Ginny Pierce Hoping To Inspire Ohio Family!

I will be leaving on May 27th to visit our sons, daughter-in-laws, grandchildren, sister and brothers in Columbus, Ohio for a couple weeks (GO BUCKEYES!) so of course I am in constant "brag" mode about how great I am doing with my walking and how forward I'm looking to the RAP RIVER RUN on June 12th. Melissa, "daughter-in-law one", said maybe you can me jump started while you're here and I will walk in the mornings with you even though I probably couldn't make one mile! I assured her she could and would! After all she's only big as a minute and is in a panic because she went from a size 4 to a size 6 during their awful winter months. My other d-i-l, Rene, said I would love to join you guys but I think I'm busy in the mornings!!! Of course the sons, grandchildren and brothers are all very athletic, play golf, workout and don't need to walk, especially with Mom!

Now to my sister Becky. Her take on this is if we don't go too early she will go with us. We will pick her up to go the walking trail. Once we arrive she will get her lawn chair with umbrella out just in case the sun is out, haul out her thermos of coffee, peanut butter crackers and cigarettes and wait for us to return!!! That's her version of supporting us!! I hate the cigarettes and have begged her for years to quit smoking but she is someone who loves nothing better than sitting outside with her coffee and cigs and enjoying the fresh air. Never mind she's killing the husband, the dog, the cat and the creatures outside! But, can't change her so guess we will haul her and all her gear that makes her happy with us and she will patiently wait at the end of the trail for her sister and Melissa to return all hot, sweaty and thirsty. Maybe she might even have a tall cold one waiting for us!

Ginny

Ginny Pierce Walks and Rocks to the Music!!!

Wow, I never knew what I was missing until my husband bought me an IPod for my birthday the end of March. What a great walking companion! I love all kinds of music but can't sing a note (even though I must confess I am a shower and now a walking singer). My office is filled with CDs, boom box and I work best and fastest when I am rockin' out. So, it makes perfect sense for me to be walking around the neighborhood walking and singing and singing and walking. That 3 miles goes by so fast and it really gives me energy to get the day going. Of course my husband says I look like Eddie Murphy from the movie 48 Hours when he was plugged in and singing on a stakeout!! He pretends not to know me when he drives by me with my walking outfit, fanny pack, visor, sunglasses, wires hanging from my ears and I'm in my own world!!

Things are going great and I'm feeling wonderful and I'm proud to say that I walked 2-1/2 to 3 miles a day almost everyday in April and dropped 6 lbs. I have been watching, but just a little, what I eat and truly I think I sweated most of it off especially the past week or so. Remember to hydrate and keep on walkin' and runnin' for our kids, they are counting on us!

