Happy Friday!

I love Fridays. They're my favorite day of the week.

Show Us Your Life Friday this week is FASHION TIPS today.

Hmp.

I am, unfortunately, not very 'fashionable.' I feel like all my fashion statements are in my accessories. My main accessories involve earrings, necklaces, and belts. My current favorite are these Diana Warner earrings Tom got me for our anniversary in August:

And this matching necklace that my soon-to-be step mom got me for Christmas. I love all her stuff because she makes mixing gold and silver so pretty and classy. Diana is from my hometown and now runs her studio out of New York. Many of my girlfriends from home have her make their wedding jewelry and/or bridemaids jewelry. For my friend Carson's wedding we wore earring that looked a lot like these:And my friend Julia wore these to her rehearsal dinner. Gorgeous.And I am in love with this ring. Maybe I'll ask for it next. :)

So there you go. Laura's Oh So Exciting Fashion Tip: Wear Jewelry.

Sorry, I tried.

*****

Okay so swimming update!!

So. Last night I gave swimming another try. As I mentioned earlier this week, I swam 1/4 of a mile on Monday night and really had a hard time. Last night, I went back for more of the torture. And I must say, this time was not so bad. My friend Nikki that works at the rec center is a an awesome swimmer (and an awesome everything-else-fitness-under-the-sun). On Monday night and she said to me, "You just have to keep at it. You'll see a difference the next time you swim." And sure enough I did! Last night the first few laps were ever so slightly easier than they were on Monday. I am just getting accustomed to the change in cardio between swimming and running. The breathing is totally different which is making it hard for me.

So last night---get this---I swam 1/2 of a mile! Twice as far as on Monday! I was really pleased. The swim distance for the triathlon is 1/2 mile so now that I know I can do it, I need to work on doing it in a timely manner, and with no breaks. Last night I did with many many short breaks. I am trying not to worry about swimming for time, just swimming to finish. I am confident that each swim workout will be better and easier. Practice makes perfect.

Last night when I was swimming, Emily's husband Ched was in the lane next to me. As I mentioned on Monday, Emily is 7 1/2 months pregnant with their first child. At the time they found out they were having a baby, Ched weighed 360 pounds and is about 6'5". He has committed to losing 50 pounds by the time the baby is born in the beginning of April. So he began swimming (among other things) and has made a lot of progress. He has lost 30 pounds and last night he swam a whole mile! He was doing so good, only taking a break every 400 meters or so. He was an inspiration to me because, like me, he started from square one and now can swim a whole mile. Impressive.

Shoe Tip & WW Update

So after my sad showing in the pool Monday night I had to redeem myself with a good sweaty workout last night. Thirty minuts on the bike, and thirty minutes on the treadmill did the trick (and a bit of upper-body strength...you know, to help with the swimming). As I was on the treadmill, I cranked up the speed to 7.5 for the last couple of minutes.

The running was coming so easily to me, and the sweat it was a-flowin'! During these cold winter months don't you have those days where you are like, "GAH I just need to get on a treadmill and run until my legs fall off and I am soaking wet." It felt so good.

Another reason I cranked 'er up was because of the guy (or should I say guido) that had gotten to the treadmill next to me. He had gelled hair, earrings in both ears, and he smelled like he had just tested every cologne possible at Walgreens (I love Walgreens but do they seriously sell that cologne and perfume?). Ish. When he started, I was finishing up a 3-miler at 5.5 mph...my favorite....a lovely little 11 minute mile.

Well, his smell and his gel and everything about him kind of jolted me out of my running trance and I was ready to get out of there. Luckily, I only had about 1/2 mile left so I turned up the speed to 7.5 miles per hour and let 'er rip! Before I had even finished he was walking already. Pansy. And I could see him looking at me out of the corner of my eye. Eat your heart, out, dude.

*****

This morning Bex and I did another 6-miler. I was a little worried because as I mentioned last week, I could feel my shoes giving out. A good rule of thumb is to buy new shoes every 100 miles. I have probably put 150 or 200 on these so they are spent. I am really bad about waiting to buy new shoes until it's too late. Then, since I order online it takes another week for my new shoes to get in, thus leaving me with a week of non-running because of my poor planning.

This particular week I was in a jam because I don't get paid until Friday and...well....there's just too much month at the end of the money, if you get what I'm sayin'. I would have the moo-lah to buy new shoes but I chose to spend it this past weekend on wine and pasta with Caitlin and Erica in Nashville. Priorities, people. Priorities.

So in an effort to save money and run at the same time, I bought a pair of these at Wal-Mart for like $8!!

