race is knowing so many people around you. I found my “runner girls,” got my number, was grabbed by a couple other friends, including a couple of the women from a fitness class I have attended sporadically and the father of one of my runners. Then, the person running registration asked if I would help get the line down by working registration (I do it for other events for this organization), so I did that for a few minutes. Leaving the desk, though, I turned into the heater and JUST BARELY touched it with the side of my hip – OOPS! My tights now had a gigantic hole in them (well not gigantic, but 2 parallel “rips” about 4 inches long). Fortunately, the heat also “sealed” the tights, so they wouldn’t rip or run further. But, DANG!, that’s my favorite pair!

We got pictures of the 4 of us in our t-shirts, got some basic instructions on the course (lots of turns, but do-able), and lined up, towards the back of the group. I had the GPS set for a max pace of 10:30 and a minimum pace of 13:00.

(l-r)Jeanne, Gisele, Sarah and Maggie

(l-r)Jeanne, Gisele, Sarah and Maggie

Of course we started it off a bit fast. I slowed us down, but everyone was handling it fine. We stayed close to the 10:30 pace until we got to bridge, where we slowed for the uphill. We beat the pace on the downhills and slowed slightly for the uphills. Gisele and Maggie stayed right with me and Sarah took her customary place about 30-40 feet behind us. (She seems to like running that little bit behind the group).

Maggie took the water stop like a pro and Gisele and I decided we didn’t need any. Sarah was fine behind us. We were over halfway there and everyone was running easily. As we came up to the next turn, I realized that we were going to pass the house my parents bought and lived in when they moved here over 30 years ago. Since I was out of running stories and had promised to talk most of the way, I started telling Gisele about it. Maggie and Sarah had their tunes on and weren’t bothering listening to me.

We were still running sub-11 minute miles. We came down to the main street and crossed to run behind my church (I LOVE racing here in town, feels so familiar!). Sarah was still behind us and I was checking everyone’s breathing every couple of minutes. We hit the bridge, running on the very narrow sidewalk. I picked up my pace a bit and we turned the corner. Gisele and Maggie had decided to sprint the last and Maggie’s sprint was great! At the end, I let Gisele pass me, encouraging her to the line. Sarah wasn’t far behind!

Our times were between 32:10 and 32:30. Maggie was third in her age division (with Sarah being fourth) and Gisele was second in hers (which is the same as mine, so I had third!) Yep, small race, but YES! Great performances by first time racers. I didn’t think that they’d win prizes so I didn’t worry when they left. I happened to hang out till the end and was amazingly surprised when I started collecting trophies! I was able to give Gisele hers when I saw her later walking around the Christmas “fair.”

Gisele shows off her trophy.

Gisele shows off her trophy.

Maggie will get hers Monday night.

Gisele was still floating last night, when we (Jesse and me) went to the Christmas party for our (mutual) Sunday School class, and again this morning at church!

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