Ginny

I Think I Have a Problem by Amanda Murphy

It’s been a few weeks since the Iron Girl race and I have to admit, I’m running on Mother’s Day in another race! There is no way to do justice to the excitement I had in running the Iron Girl. For all of you who have never done anything like this I want to take you through race week.
Being that I have NEVER ran in my life I had no idea what to expect so I again talked to everyone and anyone that has ran a 5k. I received all kinds of advice from very helpful people and will give you the run down.
Starting 3 days prior to the race I was told I should not run again until race day. This was so that your body had rest and was craving the run. At this point all of you who have never done this are on the floor, get back up that’s seriously what I was told. Think about it like this, I had been jogging or walking just about every night for months, all of the suddenly a night without activity is strange. On Thursday there was a packet pick up and I went to get mine and Savannah’s items thinking that this would give us extra time to sleep in on race day. I’m already so nervous that I take my envelope without looking at it and head to the car. I didn’t want to look like a nerd and review everything right in front of all the other racers so I waited until I got to the car to pull my little envelope out. As I looked at the envelope I was extremely confused, the packet I just picked up was for another Mother/Daughter team. Now I had to get out of the car, walk back up the stairs and admit that I had not paid attention. Well, back I went and I did retrieve the right packet. For a moment, before I returned the packet, I had the thought about keeping this teams information because they might be better runners. So correct packet in hand, off I go to get my bags packed and make sure I had all items ready for race day. Yes it’s only Thursday but my husband was nice enough to get us a hotel so that we didn’t have to get up too early on race day. Also, you should know that the bug spread and my sister-in-law, Sadie, started walking with me and was also racing! The three of us were doing our first race together and all very excited not knowing what to expect.
So back to the preparation. Friday comes and my husband and I head to Clearwater for dinner and to check in to the hotel. Savannah, Sadie and Jessalyn (my sister-in-law and 5 year old niece) will head down later that evening. My husband and I head out and he wants to get a bottle of wine. Is he nuts? That will dehydrate me, I
could pass out on the course and never finish. I was told I needed to go buy at least a 32 oz Gatorade and drink this tonight so I don’t dehydrate tomorrow. I can’t believe he’s trying to kill me or at the very least make me sick. At this point I must tell you that my husband ran track in high school and this is quite funny to him. He is trying not to laugh at me but I can tell he is holding back. I’m explaining that I must have this Gatorade the night before because drinking it in the morning doesn’t give your body enough time to use the fluid. That’s when he stepped over the line, and said to me, “It’s just 3 miles”. I stopped dead in my tracks, head spun , pea soup started flying. Just 3 miles, I have been training for months, still have to stop and start, and thought this was the hardest thing that I have ever done in my life. How dare he say “just 3 miles”. At this point he is laughing and trying to retract his statement. If he thinks 3 miles is so easy then he should try it with us as I say this I stick my tongue out and decide I could be a little nervous. So we had the marital compromise, he had a glass of wine and I drank 32 oz of Gatorade while watching the sunset. Very romantic.
Sunset comes and goes, it’s getting late and our roommates have not arrived. By 9:30 they finally roll in and the bed shuffle begins. Everyone vying for a spot where they could be comfortable. We finally have lights off at 10:30. No one warned me about how nervous I would be or that I might have trouble falling asleep. I guess none of my experienced runners remembered or ever had a problem with falling asleep the night before a race. I was not that lucky, I don’t think I slept 4 hours that night. I was sure that I wouldn’t be able to run but when the alarm went off I was up and ready.
My husband drove us as close as he could to the starting line and then he and Jessalyn went and parked the car. Walking up all you could see were people, mostly women since it was Iron Girl. Thousands of people everywhere. We
headed over to the start to look for a race map because I had forgotten to print a course map prior. We walked around for a little while but never found a map which put all three of us in another panic. Not only did we not know what to expect but now we didn’t know where to go. I tried to reassure all of us that we could just follow the people who were in front of us but to make sure they were not 15k runners. Then I remembered someone telling me that we didn’t run over the Memorial Bridge so if we started over the bridge we had gone too far. That relieved us and then we realized how cold it was. We huddled outside the start for a little while, then we thought it would be warmer inside of the group of people so we squeezed through to the center of the group. Here we were, our first race was moments away and then another thought popped into my mind, “I hope I don’t have to go to the bathroom until I get back”. What would I do if I had to go to the bathroom I hadn't asked if I could stop during the race and no one even mentioned what can happen out on a course. I am going to let all of the newbies a little horror, I was later told that you could have an accident while running. Thank God no one told me that beforehand I would have had a nervous breakdown. But here I stood thinking don’t think about it and saying to myself you don’t have to go, if you think about it you’ll make yourself have to go.
This thought didn't last too long because the next thing I new the gun went off and we were starting. I didn’t want to start jogging until we got the official start line, I didn’t want to wear myself out before we even get started. Savannah didn’t feel the same way so there she went. Next was my turn, Sadie had started late on training so she knew she would be slower so I left her. I’m weaving in and out of people who were slower than me or walking. Moving right along to my iTunes trying not to think about time or distance. I haven’t seen a sign but I know that I should be at a mile by what song is on but I have no idea if I’ve made the mile. I finally start relaxing into this and look ahead to see the bridge coming up, I’m not supposed to go over the bridge so I look around me to see if I am still with the 5k runners. I am still with my group so I continue my pace when I again start to panic thinking about the bridge and wondering where the turnaround is. Up ahead I see a water stand but I can’t stop that will ruin my time so I keep going. Finally there is a nice man directing us to the turnaround point. Since we are up on the bridge a little bit I thought I would walk down for my break, I hadn’t taken one yet and I have to be over a mile so I start to walk. Ha, Ha, jokes on me, it’s too hard to walk down the bridge so I start to jog again. I jog down and get to the bottom and decide now I will take my walk break. I start walking again and look ahead to see if I can see a distance marker and this is when I saw the photographer. I can’t let him take a picture of me walking since I have been jogging until this point so I start jogging again. Now I’m going so I might as well continue and I do until I get to the next little bridge and I slow up for a minute. This is the point I finally look at my watch and check my time, I am doing really well and I know I’m on the last stretch so I start jogging again. I don’t stop until I get the fourth mat (another piece of advice from a seasoned runner, don’t stop until you get to the last mat because that’s the one that is timing you). I look back at the clock is at 40 minutes 20 seconds so I beat my best workout time. I’m so excited I can’t stand myself. I did it!
My official time was 38:16 and Savannah’s was 32:55. We were in 29th place out of 116 Mother/Daughter teams!
For anyone who says they could never do this, I’m here to say that you can. I loved the excitement and the challenge. This will be something that I keep up with because of how great it made me feel.