Much cheaper than a new pair of kicks. I tried them out for the first time on my treadmill run last night and they worked like a charm. I was seriously surprised. Then, this morning, they stayed strong for the whole 6 miles.

After we finished our sixer last week, I had horribly sore blisters-to-be (you know, the beginnings of a blister) making it really hard to wear my 4-inch Jessica Simpson red suede heels to work (love wearing those shoes to work because everyone stares at me and I love that. They stare at me because everyone I work with wears those Frump City 'SAS' shoes or some generic slip-on clogs that might as well be houseshoes. Barf.). I wore them anyway, but they hurt. More than usual. Anyway, I digress....

So after our run this morning WITH the inserts, my feet feel perfectly fine and awesome! So from now on I'm going to keep a pair of Kiwi brand Athletic Shoe Inserts for Women on hand to use in the interum between old shoes and new shoes.

Weight Watchers Update: Great news! I lost another 1.5 pounds for a total of 7.5 pounds in 5 weeks. Hooty-Hoot!!! Current weight is 164.5. I tell you what (in the words of Erica Lauren Dukes Mooney), I am going to nothin' but hair, teeth, and eyes in NO TIME!

With this being our fifth week of Weight Watchers, this is when they evaluate wheather or not you have to pay. They will evaluate again in another five weeks. Since I lost over 2.5 pounds, my company picked up the tab! Thank you Boyd Gaming for helping me to be fit and trim in five short weeks!

So wouldn't it be cool if I could lose another 7.5 pounds in the next five-week session?!?!! Um, *yes* because that would be a total of 15 pounds and I would love that. If for no other reason than to be able to respond to the question, "Have you lost weight?" with "Um, yeah dude, I lost like 15 pounds. If you think I look good now, you should see me naked!!!!"

Ahahahahaha! Okay, I really wouldn't say that. But I would say, "Um yeah dude, I lost like 15 pounds. Don't I look ridiculously AWESOME?!?!!?"

First Time for Everything...

....sooooooooooo, this week has been full steam ahead with the beginnings of the triathlon training. Last week, Bex called me and said, "Whoa partner, we totally have our work cut out for us with this swimming!" She had done one swimming workout and said it was an endurance test to say the least. I told her to stop being dramatic and get over herself. We are ultimate athletes who do not need to be scared of one teeny weeny mile in the water.

Famous. Last. Words.

So this week I am beginning our triathlon workout plan, which began with a Monday night swim workout. Our awesome Tunica County Health and Wellness Center also has a great Aquatic center with two HUGE olympic-sized pools, a 'kids zone,' competition dive platforms, all of the above. My friend Emily works at the Wellness Center, and she was going to be there last night swimming, and then teaching a water aerobics class. I was glad Emily was going to be there so she could sort-of show me the ropes of the Aquatic center and get me started.

So into the pool we go....

Emily does a lot of pool workouts because she is 7 1/2 months pregnant, thus the water provides a low-impact workout for her while still burning calories. I am assuming that since Emily is preggo, I will be able to at least keep up with her in the water, if not causing her to 'eat my dust' so to speak. Um, no such luck. Just as Bex warned me, I got done with one down-and-back lap for a grand total of 100 meters and was breathing harder than I was when we finished running 13.1 miles. Emily, however, is just stroking through the water beautifully, looking like Micheal Phelps compared to me. As I am trying to catch my breath and get my goggles situated along with my tagled mass of wet hair; sweet, rotund, just-gained-15-pounds Emily is just loving life in the lane next to me. While I, half-marathon-running, weight-watching Laura, cannot seem to quit gasping for air and flailing around like a drowning kitten. Sheesh.

Bex was right, we have our work cut out for us with this swimming. Last night I swam 1/4 of a mile in like 20 minutes. I know I have a couple of readers (ahem....kathleen) who are bad-ass swimmers, so please stop laughing at me!!! I know I am slow and inexperienced in the world of swimming, but I am determined to do it. Especially since I have already procliamed in Cyber World that I WILL FINISH THIS DANG TRIATHLON!!! Plus, when I first started running I couldn't even finish a mile and now look where I am. I am basically *famous* via this blog for my running abilities.

Okay maybe not famous (even though at least 29 people know who I am!) but I have come a long way. So I am optimistic that the same will happen with my swimming.

I think I can, I think I can, I think I can....

Show Us Your Life: Shopping!

For those of you who might read Kelly's Korner, you know that she does a cute thing called 'Show Us Your Life Friday.' Each Friday she comes up with different categories, and you can post a link on her site to your blog post about that category. So this week is SHOPPING! Fun.

