May 28th & 29th, 2011 – 3.37 and 5.51 Mile Runs

The continued prayer is, “Lord keep me focused. Keep my mind stayed on You. Help me to bring You praise. I know You believe in me. Please help me in my unbelief. Amen.”

This was a really great Memorial Day weekend. I got to train with both Lloyd and Kathy. Super stars, in my opinion. They are both accomplished runners so I was excited to learn all I could while I was with them: about running and about myself.

It was an early rise.



The first thing I learned was that I will never be an elite runner. Who gets up at 5am on a Saturday to train?! Elite athletes do. When Tiger Woods agrees to meet you to work on your swing, you don’t gripe about the time of day. So when Lloyd said “6am”, I said, “See ya there”.

So I threw back a quick breakfast. I wasn’t hungry, but I knew I had to eat something. Starting out improperly fueled can mean a really rough workout.



I knew this was going to be a short run. Otherwise I would never have milk and certainly not Raisin Bran. Milk and high fiber before a long run can be a DISASTER, but it was OK this time.

So off we go!!!

May 28th, 2011 - 3.37 Mile Run – I met Lloyd at the trail head and we started out walking and talking about my habits. I told him where I feel pain and/or tightness during or after a run. So after about a quarter of a mile, we started an easy trot. He assessed my form and offered advice.

I have to remember to relax my shoulders and well, just relax. I find myself clinching my teeth at times and that’s gotta stop. It causes mild headaches that will only get worse.

When I watched his form, I noticed that his back stays completely straight, his chest stays up and his heels don’t touch the ground at all. I’ll have to work on that. Hills don’t phase him in the least. He powers right through those with no deviation from proper form. Impressive.

The first mile was kinda rough. Not only was it a trail run, for which I have zero tolerance, but it was a slight incline. We took several walk breaks, which is new for me. I can typically do this distance without stopping with no trouble at all.

We were on an incline when we reached the halfway mark and decided to turn around. This was glorious. A much better run for me. The decline meant I needed to be careful and spare my ankles and 40-year-old knees but, there were no stops and we picked up a little bit of speed. I enjoyed this part immensely. I listened as Lloyd talked about some of his races and running habits. That was great!!!

At the end of the run, we reached the trail head again, did a quick session of stretches and talked about running. I was exhausted, but Lloyd waved good-bye and headed back up the trail.

I gotta come out here and run this trail again. I really want to get better at trail running. This was great! Thanks Lloyd!!!




May 29th, 2011 – 5.51 Mile Run – This was a great run. I nice relaxing run with Miss Kathy! It started out as a typical Sunday morning, where I get dressed and go to church.

Only this time, I wore my running skirt and cap. Kathy and I had chatted about it before hand and I knew that she had planned to change after the service but I just thought it would be a lot more convenient to just dress for the run.

The guilt from my Southern Baptist upbringing was overwhelming. Never had I *ever* shown up for church so improperly clad. I know that anything goes in Southern California, but I thought this was ridiculous, even by SoCal standards.

But then, as the LORD would have it, Kathy was decked out in her running gear too!!! We both sat in the last row and enjoyed a wonderful service!

This run was all bliss. I was still a little fatigued from yesterday’s run but it was all good. We warmed up with a little walk, then did the entire run 4 and 1.

We talked about life, marriage, running and racing. You just can’t beat that. I can’t think of a better way to spend a Sunday afternoon. We will definitely do this again.

We ran all the way to Kathy’s house. It felt GREAT. She was generous with her licorice, cuz you know every great runner has licorice on hand for a post run snack. Then we went into her garage and she strapped me to her Inversion Therapy Table and turned me upside down to stretch out my back. Ahhhh…..

That was awesome!! Thanks, Miss Kathy!!!



A weekend of Super Stars! One thing I noticed about these super stars is that they both wear proper runner's sunglasses. I don't know why I never picked up on that before. I'm constantly wiping my glasses because they get foggy when I'm running. So I ordered a pair. Can't wait to get 'em.