Congrats, My Virtual Runners!

I have compiled the photos of people who ran either the last day of 2012 or the first day of 2013 (or both!)

Monday, December 31, 2012

I did not take a picture but yours truly squeezed in a 5k on the treadmill right before the party started!

My lovely friend Kalli donned earwarmers and gloves for a neighborhood run through Memphis!  She’s training for the 2013 St. Jude Half – right Kalli?!

Get it girl!

My dad and his group braved the snow and 31 degrees for a 6.5 K (according to one of their European runners) in Zionsville, Indiana (my hometown).

No excuses from the boys!

Good friends Linda and Randy did their 5k trot around Lake Keowee in Salem, South Carolina.

Linda and Randy in SC!

Memphis friends Jen (training for New Orleans Mardi Gras Half), Becca and Amanda (whom I’ve never met!) also braved the cold for a 5 miler on the Greenline!

Scarves and headbands…must be chilly!

January 1, 2013

I received this photo from Cynthia Donovan (from Colorado!) who ran her first 5k “in a while”, and she said it was muddy, and I believe her!

Gotta love the mud runs

This group from YogaFest in Collierville, TN did 5 miles!

Prize for the biggest group!

Gretchen (just getting back into running) said this about her run on Facebook “I did the walk/run method by blocks not minutes. I would walk 2 blocks then run two blocks. I got a little tired by the end so the ending numbers went like this…14 blocks run/18 blocks walked…32 blocks total. I am pleased since this is only my 4th outing in 12 years. :-0)”

Gretchen gets back!

The Memphis girls got back out there on Tuesday!

2 days in a row!

A bigger group in Zionsville running off the New Year’s Eve tequila shots!  Still snowy!  (Pops you look a little sleepy….Not pictured: 2 pups).

Yea Boys! 24 degrees…feels like 14!

Close by in Indianapolis, a friend from high school, Ashley, ran 3.5 miles!  She’s training for the 2013 Indy Mini (a great race by the way!)

Worked up a sweat!

Another Memphis runner, and blogging friend, Sharon, took her girl Ashok for a 5 miler!  She’s training for the February Austin Livestrong Half Marathon.

Sharon and Ashok, in Memphis!

And then there was me!  I did a hilly 5k on the treadmill here in Mexico!

Sweaty treadmill time!

Thank you to all the boys and girls and dogs who participated – I wish you happy trails (warmer and drier ones too!) and many healthy miles in 2013.  Stay in touch with your training!

Westward Ho!

Today I start the big journey into the unknown – I’ve never been further west on I-40 than just across the river and today I’ll make it all the way to Oklahoma.  I’m stopping in Tulsa to see a childhood friend before I head to Austin tomorrow.  I just have a few goodbyes here before I hit the road – I’ve done almost everything I need to survive a 402 mile roadtrip – run and eat.

Pack Run 

This morning I met the Pack at Inside Out Gym for the weekday run.  We did four as a group but I ran one to get to the gym and then added four on at the end before running one more home.  My long run assignment this week was to do 10 miles at a comfortable pace and after the group was finished, I wanted to keep going.  I think because I had pizza, not once, but twice yesterday!

I wasn’t able to get my pre-race pizza at the new place downtown but I did squeeze it in for lunch yesterday.  Aldo’s Pizza Pie is located on Main street across from Local.  Yesterday was their first day open for lunch and I think they handled the crowd very well.  We didn’t wait to sit down and didn’t wait long for our pizza.

Aldo’s Pizza Pie

I split the Gina Bellina pizza with a few changes – roasted tomatoes instead of sundried, and tomato sauce instead of white.  It also had grilled chicken, goat cheese and black olives.  It was delicious – not to thin or thick in the crust department and the cheese was excellent.

Gina Bellina

I also had pizza for dinner at Cortona and so my legs were ready for the long run this morning.  I think also knowing I’m spending up to 7 hours in the car today helped me crank out the extra miles.

Last Memphis Meal

After a cup of coffee and loading up the car I stopped by Libby’s again and we strolled through the neighborhood to Stone Soup Cafe for breakfast.  I couldn’t decide what I wanted – I knew I needed some protein to keep me full for the long ride, but I also wanted something sweet.  So we did what I love to do on dates, I got something healthy (a veggie omelette) and we shared something sweet (a blueberry scone).

Blueberry Scone.

The food is excellent here, for lunch or breakfast and the atmosphere is cozy.  Our waitress was very friendly and attentive.  Check it out if you haven’t been before!

Well y’all, here we go!  See you from Tulsa 🙂

On to Tulsa!

 

 

 

 

Tunesday – Time to Begin

Today I was supposed to be heading further west to Tulsa on the fourth leg of my roadtrip to Texas but was coerced into staying an extra night in Memphis.  It works out since I’m not in any big deadline rush to get to Austin and I’m just taking my time enjoying the city and the people where I grew up.  (Not where I was raised, but where I became an adult – or pretended to be one anyway).

So today when I was offered a place to stay through the weekend until Monday – “couple runs with Peekay, long greenline run this weekend, pool at the house and your own bedroom, plus we need some sitter help this weekend” – I was tempted.  All those perks plus a little extra income and a little extra time here certainly are attractive.  I didn’t get to most of the things on my last-minute tourist list (no museum, no Las Delicias, no cheesecake) and staying through the weekend would provide ample time for that.  But it’s time.  It’s time to move on.  Time to really say goodbye.  Time to do the hardest thing.  And that is where today’s song comes in.

It’s Time.  Imagine Dragons.

 

I don’t ever wanna let you down, I don’t ever wanna leave this town.

It’s time to begin, isn’t it?   I get a little bit bigger but then I’ll admit I’m just the same as I was.

Now don’t you understand, that I’m never changing who I am?

 

It’s time for me to look forward to a bright future in Austin, Texas while keeping the love, lessons and life Memphis has given me in my thoughts and memories.  Time to look forward to school and learning and new (bigger, according to the state motto) opportunities.  New people, new races, new friends.  Memphis, thank you for the memories, the support, the love and the laughter.  I promise not to forget the people here who have changed my life – from the Pack to Inside Out to Rhodes to the bartender at Alchemy to the Grizzlies to my clients to YoLo to my fancy date to the mighty Mississippi –  you will always have a place in my heart but it’s time to go.  Time to rip the bandaid and say good-bye.   I love you, but it’s time to begin.