Jumping into 2024

 Well, here I am the day after Christmas pondering.... 😀 Usually this time of year people (including me) are looking back and thinking of what they accomplished during the year, what was their highlight, what was their disappointment, etc.  As I sit here thinking about my 2023, I remember starting out the year in a bad FUNK.  I was physically and mentally down.  Physically I was worn out and I was having so many issues with my back and hip.  I could barely run without pain.  It was so bad I was going for shot after shot and doing lots of PT.  The doctor finally told me that the shots didn't seem to be working and the next step would be to burn my nerve roots in my lower back. 😓😕😖  I talked with a couple of people who had that done and they both said it was very  PAINFUL.  So I decided I really didn't want to do that.  Instead I lowered my run miles and basically took a little break.  Mentally I was like so sad.  I had no major races on tap....  no big travel plans.... It just kind of felt like a big let down after the blowout year I had in 2022 when it came to travel and running big races.  Penny and I often complained about not having any major races to plan a trip around.  Basically I was having a pity party.  and I know not every year can you travel to places like Europe to run.. but my mind sure wants to!  😁

I had to SNAP myself out it! I was like ...  oh no... you aren't going down this rabbit hole.  I started enjoying running less miles and my body FINALLY started to respond and heal.  It's hard to take some downtime..... but WE NEED IT.  😍  I started back biking more and signed up for a bike ride in May.  I knew the route would be hilly and challenging so I increased the bike miles and slowly built back in running miles.  I had a great bike ride back in May at Farm to  Fork event, but afterwards basically stopped riding outside.  I would still hit my peloton during the week for a short ride inside, but no long rides on the weekends outside.  I kind of regret this... I should of kept at least one ride outside once a month.  Now it feels like FOREVER since I've been on my bike.  

I had a new grandbaby born in August (my highlight of 2023) so I tried to focus more on family and not worrying that I was not getting that long bike and long run in on the weekends.  💓 it literally takes Saturday AND Sunday to be able to get both those in... that's why training for an Ironman is so hard ... it's very time consuming.  

Only through God's grace and strength was I able to complete 5 marathons in 2023! along with a couple of half marathons and a few shorter distance races.  Looking back .... maybe I didn't take too long of a break to be able to do 5 marathons! 😂 2 of them were early in the year and the last 3 at the end of the year.  No majors... but each one that I did was unique in that I ran with friends and each one had it's on difficulties... 

1. Mercedes, Alabama (Penny, Felicia and I ran this because Felicia never had and it was also the last year for this race after 20 years! oh and HILLY race!)

2. Little Rock, Ark .. NEW state for me (again.. Penny, Felicia and I) ran this very hilly race! It was a bucket list to get that HUGE medal and we got it. 

3. B.O.B., Alabama -- Boston or Bust - Ran this with the PPRF girls.  7 of us traveled together and Felicia had her first experience of taking a shower at a camp site. 😁

4. Poconos -- Got me a new state! PA  ... ran this one alone.... Gary and I were in Pa visiting his mom.  Beautiful scenery... challenging course

5. St. Jude, Memphis - My heart race! Traveled with mom and ran with Felicia, Penny and Tammy.  Virginia and Susan did the 5K and we all went to eat afterwards.  

I did NOT do a single FLAT race. 😂 All these marathons were hilly! What the heck was I thinking.. 😏 and I have 3 toes missing toenails to prove it. 😕

There were many, many Saturdays of long runs with the PPRF girls.  Some boring and some were adventures.  The boring ones were the ones we stayed mainly on the trace and ran.  The adventures were ones where we ventured off the trace and toured Hattiesburg and even the coast one time.  It's been a great year training with these girls.  They'll never know how much each one of them inspires me! 