I thought I'd share where I shop for all things running/swimming/biking...well I haven't bought anything for biking yet so I guess it'll just running and swimming.

Okay so I live in the middle of the Mississippi Delta No Where which makes shopping tricky. You may be surprised to hear that the Tunica Dollar General does not carry distance-running tennis shoes, anything Under Armour, goggles, swimsuits, HammerGel, Emergen-C...nona that. However, if you're in the market for Vienna sausages and generic diapers, Tunica Dollar General is where it's AT.

So needless to say, when I married Tom and moved from Nashville to Tunica, it was quite a shopping culture shock. Just to bring you up to speed, our nearest Kroger/Wal-Mart/Target is 30 minutes away. Living in Tunica just takes some planning ahead and stocking up! My first Christmas in Tunica I learned to start shopping before Thanksgiving and to do it all online. I have single-handedly kept UPS and FedEx in business, I'm pretty sure.

So when it comes time for new athletic gear, I turn to my favorite site on the planet.....drumroll please....AMAZON.COM! Who doesn't love Amazon? My most recent purchases include these goggles, swim suit, and I'm about to have to get new tennis shoes. Bex and I did a sixer this morning and I can feel the blisters coming. I love these shoes...I buy a new pair about every two or three months, and I always get a different color just to mix it up.

I recommend Amazon for a few reason:

1. Almost ALL their products have reviews and I love reading reviews on new products. They are always so helpful...'I had to buy these a size larger than usual'....'the color in the picture is decieving'....'this seller is so easy to work with on returns'...stuff like that.
2. Everything I have ever ordered has come when they said it was going to.
3. It's cheaper than buying retail....once I bought an Under Armour shirt for $30. When it arrived it was in the original packaging with a price tag of $50. Awesome. And my shoes, I've bought on Zappos before for $95. Amazon's price is $75. Love it!

For the stuff I eat when exercising, I get the HammerGels at Fleet Feet in Memphis. I am pretty sure most large cities have them. I know there's one in Knoxville and Nashville. You can get HammerGels or GU at most any running store. As you might remember, I know you can get Emergen-C online at thevitaminshoppe.com (for like 1/2 off!), but I have also found it at Target for a good price. I always eat a Luna Bar before I workout in the mornings, and you can get these at Wal-Mart or Target also.

For the girly stuff....

We do have one cute, cute, cute gift boutique downtown, 1251 Place. It is adorable and perfect if you need to run out to get a last-minute birthday gift or hostess gift. Or maybe a cute casual dress/scarf/clutch combo for a party or something. So I gotta give a shout out to 1251 Place.

Other than that I love shopping in boutiques if I can afford it at the time. I just got the cutest dress and necklace at Personalities in Southaven, and there is a precious boutique in Hernando called Janie Rose that I really like. If it's not boutiques, I LOVE digging through the racks at Marshalls to find a good bargain. And I love the shoes at Marshalls.

For make-up and perfume I looooooooove Sephora. That is one big thing about Nashville that I really miss. My Sephora. She was my friend. Now me and Sephora.com are great friends.

Happy Friday everyone! Go shopping this weekend!

Raise your hand....

....if you think my husband looks like Zac Brown of the Zac Brown Band. You know, "I got my toes in the water, a$$ in the sand..."
During Beard Season (October 1 - Superbowl Sunday), Tom is rarely seen without one of three black toboggans on. He has three basic toboggans that he rotates, it's always one of the three. I'm not sure exactly why this is....maybe his ears get cold easily...maybe it's to keep his abnormally thick hair from getting too poufy (Beard Season is also I Don't Cut My Hair Season)...could be for a variety of reasons. So towards the beginning of Beard Season one night I looked at him and said, "Omigah you look like Zac Brown!" Red Beard + Black Toboggan = Zac Brown look alike. Am I right? I am.
Anyway, moving on...Bex and I were back at the gym this morning! I have to tell you, I was SO READY to get back in action. It was like I could feel my body pleading for exercise. Craving a good sweat! We had decided to bike 30 minutes, then run three miles. Slowly but surely we are woking in a bike workout a couple days a week. After taking about 10 days off after the Half Marathon, it felt soooooo good to get after it this morning! This being our first bike workout, it was a good trial run. We were on stationary bikes at the gym, and I understand that biking on a real bike will be different, but the real biking will have to wait until we actually own real bikes. :) In the meantime, we will ease ourselves into it.
In 30 minutes, we biked approximately 7 miles. Is this slow? It seems slow to me but at the time I felt like we were going at a pretty good pace. About 14 miles per hour. So after doing the 7 miles this morning, Bex and I decided we might have overestimated our athletic ability in planning to do an Olympic distance triathlon. We decided we'd be better off to start with a Sprint distance and work out way up. Kind of like training for a 10K, then training for a Half-Marathon. This, we can handle.