We All Need Someone for a Little Positive Support...by Victoria DeWaters

Wow! This has been a busy week for me! I have been to the gym 4 times since last Wednesday, and I am feeling great!

Since I already know I can do the full 5K on a treadmill, I figured I would start on shaving off some time from my one mile. I was so proud Monday night when I was able to do a full mile in 16 minutes--goodness it feels good to improve so quickly! Woo hoo!

This week, I also worked with my trainer Kyle Woodward, who is helping me to be in "tip-top" shape for the run in June. I'll tell you, it is nice to have a trainer work with you and help you focus to achieve your goals. Kyle is good...he doesn't laugh (much) that I can't even bench press a sandwich. Luckily, you don't have to use your upper body much in a running event!

The kids who stay at RAP House, I know they appreciate having the YFA Youth Care staff to help them focus on achieving positive goals too! Support our YFA RAP House staff and youth this June at the RAP River Run! See you there!

Ginny Pierce Hits the 3 Mile Mark!

Hi fellow walkers and runners,

I am so proud of this 62-year-old body tonight! I did 2-1/2 miles a day Friday, Sat. and Sunday, and I walked in the heat of the day. So walking early, early this morning when it was cool, I went for the 3 miles and I did it right at 60 minutes and survived and worked all day!!! It was halfway through May last year before I even attempted 3 miles a day!!! I do, and encourage you, to walk and run during different times of the day even if you don't go as far because it does prepare you for the heat on race day. I couldn't have dreamed last year I would be so hot and so in need of hydration as I walked off those miles and they hydrate us all along the course. It's amazing how this little thing of walking for the RAP House (and I'm just one out of 1,000) can give me such great satisfaction. It's a wonderful time to think, look at nature, and plan or review the day. Hang in there guys and keep walking and running for "Our Kids"!
Ginny

The Woods are Lovely Dark and Deep, but I Have Promises to Keep, and Miles to go Before I Sleep, and Miles to go Before I Sleep by Mary Rozycki

This week was a GREAT RUNNING week, it however was not a great work week. I had lots of "stuff" happen this week that really seemed to push me to my limits at work.

So what was the best way to deal with this added stress? Yes to run it out!!! So that is what I did, day one was walk 5, run 5 repeat four times. This running day was good, when I finished I felt strong not too out of breath.

Day two was warm-up 5min walk 8min run, 5 min walk, 8 min run then cool down this was insane how was I able to run this in the Florida sun and heat but I pushed and made it. What loomed for me was day three 5min warm up walk and then 20min run, no breaks just run!!! This scared me to death to actually run for a full on 20mins, I decided this run needed to be alone. I wanted to really focus on the run the feeling and the pain? if any . 10am this morning I headed out and at 10:30am I was home and I DID IT. I ran for a full and total 20mins! Never in my life would I have ever guessed that would be possible, and yet I did it.

I am half way to my goal but every week I get closer and closer. I will run this 5k!!!!

Check back next week to see how I am keeping up........

Back in Action! By Victoria DeWaters

Well, I have been Ms. Lazybones during the past couple of weeks...haven't been able to workout at all due to my radiation burns. FINALLY, I was able to get back into the swing of things this week.

On Monday, after 2 plus weeks off, I figured I would start in a bit easy on myself, so I did 2 miles on the bike and 1 mile on the elliptical. I also did some abdominal exercises and some legwork with weights. Okay, so that is really not 'taking it easy' on oneself, but it felt really really good!

Tonight I was so tired, but I headed up to the gym anyway...and this time, for the first time, I did not wear a beanie or a ballcap. Tee hee! I feel a bit goofy yet, but hey, it is much cooler without a hat!

I timed myself on the treadmill for a mile: 16 minutes and 30 seconds! WOW! I am impressed with this! And let me tell you, I was huffing and puffing! If that wasn't enough, I decided to do another 15 minutes on the elliptical...then some squats. Yeah, I was exhausted after this. I was also soaked with sweat...and I had no idea my head sweat so much!!!

I am so glad to be able to get back to the gym...I am determined to gain back my fitness level, surpass it, and kick some booty at the RAP River Run in June!