So now the year is closing...  No more races for 2023! What's on tap for 2024???  WELL, I'm going to BOSTON!  It still seems like a dream to me!  I've been given the chance on a charity bib.  I'm super excited!  I've already book mine and mom's plane tickets.  YAY!  I'm so grateful she loves to travel with me.  Gary is just unable to and honestly doesn't want to. 😔  I have 2 other marathons that the PPRF girls will be traveling to that will get us all 2 NEW states!  We will be going to the Houston for the Chevron race in January and to the Flying Pig race in Ohio in May.  Both of these races come highly recommended by other runners so we are looking forward to traveling together and making memories.   AND.... I'm considering do Ironman Chattanooga again...  Going to see how the first of the year goes with getting back in the grove of riding outside and more swimming.  I told the girls that if I can build a good base in the beginning of the year that after Flying Pig in May ..... it's game on for Ironman and I won't see them as much because I'll have to focus on Ironman training, which will mean Saturday bike rides with the Hattiesburg group so that I have people to bike with and then I'll have to do my running on Sunday mornings.   That DNF at Chatty in 2019 has haunted me even though I went on in 2019 to finish Florida.  There is just something about having a DNF that bothers me.  I want to go and finish that dang thing!! We'll, see if 2024 is the year.... 

I'm so grateful and thank GOD that my pain I was having in the beginning of the year has gotten so much better!!! yes, some days I still hurt somewhat after a long run, but nothing like back then.  Now it's more like the typical hurt any runner has after completing some hard. 😉  I mean we all know there is some suck to it! 😁  It's that accomplished feeling afterwards that keeps bringing us back.. 😍   I NEED and WANT to get back to more strength training like I use to do in the old days.  My body needs it and I think it will help me.  I've just got to get it figured out how to work that in and not overdo....   I hope to start going to our gym at the office at lunch a couple times during the week and work on that.   Maybe if I can get in a habit of doing that... It won't hinder my run, bike and swimming I do prior to work.... and I'll still have some downtime after work. 🙏  It's very hard to fit it all in when you want to training for a triathlon.  

My prayer is that God will lead me down the right path in 2024.  He is my anchor in all that I do.  💗

So far as of 12/25/2023 ... Miles are:

Run = 971.9

Bike = 751.9

Swim = 34.6

for a total of 1,758.40 miles ... not to shabby for a year... not 2,023 miles like several of my friends have accomplished... But moving is moving... and also MOVEMENT IS MEDICINE.   So let's move in 2024.

update:  miles as of 12/28/2023

as you can see I started out swimming in the beg of the year then slacked off...but getting back to it. 

As I mentioned, I kind of took a step back on run miles the beginning of the year ... 

and as I mentioned I did some biking early in year... and then totally slacked off! Got to get back to it! 

I looked this up today to see my swim miles the year I did Ironman... for your reference that's over 100 miles of swimming in a year.  Wonder if that's what 2024 is going to look like??  😁

St. Jude Memphis Marathon Weekend- December 2, 2023

 

For the last 11 years, I've closed out my running for the year with the St. Jude Memphis Marathon weekend.  Every year I have ran the marathon, except for one, in which I ran the half with my daughter.  My mom started going with me around the 3rd year of me going and she walks the 5K.  We've made it a girls weekend for several years.  We often go visit Graceland because my mom is a die hard Elvis fan. 😍  I love our time spent together each year.  This year we decided to venture over to Shelby Farms on Thursday when we arrived to the drive through Christmas lights in the park.  Even though it was raining slightly the whole time, we had a great time.  The lights were so pretty.  It was not crowded at all... probably due to the rain.  

We ran by the Expo Thursday night also real quick and picked up our race swag.

On Friday we ventured over to Graceland Crossing where there are some shops.  We just happen to end up at a "Snow Village" show display.  The sign said it was the worlds largest display and I believe it.  There were 100s of villages.  The display took you through time showing villages that were created in each year going back to like 1960.  It was amazing!  They even had Halloween villages!  I was thinking it would just be Christmas, but it was much more.  Besides Christmas, they had Disney, Halloween, and even villages that were made just like places like the Buckingham Palace.  It was pretty cool and mom LOVED it.  They even had one that was Graceland.  We thought about buying it, but it was $300! I was like wow!  They had several others for sale too and they were ALL expensive.  These were the real collector items.  