Weight Watchers Update: Well, I come to you today with my tail between my legs. No change. NO CHANGE!?!? Boooo hisssssss.....
The good news is that Ididn't gain any weight in which case I would have been really pissed. But I am wondering if the cause for my no-weight-loss could be the result of a variety of things:

1. This was the week after the half-marathon so I was taking a break from all things exercise.
2. I could be hitting a plateau, which I have read happens to a lot of people when trying to lose weight
3. Could have been the wine, pizza, and hot wings I ate over the weekend. Oh, or maybe the Rendezvous plate I had at Ched and Emily's on Monday night. Yeah, that might have been it.

In more WW good news, I have figured out I can eat Mexican without feeling guilty. Today around noon Tom called to see if I wanted to meet him at the Mexico Grill for lunch. I immediately said yes, then thought...."Oh good grief what am I going to eat? Taco Salad, no sour cream or guac?" How can one get Taco Salad with no sour cream or guac when the smells of fajitas, melted cheese, and soft gooey tortillas wafting through the air? No, Taco Salad was not going to work for me. So I ordered my usual favorite with a few changes:

Laura's Usual Favorite:

1. About 25 tortilla chips: 6 points
2. Topped with white cheese dip: 4 points
3. Whole, 6-inch, Chicken quesadilla: 12 points
4. Topped with more white cheese dip: 4 points
5. And 2 T. sour cream: 2 points
6. And lettuce/tomato: 0 points
7. Diet Coke: 0 points

Total for Laura's Usual Favorite: 28 points

One can see how this poses a problem since I only get 22 total points per day. Hm.

The Solution:

1. 10 Tortilla chips: 2 points
2. Topped with salsa: 0 points (buh-bye cheese dip. nice knowin ya. well hello Mr. Abdominal Muscle. haven't seen you in a while.)
3. 1/2 of the 6-inch Chicken quesadilla: 6 points
4. Topped with 1 T. sour cream: 1 point

Total for The Solution: 9 points

Amazing, right? Here are a few tricks I used to cut my usual favorite down to 1/3 of what it really should be!

• Count out the tortilla chips and put them on your plate. Eat them slowly so that by the time you're finished there is little to no time before your meal is on the table.
• If you can, ignore the cheese dip altogether. I know, I know, easier said than done. But (not to sounds like Barack Obama here) if it was easy you would have done it by now.
• This particular dish comes with the white cheese poured all over the top of the quesadilla. Order it without or at least on the side so you can just get a little taste to satisfy your craving.
• This quesadilla is packed full....PACKED FULL I TELL YOU...with yummy seasoned chicken and veggies. It is huge, as are most quesadilla dishes at Mexican restaurants. Cut it in half and ignore the other half. Again, hard I know, but unless the restaurant makes half-portions, it's just somthing you have to do. OR you can take the other half home (6pts), add a big fresh salad with lite dressing (1pt) for a yummy & economical 7-point dinner.
• Slow down when you eat. A good trick is to put your fork down between each bite and take a sip of water. The water makes you feel fuller faster, and slowing it down will give your brian time to tell your stomach that it's full! During this particular lunch, Tom ate his full plate (twice as much as what I ate) in the same amount of time, because he was just shoveling it in (sorry, Hunny but it's the truth). Lucky for him, he is not on Weight Watchers.

On the way back to work after lunch, I noticed I was pleasantly full but not so full I was miserable. I am guilty of getting so full it feels as if the button on my pants is going to pop off and put somebody's eye out. Not after this lovely Mexican lunch! And mid-afternoon I never felt sluggish and chubby, like all that food was just sitting like a big blob in the pit of my stomoch. Nope, never felt that way! I was proud of myself, and my discipline. Now I look forward to going home and cooking a healthful meal for dinner and I don't feel one single bit guilty!

This weekend I am going on a Sister Shopping Extravaganza in Nashville with Myra and Sara Whit. Staying on task will prove to require some planning and discipline but I think I can do it and still have a good time!

Awwwww...yall love me

Y'all are too sweet...I've gotten many comments, facebook messages, emails, phone calls with encouraging words about the half-marathon. Thanks so much for your support, I had fun doing it and hope you had fun reading and hearing about it.

