sixth day in a row

Okay, now I'm sounding like a braggart. Sorry. I gotta restart my mojo and get my butt moving so countdowns work. I'll get over it. Maybe.

Yesterday was my birthday and I laid on the couch and watched Law and Order Criminal Intent reruns for 3 hours—a total vegetable. I am going to pay for it today. 364 more days till I turn 60. 2015 is going to be a horrible year.

I needed to walk today.

Today was our annual wreath making workshop. Megan, Sharon, Lil Bug and I all went. It was Megan and Lil Bugs first time doing wreaths. As a bonus there was a dog. As soon as Megs post pictures I'll post one.

I dropped off Megan and then brought Sharon and Lil Bug home with me. Lil Bug helped make dinner, schlep stuff too and from the attic, decorate minimally for Christmas, and helped me change the hall light bulb. I even got to take her to Cantelmi's so she could see an old-fashion hardware store.

Before I took Lil Bug home we went for a walk in Fountain Hill. The typical route up Bishopthorpe, up Findlay, and out Moravia.

 On Moravia, we ran into this fellow. He has apples for eyes, and apple slices for a mouth.

Then we went past the firefighters Christmas tree lot at the pool.  I loved this skinny tree. I'm a fat tree kind of girl, but skinny would be nice. No furniture to move. But alas, there is probably no tree this year. No international student with a desire to decorate a tree. Ebinezer roommate will probably make my life miserable if I got one. So it's better to forgo it. Silly tradition anyway. Who cuts a tree and brings it into the house?

 

The swings were dry so we also took a swing break. Snow doesn't stop us from swinging. We took the usual route home from the playground. Maybe 2.5 miles total.

turkey's trotting

Yesterday was the Turkey Trot in downtown Bethlehem. This race is huge. There is probably 10K people entered. There are three categories—run, competitive walk, and fun walk. All were 5Ks.

Only Megan and I went. Bonnie was afraid of falling. Since she already had surgery on her hand, it would have been devastating if she fell.

The line began near the stone bridge at the Luckenbach Mill and wove it's way down to the log cabin. That's where the competitive walkers started.  The fun walkers started up the hill further. You can see the vast amount of people in the photo.

The route was also altered slightly to accommodate the snow and ice. No canal path. Instead we walked around the "fairgrounds" twice. It was a tad weird.

Megan looked at the clock when we started —it was chip timed—and it was about 2:45 when we crossed the start. It was 55:47 when we crossed the finish so we figured we finished in about 53:05. The official record says 54:18. I do not understand why.

It was cold, and Sand Island was icy. Our first and last legs were indeed quicker than the middle one. We watched for black ice.

four days in a row

Never did I think those words would excite me. But I've walked four days in a row. Maybe my mojo has come out of hiding.

Today I walked to the Luckenbach Mill to pick up our race gear for tomorrow. Town didn't seem busy. Guess everyone was getting mauled at the mall. Then I walked home. turns out it was bout three miles. Quite surprising.

Tomorrow is the Turkey Trot. It will be me, Megan and Bonnie. What's really cool is that it is billed as a "competitive" walk as well as a run.

pumpkin pie 5k

This morning was the Pumpkin Pie 5K.

When I awoke, and it was finally light enough to see, I determined that it was safe to go to the event. It's was 36 and the porch train was dripping on my head. Good sign that there would be no ice.

I picked up Sharon at 7:30 and Lydia at 8, then we headed down 248 to Nazareth. I dropped them at the Y and looked for a place to park. I got really lucky. Meters were free and the spot I selected was plowed! As a bonus it was only about 2 blocks from the Y. That never happens in Nazareth.

I didn't do this race last year, I don't remember why, but in 2012 I finished it about 50 minutes. This year I finished in 51:48. So I increased my time by a minute and a half. Maybe I'm slower. It snowed the whole race., so maybe it was the slush and wet leaves. Who knows.

There is a lot of people on the route cheering you on, which is both helpful and annoying.  I finished second last. For a while I was last, and the copy was creeping along behind me. I pasted a mom and her daughter and ditched the cop. So much more pleasant. As I walked past the car I clicked the trunk button on my keys and threw my coat in. I might have missed a beat, but it was pretty seamless.

Sharon and Lydia did the 1.5 mile fun walk. Though Lydia tracked it at 2 miles. Sharon was pooped at the end. I found her on a park bench waiting for me.