At the gate of Graceland looking up to the huge Nativity scene

Shopping at Graceland Crossing

Friday evening we meet up with Felicia and Penny to go to the St. Jude Hero Pasta dinner.  Felicia had never been and I wanted her to experience it.  I had bragged and bragged on it.  I was VERY disappointed in the dinner!  Not the speakers.  They were amazing, but I was terribly disappointed in the food.   It was nothing like years past and tasted awful.  None of us at our table was real happy with the food.  The speakers made up for my disappointment however.  We heard from Tyler West a St. Jude patient that was planning on running his 1st marathon the next day!  He's a senior in high school now.  And guess what he completed that marathon in 4 hours 18 minutes the next day!  We also heard from some parents of a child that had passed away in 2019.  Both talked about what St. Jude meant to them.  We were all in tears by the end of the night and ready to run that 26.2 miles the next day.   I'm always amazed at how upbeat these families are even after a lose.  How blessed am I to be able to run with for them.  

Tyler West

Saturday morning -- RACE day.. Temp was around 41.  It was perfect running temp for me.  It was calling for no sun and complete clouds..... however, the sun came out about half way into the race and it warmed up fast!  By the time we finished I was sweating and ready to be done.  Four of us started together, Penny, Felicia, Me & Tammy.   Joe, Richard, Nestor, and the others all started in other places.  I only saw Nestor as we split for the half and full marathon.  Joe finished is 100th marathon!  He started his journey in 2012.  I think this year alone he ran like 10 marathons just to get to 100 by  St. Jude race day! 😵  I've been honored to have him on our team raising money for St. Jude for the last several years.  Plus he's a good kid.  I call him kid just because he's around my daughters age. 😁  Richard got himself a PR! He's gotten really fast lately!  

Meeting up in the hotel Lobby for pics

Tammy, Joe, Penny, Felicia, Me and Richard

Sunshine walked the 5K with mom 💗

For us girls, the first half started out really well.  We all felt really good.  Penny and I had to keep telling each other to pull back and save some energy for the 2nd half. 😀  We tend to feed off each other in a race. 😅  Felicia and Tammy hung close behind us the whole first half.  By mile 10 ..... you guessed it!..... the bathroom hit me!   Mom and I were actually both sick Friday night.  We think it was something we ate that day.  Anyway, my stomach was not feeling too good at all.  I finally told Penny to go on because she was running so good, I knew she could sub 5 the race.  As for me, I ended up stopping 6 times for the porta potty!  oh and I forgot to mention that within the first 2 miles of the race a lady fell in front of us and hit her head pretty hard.  We all stopped to check on her and let Tammy, who is a nurse, really get a good look at her.   Another lady offered to call for help and stay with her that was not running but was just cheering on the sidelines so we went on.  I told Penny and them Saturday night that if that had not happened and I had not stopped 6 times for the bathroom... I MAY of had a good run time.  However, a PR was not in the books for me.  I'm thrilled I finished with all the stomach issues!  And a 5:15 marathon time is not too shabby for this old woman. 😀  We all had dinner together and then ended up going back to our rooms early.  We were all pretty tired and my stomach was still bothering me.  Mom and I ended up in bed watching a Hallmark Christmas movie till 11pm. 😇😂😇

He did it! finished 100 marathons! and of course one of his twins jumped in the picture. 💗

Us 3 have been on many journeys in 2023 and I'm looking forward to more "runcations" with them in 2024!  They inspire me everyday.  

As for the race course.... it was NEW this year!  We didn't run through the St. Jude Campus until around mile 9.  We didn't have to make that awful double loop through that lonely park area.... but we DID Have to run hill after hill.  I think they found all the hills in Memphis for the new course.  😂 and I enjoyed the new course! Close to $15 million was raised for St. Jude.  Over 25,000 runners were present.  It was another great race weekend.  🙏💓 Finish pics. 