First thing's first....I have reconnected with an old friend, Lauren, from college. I have not seen her since we lived together in the sorority house at Alabama but we have begun chatting through our blogs, and she gave me this sweet Lemonade Stand award!!!

Here are the deets on this lovely little blog recognition:

1. Put the Lemonade logo on your blog or within your post.
2. Nominate at least 10 blogs with great attitude or gratitude.
3. Link the nominees within your post.
4. Let the nominees know they have received this award by commenting on their blog.
5. Share the love and link to the person from whom you received this award

So I am passing this award on to some other blogs I enjoy following:

• Clare @ Greetings from Apex
• Sara Whit & Lilly @ Atwood Family Blog
• Rebecca & Zoe Jane @ A Southern Boy and a City Girl
• Heather @ Life at Sonic Speed
• Caroline @ Caroline in Texas
• Jill @ Settling for Butterflies
• Brittney & Grier @ Growing Up Grier
• Myra @ A Whole Lotta Something...

Thanks Lauren (and Dixon, too!)!!! :)

So a few of you have written to me with questions about he details of the Triathlon. Well, I know in my last post I said we were doing the Memphis in May Tri, but since then we have had some scheduling conflicts come up...we are trying to work around each others' work/husband/baby/family/friends/summer vacation schedules. So Bex and I are working to find a Triathlon in the area in late Spring/Summer. It is our desire to do an olympic distance tri (see below for distances) because we already have the running down pat, and think with a few more months of training, we can handle an event that will take us 3-3:15 hours. Right now we are just committing to getting back into the groove of working out 3-4 times a week, and slowly easing ourselves into some swimming and biking. Once we pick our tri, we will come up with a firm training schedule. Right now we just need to focus on keeping our momemtum after the half-marathon, and staying strong and healthy! Bathing suit season is right around the corner, after all!

The typical 'sprint' triathlon is:

• .25 mile swim
• 12-mile bike
• 3 mile run

The typical 'olympic' triathlon is:

• .95 mile swim
• 25 mile bike
• 6 mile run

RUN, SWIM, BIKE IT! THAT'S THE WAY WE LIKE IT!

Weight Watchers Update: We weighed in yesterday and I have lost another 2.5 pounds! I was thrilled! I was a little nervous because even with the half-marathon, I had eaten so terribly afterwards. So I have lost a total of 6 pounds in three weeks. I am pleased with this because slow and steady weigh-loss means it'll stay off longer. Current weight is 165. I can't wait to get down in the 150's because I seriously have not been that small since like my freshman year of college which was almost TEN YEARS AGO!!! Sheesh....

I wanted to give WW a little plug here...I have loved it so much for a variety of reasons (no, Weight Watchers is not paying me for this plug...I wish they were but I am just doing this out of the goodness of my heart). The first two days were hard and I felt like I was hungry all the time, but now I have days where I struggle to actually eat all of my points! If you are reading this, and have wanted to try a weight-loss system but do not know where to start, I highly recommend this plan. I have tried since high school to get down to a desireable/healthy weight and this is the only thing that has worked for me. Not that I need to lose a grand amount of weight, just those pesky 20 pounds I put on while in college that have seemed to set up camp around my waistline and refuse to go anywhere. I love WW because you are forced to be conscience about what you eat, and by going to the meetings you have a great support system, and others cheering you on. I look forward to every Wednesday when I can see my fellow Weight Watchers and swap secrets, share success stories, etc.

When I started, part of me thought, 'But how will I cook for Tom? He's not going to like any of this Weight Watchers stuff.' Um, no. He will eat what you cook. Don't let your husband be an excuse for you. You are not a short-order cook. He can get over it. And Tom actually DOES like a lot of the WW recipes. We had fish tacos last night for dinner and he LOVED them. (omg...as I type this Hoda & Kathie Lee are interviewing a woman who lost 150 pounds on ww....love it. omg...here's her husband! He lost 100 pounds! NIICE.)

So if any of yall have resolved to !Get Thin In 2010!, Weight Watchers is the way to go. I am an open book if anyone has any questions or concerns about starting it.

Post-Race Post!

So I'm alive! I'M ALIVE!!!! Oh my goodness I do not even know where to start. I thought about yall a lot on my run. I thought, 'I wonder what I'll say in my post-race post? I feel a lot of pressure...I mean, this is the climax and reason started a blog in the first place! To talk all about my training journey as I prepared for this very day. This very BIG day for me. So I guess I'll just start at the very beginning...a very good place to start.