Saturday is the Turkey Trot. Bonnie and Megan, I think are doing that one.

and it isn't even thanksgiving

It's snowing. Thanksgiving is tomorrow. Clearly global warming is messing with mama nature's calendar again. So begins the winter—in fall—shoveling.

The snow is wet and heavy. It's been a few degrees above freezing all day. So it's like falling slush. We have maybe three inches of it. The ground is warm so the main streets aren't too bad. But I wanted to get the slush up before it froze after dark. That would be a nightmare in the morning. And I have a 5K in the morning.

Shortly I'll be walking to the grocery store for some last minute items. I'm taking the direct route so it's going to be barely two miles. Though it's silly to be shopping since I am not cooking the big meal this year. (That's a good thing. I'm a horrible cook.) But the roomie is really looking forward to these calorie laden holiday treats. So I'll make them.

Between shoveling and the walk—I'm taking the most direct route today—I might, get my 10K steps in today. In an effort to get my mojo back I reduced my fitbit goals. Maybe actually meeting goals will propel me forward. They also designed all new silly icons. I like the old ones better.

Three hundred and sixty eight days till my sixtieth birthday. How the hell is that possible?

it was a beautiful day yesterday

Yesterday was gorgeous. The perfect fall, or maybe spring, day. Warm but not hot. Clear blue sky and not a cloud in sight. Mama Nature doesn't make them much better.

Yesterday was an Easton work day. My friend Angel emailed me to ask if I was on campus and did I want to go for a walk. She works retail and is headed into a 5-day period of no sleep and dealing with rude people. I said sure.

She met me at her husbands office at 11:30. He had his lunch break at 12. We headed across campus, and then down the stairs by the monument. Then it was out third till we we off campus, crossed and came back up College Hill. When we arrived he was waiting by the car.

It felt really good. We might do it again Wednesday.

After I returned to work there was an email from the office manager that the President was coming over at 1. Be there. Any distraction is a good one. She's been there a year and a half and I've never even seen her. The reason for the visit? Last weekend was the 150th football game between rival schools and the capital Campaign kickoff in NYC. Our office has been working on these events for about a year. Two-thirds of the staff was in NYC over the weekend.

She arrived at one on the dot with two other people carrying champagne and plastic cups. On the table of the conference room was an edible arrangement. The cork was popped, the speech made, the champagne drunk and she said "where did the fruit come from"? Further investigation revealed it came from a Trustee. So we had champagne and fruit and chocolate at 1 pm.

I was in a terrific mood all afternoon. We should do that more often.

what happened to my mojo?

Yesterday  Bonnie, Megan, the Wee One and I did the Bethlehem Volkssport walk. We had a great time doing the the second-loop 5K.  That loop goes west to the tomb of the Unknown Soldiers, the armory, then back to the Fahy Bridge. Up the hill and circles thru the cemetery. Basically a odd shaped figure eight. It was chilly but nice. The baby even fell asleep for awhile. We parked in front of the Moravian Bookstore -- why didn't I go in? -- and went shopping in the Christmas Village. It was my best walking total in a long time.

But I'm still looking for my mojo. Can't find it anywhere. I have had about six weeks, maybe even eight weeks of sucky totals for walking. I made my goals maybe twice, but only because of half marathons. My clothes are telling me I am gaining weight. Yet I exercise less and less and stuff more and more into my pie hole. Pie-hole stuffing is out of control. Today was the first day in forever I ate vegetables. And I love vegetables. It stinks.

Even if my Fitbit wasn't acting wonky this week, I would have still had lackluster totals. Again.

I did no exercise walking today. First I was going to call Lydia. Then not. Then I planned a route in the neighborhood. But something always got in the way. Obligations from 20 directions. Can't anyone do anything themselves. No. because I'm a push over.

Do you want to know how bad my laziness has gotten? Thursday I walked down to the South Bethlehem Volkssport walk at the Comfort Suites and collected the paperwork and then didn't do the actual walk! Who am I and what have I done with Gayle? I had sixteen people to walk with and I went home. I just had so much grading to do.

I even missed my regular Friday walk with Betsy. She cancelled, so instead of walking I shopped for Toys for Tots while I was driving Lydia.

Sadly, the more I don't walk the more it becomes easier to sit on my fat ass and let it get fatter. Any ideas how to get me out of this rut, let me know. I'm begging.

Meanwhile I have two 5Ks this week. I'd better get my fanny moving.