Me and my mom 😍

I'm going to take the rest of December to recover and build back up.  We've got the Chevron marathon coming up in January. 😍

Run4TheKids 5K & Battleship 12K weekend.

 On November 18, Team Run4TheKids hosted their annual 5K race to raise money for St. Jude Children's Hospital.  We didn't have as many racers this year as we've had in the past, but we still had a successful race.  I blame college football some for the attendance.  Southern was playing away from home.  Plus other SEC games.  We normally have our 5K in early summer, but this year decided to try a cooler month.  It was beautiful weather and no one was overheated.  😅  So far our team has raised over $10,000 for St. Jude this year.  💓  I'm very proud of every team member and I thank them all for their dedication to St. Jude.   AND I am so thankful for everyone that came and worked our 5K race!  You don't know how much that means to me.  Giving up your Saturday morning to work a 5K.. you are SPECIAL.   Several will head to Memphis this weekend for the St. Jude Memphis race weekend.  Keep us in your prayers for safe travels and running.  Just a few pics I had on my phone from the race.  I don't have a picture of everyone that worked 😌 I missed... Frank, Krista, Lyndie, Nestor, Tammy, & Sunshine! I didn't even get a picture of Sunshine's beautiful medals.  Oh and Ronnie Freeman made these amazing bowls out of wood that we also gave out as awards.  He does amazing wood work!  THANK YOU AGAIN TO ALL OF YOU THAT HELPED!  I need to go steal one of Nestor's pictures. 

Susan placed in her age group.  Yay Susan..coming back from knee injury! 

Michelle and Candy working one of the road crossings. 

When the cop showed up that would support our race, he realized Penny was his old grade school teacher.. 😍

The Freemans and Ms Ann always do a fabulous job with the half way water stop. 

Felicia, Misty & Janis working road crossings. 

Wanda working another road crossing. 

After the race me and my PPRF girls went on to Mobile to packet pickup for the Battleship 12K that would be on Sunday.  It was another beautiful morning to run.  Cool and sunny.  We had such a good time.  I laughed so hard my stomach hurt Saturday night.  We had dinner at a really nice restaurant and the food was fabulous.  It was right down from our hotel, which was so nice.  There were 7 of us in total that stayed together....   Penny, Felicia, Candy, Michelle, Virginia, Susan, & me.  

Race morning Michelle did her glitter thing and got us all ready to sparkle.  😍  We all dressed alike too. 💓  When the race started I tried to stay with the girls, but my body felt good so I just started running and not looking at my watch.  When I got to the first mile and had a 9 min pace, I was like there is no way I will be able to maintain this.....BUT... I told myself, just run... take it 1 mile at a time and see how the body feels.  So I did just that.  I did stop at a water stop and walk while drinking my water one time and I stopped and took a couple of pictures, but other than that, I ran.  I was surprised I had a 9:42 avg pace when I finished.  I really felt good.  I haven't felt that good in awhile.  You have to enjoy those moments because every race is different...... sometimes you feel like crap... and others you feel amazing... 😀  I give God all the glory! 

Here's a few pics from the weekend:  

our amazing medal... notice the battleship in his helmet

The start line.... over 1,300 runners were present 

a little photo booth at the expo 

Love our Bible verse... it's one of my favs. 

Grabbing a pic afterwards with 2 fast men.. Nestor and Dan! 

Ran into Wanda along the course. 

Finally saw Kathy at the finish line... I spotted her pony tail on mile one..but couldn't keep up with her fast pace.  💓

Michelle still putting glitter on us! 

Our hotel.. looking at that morning right before we headed to the start line... Love these two.. Felicia and Penny. 

OH AND GUESS WHAT????????????  I got the most amazing news right before these races!  I have been given the opportunity to run the Boston Marathon  in April for the 26.2 Foundation.  I am over the moon! A dream come true.  😍  I was blown away when they called and email me.  