I was able to take a half-day on Friday, so Tom and I struck out for Jackson about 1pm. We went straight to the runner's expo at the Jackson Convention Complex to get my number and my race pack. My bib number was #2295. I was thrilled with this because it is a multiple of 5...just like my birthday....10/25. So anyway, the minute you walked into the complex you could feel the buzz and energy of all the athletes preparing for a big fun day on Saturday. They had lots of awesome vendors set up...one of which was a $9.99 section with TONS of running gear all for only $9.99. So of course unable to refuse I bargain I partook in a little pre-race shopping to get my adrenaline going. For those of you planning to run in a big race, I would suggest carving out enough time the day before to take advantage of the runners expo. Most races expecting over 1,500 people have them.

After the Expo we had a DELICIOUS pasta, carbo-loaded dinner with some of our greatest friends in Jackson, Andy and Raina. I had a garden salad with lite vinengarette, a penne pasta dish with plenty of fresh tomatoes, grilled chicken, and goat cheese. And of course two glasses of red wine. They say it's a good idea to have a glass or two (two at the most, probably) before the race because red wine is good for the heart. I don't know who 'they' are but I like them. So after dinner it was off to the hotel for a good night's sleep.

When we woke up it was 5:30 and about 13 degrees outside. I woke up like a kid at Christmas! I felt like it was the first day of Senior Year! I felt like it was my wedding day. Okay maybe not quite that excited, but I was pumped and energized to say the least. After taking a moment to wake up, I began the Getting Dressed Process. And what a process it was....

Layer #1: Under Armour Compression Gear mock-turtleneck top and Under Armour Frosty Tights. And my new favorite....SwiftWick ankle socks (and, um, hello sleepy eyes).
Layer #2: Under Armour fleece-lined sweat pants and Under Armour Cold-Weater top. Feeling like Xena Warrior Princess already.

Layer #3/#4 & accessories: Under Armour Hooded Sweatshirt and White Puffy Vest. I love this vest it is machine-washable and super warm. Tom got it for me for Christmas and it is from The Gap. Very Michelen-man-esque, eh? I'm also wearing cheap fleece gloves (which were really for just waiting at the start line....I stuffed them in my pockets at mile 2.5), Saucony ProGrid Guide 2 Tennis Shoes, and best of all...the BondiBand Wicking Ponytail Hat. I picked up this little gem at the Expo. Silly-looking but effective. My ears were toasty warm the whole race with my ponytail flying in the wind!
Last but not least: The Bib. It's official. Go time.

I also brought along a good bit of loot to get me through the race comfortably.

1. iPod Nano locked and loaded with Running Mix #1. Beyonce, Whitney, Katie, Kelly, Miley, Britney, Fergie....all the good stuff.
2. Awesome pink ear buds I got off amazon.com. They are my FAVE.
3. Garmin Forerunner 205 to keep up with my distance, time, and pace.
4. Beezwax Chapstick
5. HammerGel - Tropical flavor.
6. Gum...helps me from getting thirsty and distracted.
7. Everybody's favorite....Emergen-C. I put two in about 8 ounces of water on the way to the Start Line.
8. Luna Bar in Nutz Over Chocolate. I at 1 1/2 before the race and took the other half in my pocket in case I got hungry. I didn't.

Whew! And that's it!

So we met Bex and Mr. Bex at the start line and waited eagerly with hundreds of others to get this party started! Once we were all lined up, the First Lady of Mississippi, Marsha Barbour said a few words and then an electric guitar played the National Anthem. It was amazingly quiet in downtown Jackson as the Anthem played. I closed my eyes as I listened to the notes and felt the cold air on my face. It made me so thankful to be right in that very place at that very moment. Before the 10-second countdown started, an announcer turned our attention to huge screen just on the other side of the Start Line. The screen was filled with a live feed of thousands of American soldiers in Iraq. They were running in a half-marathon, too! All the soldiers were hooping and hollering, arms waving in the air. We listened as the soldiers counted us down...."Ten! Nine! Eight! Seven!...." and then the gun went off...It sounds crazy, but the first 7 miles went by amazingly fast. We ran out of downtown Jackson, out towards Jackson State University. Until mile 5 the course was pleasantly flat. Around then we began to see a few rolling hills. The hills weren't bad. Yet. After the third one I thought, 'Okay, maybe this is the last one. Let's just get it over with.' No such luck. I'm pretty sure that third hill was the third of ONE THOUSAND. From mile 5 on it was nothin' but hills, girls. Nothin. But. HILLS I TELL YOU!! These Flatland Girls had no idea what we had gotten into. I was thankful, however, that we were ignorant to the hills because with each one we thought, 'surely this is the last hill, the faster we finish it, the faster it's over.'