This week the swag came from Tail on the Trail. (Thanks for the pix Lydia!) We had gotten a long sleeve grey tee a couple weeks ago. now we've gotten a flannel blanket with a plastic back. I'm guessing it's for picnics after your walks. I'm kind of perplexed over the super-duper stadium cushion. Isn't sitting something they are not promoting? It's nice. If anyone needs a stadium cushion I have one. Otherwise it's going in the hand-me-down bag. The blanket is in the emergency kit in the car.

dog walk

Today Adonis, Lydia and I walked on the Whitehall Parkway. Since Lydia can't drive, I would have to pick her up, hence the trail choice. We often do the IRT portion, but rarely do the "spur". When I sent her a text I suggested taking Adonis. He doesn't play well with other dogs and she thought maybe it wasn't a good idea. I convinced her that it was cold, miserable, and the middle of the day how many dogs would we meet.

I picked them up at 11 and we headed out. The trail is only about 10 minutes from their house.

We parked at the barn and took the handicapped trail thru the woods to the main trail. I thought it would be easier with the dog. Not. It was full of roots and was very narrow at points. And there was a bridge with high steps. Clearly there was a turn I missed.

At this point Lydia had the dog and I was leading. Before I knew it I was flat on the ground. I looked back and yelled "watch the rock".  Then I took the dog. Figured he'd see obstacles before me. Adonis was not sure about the stairs to the bridge. He doesn't do many steps. Up was fine. Down he sort of jumped. The leash was only so long. Thankfully he didn't pull me over.

 We were almost at the trail when we saw this old railroad car. I wanted to take pictures so I said "come on Adonis" and we headed toward it. It didn't take long to notice the sticker bushes.

I stopped and said, let's get out of her. Adonis went right thru the sticker bushes. Last I talked to Lydia she was still picking them off him. My jacket, gloves and pants are full of them.

Finally we reached the actual trail. Adonis was a very good dog, and brisk walker, as long as I kept him in the middle on the stones. If he came to close to the grass the sniffing and stopping would begin.

When we reached the quarry he saw a chipmunk and started to go after it. He nearly pulled me over. Thankfully Lydia was already barking commands. We had still not seen a single person.

That changed when we came out of the woods. The trail runs next to the road about a half mile to the Troxell Steckell House. It must be a popular parking spot for joggers and dog walkers. On this stretch we encountered a jogger, some bikes and a couple walking three--yes three--dogs. We crossed the street and Lydia occupied him by picking off stickers until they past. Don't you know we passed them coming back too.

We almost reached the museum and Lydia saw a dog off the leash, and another German shepherd coming toward us.  No going to see the extension of the trail, we turned around and headed back.

We only went about 2.75 miles but it was at a nice brisk pace. Adonis was delighted to be out of the house, and with the exception of the chipmunk he was pretty good.

Maybe I'll take him again.

50% walkers at the spartan spirit 5k

Today was the Spartan Spirit 5K at the college I work at. There was probably only about 100 people, and almost half of them were walkers. So cool.

Sam Spartan came (the mascot), and there were students helping. But what was nice was this is the first race that I can remember that was really diverse. Makes sense at a community college. It always puzzles me why the turn out at these things is overwhelmingly white. If you watch any track meet, that is not the case.

If I had to guess a lot of the walkers were faculty. Not many students. I had asked my students Thursday night if any of them were doing the race, and they said no, that 9 am is way too early in the morning. One pm would be nice—First thing in the morning. Clearly there is a generational gap.

I think the college didn't hire a race company. It was all volunteer. Another reason why it was so cheap. I think they used the timing equipment from the track team.

Runners were timed. Walkers were not. The trophies were made at the fab lab —my happy place on campus. The t-shirts featured my design. I offered them 4, they picked the one I liked least, but oh well.

We all gathered inside and out, and then walked over to what appeared to me as the finish line. One chute said runners, the other walkers. They did speeches and the girl was singing the Star Spangled Banner and mid-way through a air horn went off. We were at the wrong line! Everyone moves.

Finally it begins. We looped the parking lots and then headed out to Green Pond Road. The girl behind me says to her friends. "I have air." They ask her what she meant and she said it was the first race since giving up smoking and she could breather. Kind-of cool.

Near the end of Green Pond we turned into Moravian Academy and looped around their campus. At times the"air" girl passed me, and then I passed her again. At this point she was behind me. I hear, "I'm out of air." Her friend said something like you can't turn around years of smoking in a couple weeks. She never passed me again, but she did finish shortly after I did.

I have no idea what my time was. There wasn't a clock and I don't wear a fancy watch or use a smart phone.

Other Odds and Ends:
I didn't buy the bridge photos. They cost the kings ransom. 