Hi Deleica,

You have been selected to run in the 2024 Boston Marathon® Presented by Bank of America on Monday April 15, 2024, for 26.2 Foundation’s Team Inspire.

    

As you know, the 26.2 Foundation is a philanthropic non-profit 501(c)3 organization with community roots in Hopkinton, MA. Founded in 1996, the Foundation’s mission is to promote and support the sport of marathoning, as well as health, wellness and economic-development initiatives through strategic investments in innovative, multi-generational programs. We understand that there is more to a marathon than running 26.2 Miles and our initiatives can be found from Hopkinton, Massachusetts to Marathon, Greece.

 

We are honored that you have been moved to join our mission to honor, celebrate and inspire the power of the human spirit through the sport of the marathon.

 

Up next... St. Jude Marathon to finish out my 2023 year of races.  

Poconos Marathon 10/21/2023 & visit to PA to see Ellie (MeMe)

 Scratching off another state.  ✔️  when I started running at 40, I wish I had put thought into doing this … I’m 33 marathons in and so few states done …. However my friend, Penny Smith has told me she wants us to try to start working on getting more states done.  ❤️.   Texas and Ohio are already on tap in 2024 and maybe Alaska ❤️👊.

“Time flies” … we say that often …… and sometimes it really hits us.  I haven’t been to Pa since fall of 2019! Seems like just a year or two.  Someone was asking me this week before we left to come see Gary’s mom and it really hit me.  I had to think back to the last time … and what has happen since … 2020 COVID hit and the world shut down …. Then we had work rules where they did not want us to travel.  Pa had rules where you couldn't enter the state and his mom said she didn't want us to try to come.. she was too scared of COVID... 2021 … when travel restrictions finally started slacking up ….. my daughter got married in the fall and it was a busy time …. Then 2022 … my son's first child was due September and I ended up getting into the London and Berlin marathons in the fall, which are HARD to get into... that's also when Gary prefers to travel to Pa and the company I work for also started a major merger with another company,  so I was limited to when I could travel.  It’s not a hop and skip to get here.  It’s either a 16 hour drive or a long day of flying and driving.  Gary has went by himself several times to check on her, but it’s been 3 years since I’ve been. 😳    As they say … don’t blink … time slips away so fast!  Thankful I’m was able to go this year.  🙏❤️. I sure was looking forward to a week of cooler temps.   AND a week off work 😂👊❤️  

We headed to Atlanta on Friday after work to fly direct to Pa.  Trying something new...  either you fly out of New Orleans or Jackson and have multi layovers before reaching PA which ends up being 12-16 hour travel day, driving for 16 hours, or doing what we did this time... drive 5 hours to Atlanta, fly direct from there for 1 1/2 hours to Pa! then a short 90 minute drive to his moms.   We saved a lot of travel time this time... HOWEVER, it was rough coming back on Sunday after the marathon.. hee hee  

When traveling it’s good to ask about local places to eat.   If you don’t, you’d miss an awesome place like Morrone’s cafe.  We always try to eat here.  Gary’s friend, Mike Morrone, owns this restaurant.  It’s fabulous!   I had the homemade ravioli and it was amazing.  We didn’t get to see Mike while we were there, but visited with his daughter.   

If you were traveling, you’d probably miss it unless you asked about local Italian.  They’ve been here since like 1934.   Gary remembers when they came and could barely speak English.  The mother of the kids rarely spoke English from what Gary remembers as a child visiting their home.  

I’m lucky to have Gary who is a native from here.  He knows so many good places to eat that are owned by locals that were friends of his growing up.  ❤️❤️

I forgot how much I love running there! The paved path by the river is so nice.  Even though it’s was calling for more rain the whole week we were there 😩 I was able to squeeze in my taper 8 miler on Sunday 👊.  And yes the grass there is green. While we had a drought in Ms, they’ve had a wet season.  It was 43 when I started.  But after a mile in, I ditched the jacket, gloves and earmuffs 😂😜😁.  Only  have 2 short 2 milers during the week I hope I can get in between rain shower before the marathon on Saturday.  

