|
July 5, 2004 Where to begin? Not much happened on GH this week. We learned that Heather is mad as a hatter, and my guess is that they are once again going to take a good character from history and turn her into a shell of what she was or has the potential to be. I don’t know how long her stint on GH is planned to run, but my guess is she will be outta there before the end of the year. Maybe even by fall. It was good to see Leslie and Bobbie, although I don’t think the non-Guza/Pratt Bobbie would ever allow Heather to keep Lulu. Who would? Would any of you let an old nemesis/troublemaker keep your child or niece if he or she popped back into town out of the blue? I think not. So right now I am not real excited about Heather. I don’t know if I even really care who she is working with. It all seems a bit ridiculous to me. The little girl playing Kristina is an absolute doll. I am sure the shit is going to hit the fan when her truths come out. From reading the spoilers nothing will change. The fact that Sonny and Jason are scamming to conceal the paternity of baby girl SamSon will be dropped as Carly is burned at the stake for not telling Sonny the truth about Kristina. Blah blah blah. Let’s talk about me. I decided a few months ago to register myself for the Peachtree Road Race here in Atlanta. This was the 35th straight year of the race. It is always held July 4th (bright and early) and has a huge turnout. They print the registration form in the AJC and participants are strongly urged to get their registration in within 48 hours to get a slot in the race. Now, first let me clarify. I am not a runner. I dabbled in running when I was in my teens, but once I discovered that running and playing ball interfered with my social life, I dropped my sports like a bad habit. I walk the race. People come from all over to participate in this race. This was my first year and I sent in my registration along with my mom, my aunt, my sister and her hubby. As I mentioned in a previous column, I am currently on the South Beach Diet. I have lost about 30lbs (I still have about 70lbs to go) since the middle of May and thus far I am pleased as punch with my new diet. I did not train for the race, as my only desire was to complete the race (not being the last one across the finish line, of course) and get the sacred Peachtree Road Race T-Shirt. Now the race is 6.2 miles from Buckhead to Piedmont Park. It is of course down “Peachtree Street”, and get this Piedmont Hospital is at the top of “cardiac hill” which is somewhere around mile 4 of the race. I figured if I started to stroke out from the July heat in Georgia, at least I would be close to the hospital. As it turned out my sister’s hubby was unable to participate, so I dragged my best friend along in his place. I knew my mom, aunt and sister were in far superior shape and would leave me in the dust. My mom started adding this question to her daily phone call to me: “Did you walk yesterday?” My answer was always no. With a full time job and two small kids who has the time? My commute is about an hour each way to work (common with Atlanta traffic) and I am not at one with the morning. Which basically translates into: I am not getting up at 4:30 am so I can walk a mile or two before I get ready and leave for work. When I get home from work it is close to 6:45pm and since my daughter goes to bed at 8:00pm I like to spend the time with the family. So, there I do not have time to walk. I do sit-ups and housework, both of which I consider torturous activities. I am sure some of you out there are not only physically fit, but have a schedule more hectic than mine and still make the time to exercise. More power to you, I admire you, you are great, but honey it just ain’t happenin’ with me right now. Anyway, I decided a couple weeks ago that walking with my mom was going to be well, painful. So when my sister’s hubby found out he couldn’t go, I told my sister I would like to invite my friend Kath in his place. What a win for me. Kath could walk with me, then I wouldn’t have to listen to the “ I told you to start walking”, “You have got to pick up the pace”, etc… We all met at Phipp’s Plaza at 6:30am. (I know that sort of contradicts my previous get up early statement, but I can manage to get up for certain occasions on rare basis’) Everyone was pumped. About 55,000 people do this race so they divide it into groups. The first group being the serious runners, then so on depending on your seed and or luck of number. We were in the last group. Group 9. Now the big thing with this race is the coveted Peachtree Road Race Tee-Shirt. You can only get them from participating in the race. They are very strict about giving out the shirts. The number you wear is your ticket and you in person, is the only way to get it. It is after the finish line. As soon as our group started, my mom and “group” took off like a bolt. Kath and I kept a respectable pace. We had been told that if you wanted to get a shirt you had to complete the race in a certain amount of time. They start a shirt clock as soon as the last starting person crosses the start line. The clock allows 75-80 mins to complete the race. We made sure we were at the head of our pack at the start and when I looked back there were people as far back as I could see. There were 10,000 people in our start group alone. My goals at the stat in order of importance were: 1. Get the Tee-shirt My goals in the middle of the race: 1. Make it up cardiac hill 2. Not be the last one to cross the finish line 3. Get a Tee-shirt My goal during the last 2 miles of the race: 1. Not die. 2. Get a Tee-shirt 3. Not be the last one across the finish line.
Well I DID IT!!!!!!! I made the race in 110 minutes (the 78 min thing must have been a crock, because there were tons and tons of shirts left when I got there) There was still a sea of people behind me and all –in-all I was very proud of myself. Of course, the race was yesterday and I can hardly move, because I am so sore, but it was worth it and I plan on doing it again next year. Have a Great Week!
PS…. My mom, sister and aunt did the race in 90 mins! My 56 year old mother smoked her 32 year old daughter! GO MOM!!!!!
|