My fitbit is still acting wonky. At 8 am, it said 5:09 pm. And was still counting my numbers from yesterday. I'm going to try and reboot it tonight. I think it started celebrating Lehigh-Lafayette a little early ....

forks trail

Usually I walk on Fridays with my friend Betsy, but she had other commitments today. So I arranged with my friend Angel to walk in Forks township. She works at Target and had a rare day off in November.

I gave her a list of places and she picked the Forks trail. She had never been there. Instead of parking at the Country Club, we parked nearer to the river and had to climb some stairs to get to the trail. It snowed last night so the wooden stairs were filled with wet leaves and ice. Fun!

After carefully climbing the stairs we arrived on the trail and followed it south along the river. When we reached the country club we turned left and followed another path until it ended, then turned around and came back.

The trail was covered with leaves and it was fairly natural. Lots of tree roots to trip over. All in all it was about 3.5 miles. The ice on the stairs melted considerably by our return trip.

Then we headed to the Forks deli for middle eastern food for lunch, and then Calandra's for cheese. On the way home I made a few stops so I figured I walked about 5 miles. I checked my Fitbit and it say "Fitbit 6.0" and made all kinds of rebooting activities. When it was done it told me I walked 16 steps all day. All before 6 am. I could have cried.

Tomorrow is the NCC 5k. I drew the t-shirts. Hopefully they look nice. They did not pick my favorite design.

autumn revelations

I walked today at lunchtime. I was stressed to the max and it was either take a long walk or say something stupid and get fired.  I chose the walk.

Dang I wish I had my camera with me. (Photo from Wikipedia.) College Hill was painted in brilliant shades of red. There isn't much prettier in Easton than Victorian mansions cloaked in bright red leaves.

Since the D&L marathon two weeks ago I've been thinking a lot about racing and what role it will play in my life moving forward. It started at the pre-race dinner. Person after person stood up and said how wonderful racing was, and how they break down in tears from joy when they finish. It was like a Hallmark card for walkers. I have never shed a tear or jumped for joy. Sure I was happy it was over. I was happy I finished. But that's it.

The day of the race I counted down the miles like I always do—7-6-5-4-3-2-1-thank goodness I'm done. They hand you a medal which is lovely for about 2 minutes. Then my mind switches gears to what shall I do with this? And I really don't need another t-shirt. Three-quarters of them go to Pat or Goodwill.

But I was signed up for another the next week. It actually would have qualified me for a group called Half Maniacs. After becoming a member the least you could do was one Half a month to keep up your membership. The highest —52 in one year. Yep. One a week. Clearly those people have no life outside of races. And an endless supply of money. Half marathons are not cheap. Plus you need to add in travel, hotels, tolls, eating out, ect.

My fitness friend Nora is a member. She rarely does a 5K or a 10K anymore. She loves the half, and I anticipate that she'll move towards full marathons soon. She check race results. She knows the race staffs. She does two every month. I think I'd rather shoot myself.

Last week I was bored to tears at the Deja Vu. Solitude was not one of my life skills. There was no joy at the finish. Just relief. The shirt went into the hand-me-down box.

The 10K on Sunday was great. But was it because it was half the length or was it because I was walking over a beautiful body of water? Again, no joy at the finish, just relief. And wanted to be sure I caught the right bus back.

Saturday is a 5K. Looks like I'll be going it alone. Again. Bonnie just had surgery, and Megan can't make it. It's at NCC and I designed the tee shirts. I got to go. The money benefits my kids. But I'm not sure I want to.

Bottom line: With the exception of NCC, races are expensive and getting more expensive. I have to buy health insurance next year so there goes my disposable income.  I need to get really picky.

I'm not sure if I've signed up for anything next year. I have to look. (Oh wait—The Yuengling Lager Jogger with Angel and Eryn, and the Hangover 5K on New Years Day....bet there's more.) I need to evaluate how much racing I will actually do. Will 2015 be more Volkssport? More state parks? More fitness challenges. Not sure.

In the meantime,  I found a plastic box for the medals. Not quite ready to recycle them to Medals4Mettle. Maybe when the box is full.

professional photos from deja vu half

The photographers at US Candids did well at not catching me with my head down. I was able to find five photos to share! That has never happened.

Often there are pro photographs and I can find one, maybe. It's a really bad habit. I really need to work on it. My shoulders are getting old.

 Loop 1, dressed all warm and cozy with long underwear, a tech shirt, lined hoodie, ear covers, hats and gloves.