Ellie.... Gary's mom... 94 years young.. still living on her own.  What a blessing that most never see.  She’s doing great and I expect her to make it to 100.    Although she’s told me … “D it’s hard to get old … you can’t hear, you can’t see and you got false teeth” as she smiled and laughed.  😂.  Still in good spirits.  These eyes and ears have many stories.  She’s still as quick witted as ever.  ❤️❤️❤️

We went to another locally owned restaurant on Sunday evening.... Pier 87 is amazing.   Gary’s friend he grew up with son is the owner.  Can you image sitting outside looking at the mountains and hearing the water flowing??  It’s awesome.  Their outside is closed during the winter months… winter is rough with snow here. We met some of Gary’s high school friends that still live here for supper.  It was great seeing them again.  We missed Kristy, John’s wife who passed away.  She was always smiling and laughing.  These guys are so lucky to still be able to get together so many years after high school.  I’ve heard their stories many times over the 19 or 20 years of coming here with Gary 😂😁  

Eat local.  Stay in touch with friends.  

Thursday night we ate at another local place that I highly recommend.  The Old Corner.   Not only is it good it’s beautiful.  They have a mirror / window that came all the way from Italy here.  Oh did I mention that Gary’s friend, Frank, who passed recently and we missed dearly 😢… Owned this and now his daughter does.   It’s been in the family for a long time.  Gary remembers when Frank and his family came over from Italy.  Frank could not speak any English.   I don’t think franks mother ever spoke any English, but his dad did.  I had the pleasure of knowing Frank and his dad.   It’s not the same coming in here without Frank.  He was always a super host and I loved listening to all of his and Gary’s stories of growing up together. ❤️❤️  life is too short!  #eatlocal #downtownwilliamsport

After a week in PA with Gary's mom, we drove over to

the Poconos to be here for my marathon on Saturday morning.  It’s been another cloudy day with lots and lots of wind.  Calling for rain to start tonight and go through tomorrow! 😩   The sun did come out some today and when I went to packet pickup at Promise Land state park, I grabbed a few pictures because tomorrow I may not be able to in the rain.   I also didn’t realize this race is somewhat a trail run until the email in the race came with instructions and said there would be water stops every 2 miles except for where vehicles couldn’t get 🙈😜🤔😎  I’m thinking tomorrow will be a slow easy really long run for me 😂😁👊.   The area is beautiful and the run around the lake will be beautiful even if it rains.   Glad the hubby is letting me do this while we are here.  In all the years of coming to PA, I’ve never ran this state.  

SATURDAY... State of PA ✔️ done and dusted! 😁👊.  It drizzled rain off and on and we had winds.  See all the leaves on the ground.  I tried to snap a few pictures in between rain showers.  Often I was all alone on the course.  I don’t think many did the marathon.  The first loop there were tons of people but the 2nd loop out and back was lonely.   Hence…. My 3rd place age group award 🤗😁.  It pays to run the smaller races 😂❤️

I give God all the glory today.  He helped me make that 2nd loop.  Ezra 10:4  and all the text from my friends that I didn’t see most until after due to hardly any cell service.  

I also wore my short from our run group and so many people said thanks for telling me don’t quit when we passed on the course 😍. 

They said it was flat on the website … 🤔🤔🤔   Nope! Now it wasn't mountains, but it was not flat.  

Gary and I enjoyed ihop afterwards and relaxing in our hotel until our 6am flight home the next morning.  It felt like a really long travel day home! We had to get up at 2:30am to leave hotel to go to airport for 6am flight.  Then drive home from Atlanta .. 5 hours.... I was so stiff every time we stopped I could barely get out of the vehicle.  I don't like long travel directly after a marathon. 

So another marathon done and a visit to see my mother in law.  Both were a success.  Now to recover and prepare for my marathon in December... St. Jude in Memphis.  This will be my 11th year running as a hero for St. Jude in Memphis! 💓