Prior to the race, Bex and I had decided we would get Gatorade and a HammerGel at mile 7. Then one more break at mile 10. We only walked about 1/2 mile (total) at those to points, and ran the rest of the way. When we started the acend of the final hill I looked at my GPS and it read 12.57 miles. Seriously, the FINISH LINE was on top of a hill. Crazy. But despite the cold and the fact that we had been training all this time in the flat lands of Tunica, the hills came surprisingly easy to me. This just proves the theory that your adreneline really will take over at some point. I was so thrilled with the way I felt the whole time. Maybe it was the cold, maybe it was the crowd, maybe it was my music, or maybe it was something bigger than me. But the whole time I was so thankful to be healthy enough to run 13.1 miles. I felt accomplished, strong, able.

When the finish line did come I cannot explain the feeling. You can see the finish. You can hear the people at the finish. You can TASTE the finish. Best feeling ever. I glaced to my left onto the sidelines and first person I saw was a heavily bearded man in a black tobaggan. You guessed it. Tom. I loved seeing him, grinning from ear to ear, camara in hand, yelling my name. Yall might remember that I was really hoping to finish this half in less time than I did my first half. When I ran the Music City in 2007, I finished in 2:37:15. Not too terribly shabby for a first timer. Today I finally checked the official times for Saturday's race and my finish this time was 2:30:37!!! I was thrilled. I had taken :30/mile off of my previous time, even with the hills and the cold. Now it was time to CELEBRATE!

After our finish we went back to the hotel to get freshened up and changed for lunch. And let me tell you that Heaven Is A Place On Earth and I'm pretty sure it was the shower at the downtown Jackson Hilton. Best shower ever. We wrapped up our time in Jackson with a huge meal of fried mushrooms, cheesburgers, french fries and beer. Again, heaven on earth.

So I'm sure everyone also wants to hear how my in-home massage was!!!!!!!!! It was amazing!!!! If you live in the Memphis/North Mississippi area and ever want to try this please call me and get this girl's number. Shenika is an angel from heaven and gave me the best 90 minute massage this Runner Girl could ask for. I'm talkin' hot stones, warm blankets, BioFreeze for these wobbly muscles...the works. She is the best. Her full-time job is at Mid-South Chiropratic if anyone is looking for an awesome massage therapist.

Okay, so enought with the race re-cap...

You might remember from a previous post I mentioned I had one last big 'resolution' to share with you. The whole reason I started this blog was simply to document and share a process with some friends and family. Now that I have completed the process, what ever shall I blog about? Well, it's time to turn it up a notch. Now that I have completed two half-marathons I have decided I'd like to take it to the next level. A full marathon you say? Well, while that's a lovely idea, I have so enjoyed running 13.1 miles that I'm afraid if I push it too much I'll fall out of love with running. So after careful consideration and some inspirational talks with Bex, we've decided we'd like to TRI something new altogether....can you guess what it is???!?!?!

On May 23, 2010 Bex and I are going to do the Memphis in May Olympic Distance Triathlon. There. I said it. You read it. Now I have to do it. So stayed tuned to my silly little blog as we continue Running in the Delta...and swimming in the Delta...and biking in the Delta.

Somthing to think on....

Something(s) to think on during the Race on Saturday....(not necessarily in this order)

1. My massage! Whoopee!
2. Wonder how many Weight Watchers points the cheeseburger/french fries/beers I'm going to eat post-run are? 30? 50? Too many....but so worth it.
3. I need to go to the tanning bed to get sprayed....when will I make time for that?
4. My sisters!
5. My mom!
6. My husband!
7. Pray over my whole family as I run.
8. Pray, "Dear God, I am trying real hard to take care of this body you've given me, please give me speed and strength to hobble across this finish line."
9. Wonder what Reba and Dolly (my four-legged children) are doing right now? Hope they're huddled up in their doggie house...it's cold out!
10. Wonder what the Biggest Loser contestants are doing right now? Probably somthing harder than this.
11. I have a hair appointment next Saturday....to change or not to change?....that is the hair question.
12. I have a charity ball to go to next Saturday....what to wear, what to wear.
13. When will my Victorias Secret order come in? Don't get too excited...just flannel pjs and some granny panties.
14. So looking forward to our Sunday school class and studying the Song of Solomon tomorrow.
15. So looking forward to a NAP after Sunday school tomorrow.
16. I wonder if that pesky toe nail is still attached? It hurts.
17. What should I make for dinner this week? Time to try some new recipes. Need to go to the grocery store. Need to make a list.
18. What would my dream job be? Not the one I have, that's for sure.
19. Why not go out and try to get my dream job? Maybe I will tackle that next.
20. What will I blog about after this race? I need a new fitness challenge....

