This goes out to Jackie

You are the BEST Jackie!! Thank you so much for helping me push past my rut during the long run this a.m.at Stoney!!! It was deja-vu in reverse, but I don't think you were ever hurtin as bad as I was this a.m. I sounded like a near heart attack victim during that last mile, but you kept ruthlessly pushing me, which is exactly what I wanted you to do!!

I went 9.5 miles today w/ Jackie, and I had to call myself the chain and Laura around her ankle cause she wouldn't leave me, but neither could I go nearly as fast as she could and I had to stop and walk every .75 of a mile (her plan, by the way, much more sensible than my idea-- the only 3 stops plan) I told Jackie that if I couldn't run a mile in the the finish then I was finished and no matter what I said, or what I did, even if my heart itself leaped from my chest and sat on her shoulder and begged her to stop, to not stop and not let me stop. So when my breath got really insane, esp. up one of the hills, she told me to keep going or she would leave my ass!! Yes!! I kept going. Felt good to finish those miles. I was swearing like a trucker though! Usually I am the one admiring the "Monet Painting" of the leaves as we run and Jackie's telling me to shut the hell up, this sucks! as I wax poetic about every bird and tree and lake we pass.

well, this time I swore up every hill--even took the lords name in vain many times. We had fun, none-the-less, talking about teaching English--how our kids hate us over the Odyssey and getting chased by coach Ken in his car. I swear he was EVERYWHERE!!! He was at the 2 mile handing out cups of water, at the water cooler (only 2 more miles up) telling us "this is not a social stop! get going!" Then he drove his darn care up the nature center right behind us
!!! I asked if we could get in, but he said no--he was going to drive behind us and make us go faster. He sure is motivating, you know, in that lovable drill sergeant who scares the hell out of you every time you see him, kind of motivation.

So, I'm feeling confident again as many parts of my body are already, to use Jackie's term, "Barking" at me. That means I really pushed myself, I won't be walking right tomorrow, and I can get myself through this 10K in Dearborn next Saturday and eventually the Bayshore itself.

JACKIE IS AWESOME!!!