 Loop two, the hat and gloves have been tossed aside. By the end of loop three I dumped the sweatshirt.

Finish line. I was really hot, but I kept on the tech shirt, and pushed up the sleeves of both shirts.

Hope they publish the link to the bridge photos soon.

beat the bridge 10K

After finishing the Deja Vue half, I headed down to Annapolis for the Beat the Bridge 10K over the Chesapeake Bay. It was the little bridge in Annapolis, not the giant one further east and south.

I spent an hour in Wilmington with traffic on 95. the rest of the trip was kind-of uneventful. I drove the speed limit the whole time. Couldn't risk another ticket. The last one, two weeks ago, in the school zone cost $169.50 and earned me three points!

I arrived at the Navy Stadium for the expo and packet pickup in plenty of time.

I think it is the only football stadium that has it's own plane.

My hotel was 22 minutes north near the Baltimore Airport. It was weird being alone. Usually Bonnie or Lydia is with me. No restaurants in the area so I ended up eating there. I picked the hotel because it was a sponsor hotel. I really didn't check into their website because it was a sponsor hotel. Almost every hotel offers free wi-fi and breakfast, right? Wrong. I had to buy internet to do class. And I had to find breakfast in the morning.

My shuttle time from the Navy stadium was 8 am. I left the hotel for the 22 minute trip at 6:20. I'm a little obsessive about being early. Ask the others. I needed to get off exit 24.

I found a McDs and bought an Egg McMuffin, and hit the road. At exit 23 the world stopped. It took on hour to get the next mile and park. There were at least 20 buses. Maybe I'd be on time. The line went 3/4 the way around the stadium. It took 1/2 hour to reach the bus. And another twenty minutes to get to the start line.

I arrived just as they were calling my wave. And I was off. No time to think.

I have few pictures. We walked right into the sun. Hopefully the pros got a nice one.

There was about a 1/4 mile in the park, then about two miles up the bridge, on mile that was sort-of flat, and two miles down. There was port-o-potties on the bridge—twice. And an elaborate water station. It was a cup free event and you had to bring a water vessel.

The final mile was in a park-like area. But there was no clock. I didn't know what my time was until
I got home. Awaiting me in my email was this elaborate graph. And a link for my finish. I'm the walker, not Elvis.

The drive home was pretty uneventful. Though I wish I had someone to help drive. I was tired.

This is my ninth metal from an event. I'm not a medal person. I'm not even really excited when they hand me them. And I'm running out of space on the shelf above my desk. Guess I'm going to find a box for them. Maybe I have an envelope box somewhere. Or maybe I should put them in an envelope and send them off to Medals4Mettle. They repurpose them for kids fighting life threatening diseases. I'll think about that another day.

walking in circles ... make that figure eights

Saturday I did the Deja Vue Half Marathon with fitness friends Jennifer and Nora.

I downloaded google directions and headed to Landsdale. I was driving and reading and I thought I was to follow 63. That took me nowhere, so I came back and was going to go to the Wawa for directions. Turns out I was supposed to go straight! It was the directions off the turnpike exit the messed me up.

It said to go 3.8 miles. I checked my mileage and set off. Right into sun glare. Couldn't see a single street sign. Boy I was missing Starr! I'm at five miles and nothing. I turn around and come back. I drove right past the park and the street. I left 1.45 to arrive for a 50 minute trip. I arrived with 15 minutes to spare.

Why is it called Deja Vue? You see the same thing over and over. The loop is about a mile. Not quite a mind numbing boring as a Relay for Life, but close. This one was in the shape of a figure eight, sort of.

We looped around the baseball fields and the amphitheater, then back into the woods and back out and around.  There was this odd 50-100 yard space were you went out and back and then back out. Clearly they were adding mileage. Must have come up short. I can't tell you how tempted I was to skip that part. But I didn't.

The hat and gloves came off on the first loop. the sweatshirt on the second. I toyed with the idea of removing one of my shirts, but didn't. I had two on. Clearly it became warmer as the day progressed.

I was counting loops on my finger but became confused. I wasn't sure if I was on lap 12 or 13. I asked. They said "one more". I did one more and the man said I was "done". I finished in 3:41:xx I think. They gave me my medal and I left.

When I got to the car I called Barb, like I do after every race. (Gotta tell somebody, and Bonnie is usually with me.) Then I headed off to Annapolis for the next race.

Nora finished after me, and checked the results. She's a half-marathon maniac. The official results only have me finishing 12 laps.  I have no idea what happened. It's kind of poopy.