Stayed tuned next week to find out just what that new challenge might be! I think you're gonna like it!

Also, since it's sooooo cold out, I thought I'd share an awesome Weight Watchers recipe I got from my friend Elizabeth. It makes a TON and is embarrassingly easy. Make a batch and eat on it for a week!

Taco Soup....1 cup=4points....5 saltines=1point....top soup with 1T of sour cream=1point

Ingredients:

• 1 pound extra-lean ground beef, ground turkey, or ground venison
• 1 can pinto beans
• 1 can whole kernal yellow corn
• 1 can chili beans (HOT is the best!)
• 1 can RoTel
• 1 pack Taco seasoning (get the lowest sodium available)
• 1 pack dry Ranch dressing mix
• 1 1/2 cups of water

Directions:

Brown ground meat in skillet and drain the fat. Meanwhile, warm remaining ingredients in a large pot on the stove. Once meat is done, add to the pot. Cover and let simmer about 30-60 minutes. Delish!

Insanity.

This weather. Insane. Right? Right. This morning Bex and I ran 4 miles at 7am. Thank God it was at 7am because at least the sun was up so the temperature rose to a balmy 17 degrees. Since we ran a little later than usual there were more cars on the roads, people going to work and school and whatnot. I could see it on the faces of all the drivers that passed us: "What are those skinny white girls thinkin'? Runin' in this ridiculous cold. Crazy crackers." I mean everyone was looking at us like we were crazy. Here is the seven-day forecast for Tunica. See that Friday night low? That's what we're focused on because the race starts at 7am on Saturday. Don't try to adjust your screen, you are reading this right. It does say 8 degrees. I'm hopful that Jackson (about 150 miles South of us) might be a couple degrees 'warmer.' But we had to run this morning because clearly it was mandatory that we do a trial run in our race day outfits. I had planned on wearing my cutest of cute running outfits since it is The Big Day after all. And for the The Big Day I'll see lots of people and have pictures taken and whatnot, but this weather. THIS WEATHER!...has made me have to through fashion to the wayside and dress up like the Michelin Man for The Big Day. So we donned layer upon layer of moisture-wicking goodness and set out for a quick 4-miler. It went well. And even though my toes were numb to begin with, they thawed out after about a mile and a half. That, and the perpetual flow of snot coming from my nose, were the only obsticles. So I think we'll be good to go on Saturday! I am excited and READY TO RUN!

I wanted to talk about another thing I have to look forward to this weekend.

Take a look at this hunky guy: What a looker, right? And he's sweet to boot. THIS MAN, *my husband,* the second-smartest man in the world (the first smartest man being the man that raised him to be so smart and sweet), has given me a Christmas present sent straight from heaven. Get this....on Sunday after we get home from Jackson a woman is coming to my house to give me an hour-long massage. YES ladies, an In-Home Massage.

This woman comes with her table and her oils and her hot stones and her dreamy music and her freakishly strong hands and gives massages in people's homes and she's coming to MINE on Sunday. I cannot convey how excited I am for this. See, in Tunica, there are no spas or salons. So to get a massage you have to drive 30 minutes to the spa, get your massage, then drive 30 minutes back, thus making for a not-so-relaxing experience. But when she comes to your house, you just get your massage, stumble around the corner, put your Snuggie on, turn on When Harry Met Sally, and crawl in bed. At least that's what I'm gonna do.

I'm sure there will come a time around mile 9 or 10 when the thought of this experience will be the only thing on my mind, encouraging me to cross that finish line. So the moral of the story is everyone should go out and get themselves a husband like mine because he's AWESOME (if you don't already have one, that is. If you already have one just stick with the one you've got). I found him in Nashville, but I'm sure you can get them in other cities all over the country.

Weight Watchers Update: I just got back from my weigh-in and I lost 2 pounds! My WW leader says that's perfect because they suggest you lose 1-2 pounds per week. So I'm down to 168. Now that I am out of the 170's my daily point value will drop a point. That will be an adjustment but I can do it, because obviously I can do anything I put my mind to. :)

In closing, please PRAY FOR ME THIS WEEKEND! Like I said, I am excited but nervous. Any positive vibes and prayers will help!