I am on walking coach Michelle Staten's FB page. In addition to being a coach she writes a about fitness. A week or so ago there was a post. She was looking for people who stand all day for a story she was working on—nurse, teachers, whatever. I didn't respond. Shocking, right?

Wednesday or Thursday she posted that she was looking for people who use anti-fatigue mats. this time I responded. She called me Friday morning, I think. It's shocking to think I've been standing at work for almost 2.5 years. I told her 2, but I looked it up in the blog today it's May, 2012. I got the mat about a month into it. Today, I sent her a pix of my DIY standing desk just for kicks. Maybe I'll make the cut. Maybe not. Doesn't matter. In case it does happen it's Weight Watchers magazine.

Not quite dead last, but finished.

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Yesterday was the D&L Heritage Half Marathon Run/Walk. You read that right. A Half-Marathon with walk right there in the title where everyone can see it. About 20% of the athletes were walkers. How cool is that.

Walking coach Michele Stanten, who I worked with on several Rodale projects, organized the walking portion. Maybe next year she’ll get the 300 walkers she hoped for.

In addition Saturday night she organized a dinner for out of town walkers. I attended. Race-walkers attended from Wisconsin and Georgia. If she ever offers a race-walking seminar I’m going to take it. Don’t think my knees could handle more than one day.

This was different from other walks I’ve done. There were “pacers” 3, 3:15, 3:30 to 4:30. 4:30 was the time limit. My fitness friend Nora was the “sweep” bringing in the last walker at about 4:17. As a pacer, she left the walker cross the finish first.

It was cold. And windy—really windy. Which made it even colder. I had on long underwear, a shirt, a fleece and a jacket. I looked like the Michelin Man.

We arrived at 7 am, as required, then sat in the car. I was bored to tears so I left after 17 minutes. As long as I kept moving I was okay. Then Megan came, and Bonnie came last.

It seemed forever until they said start and we were off. Bonnie and Megan moved out ahead. I didn’t even try to keep up. I was sick all week. I also promised my sister Barb that I would not be a hero. Besides, they both had music on their phones. Talking wouldn’t happen.

I planned to try and stay with the 3:45 group. I walked with a couple for a half-mile, and then walked with a woman from Bethlehem for about 4 miles. I never got her name. She told me about a trial in Stockertown. Gonna check it out. It was her first half. For the first two miles I could see Bonnie and Megan ahead.

Once she moved ahead I walked the rest of the race mostly alone. All these people kept passing me. Then I saw a pacer and checked out her time. It said 3:45. Here I was killing myself and I was in the 3:30-group. Too late, I had already depleted my energy and I hoped not to fall behind the 4-hour group. I was not breathing deep. I didn’t realize how much energy it took to breath shallow.

Twice I was going to quit. If one more bike riding trail safety person asked if I was okay I think I would have said no.

I checked off landmarks that I knew—birdhouse fence, the skeleton on the bike in the tree (btw he has a friend now), farm animals in the yard, ect.

Mile 8 or 9 was really windy. I started to think of that old Paula Abdul song that has the refrain "two steps forward, one step back". 

At mile 11, the Slatington trailhead, the water guy offered me a Munchkin. A little bit of sugar was all I needed—and a restroom. I have never stopped for a bathroom before in a race. When I came out I saw the 4-hour pacer in front of me.

I knew there was only a little more than two miles left. I could do this.

Waiting for all the walkers at the finish line was Michele. She also came to visit on her bike. Also at the finish was Mulegellan, the D&L mascot. I bet s/he was warm! I crossed at about 4:03.xx. Slightly better than my Atlantic City half time of 4:06.xx. Then sent me an email with the total. I don’t remember it. Megan looked it up. I don’t remember that either. It was more than 4, past my goal, that’s the only thing I remember.

Bonnie finished slightly ahead of Megan at 3:47.xx. Bonnie swears this will be her last half. Also no more 10Ks. I’ll believe it when I see it.

The course appears flat, but anyone who has driven from Northampton  to Slatington knows that one is at the bottom of the mountain. The other at the top.  Imagine when we looked at our fit bits and saw we climbed 149 flights of stairs. Megan was way ahead at 190. How that is possible I don't know. Though by the time I synced mine it was 189. Maybe it was tired on the bus. I didn't have the energy to walk up to Wyandotte street to get 200.

Speaking of the shuttle bus. Every time we bounced it gave us a step! It thought we were moving.

Next weekend I have a half and a 10K. Heaven help me.