It's not Christmasy - but it is pretty cheesy

But I don't care... for some reason, I love this. Happy Holidays



but I wonder... does Andreas know that Elmo isn't a real boy??

The Most Important Thing I'm Doing Right Now

CAUTION!!! Watching this video has been known to cause a lump in your throat and/or watering of the eyes. Side effects may include donating to help me or another of my TEAMmates reach our goals.

The Way I Feel Right Now

I'm running, I'm shopping, I'm emailing, I'm working, I'm cross-training, I'm AthFesting, I'm parenting, I'm fundraising, I'm blogging, I'm myspacing, I'm baking.... AAHHH!!!

More to come... The wheel keeps on turning, I think I can hold on 'til the Holiday's are over...

The Evil Look

My step-mother SueAnn, who always sends truly good stuff, sent me this the other day. Then, maybe, a half dozen other people have forwarded it also, so, I figure I have to post it as well.

This should make you at least smile... a little... if it doesn't, then I don't know about you.

Trying to be Open Minded is Tough

Fun Quirky Song

I can't wait to get a "real" camera... It is killing me!!!

Funny T-Shirts I Wouldn't Wear

Savannah Race Update

Greetings Record Enthusiasts!!!

No, I didn't end up officially breaking any records, except my own. I ran the 10K portion of the Double Pump faster than I've ever done a 10K before. Whoo!! Hoo!!

Place Bib Name Age City Total 5K 10K

159 4186 Andy Payne 37 M Athens GA 1:25:55 27:20 57:50 

So what, I ended up 159th out of 265 people. No where to go but faster, I hope.

Here are a few more pictures of the race:

Did I really go over that thing THREE times???

I love this shot

My Super Trooper, Trellis.
She was sick as a dog with some sort of mystery throat infection,
but she came out for me and ran the 5K. I loves my sis'!!!

The Double Pump

Real quick... I finished the Double Pump (15K) over the Savannah River Today. It is the "Toughest Bridge Run in the South" The bridge is a 5.5% grade.

What you do to do the Double is run a 5K over the river, then turn around, and run a 10K back over the river twice, ending up at the same finish line. 5K - 27:20 and 10K - 58:something.

It was the best race I've run so far... tons of fun. But I felt like I was cheating. Wearing the TEAM in Training jersey gave me such an advantage; people cheering for me, getting waves and shouts of "GO TEAM" from other TNT runners. It just gave me the biggest lift. I met most, if not all, of the Savannah TEAM; what a bunch of totally nice people.

Today I was running for a kid with leukemia that my good friend Tanner Shultz was a bone marrow donor for. (talk about being heroic) And I really want to thank Tanner being the biggest donor I've had so far, and his company Eli Lily does a 100% matching donation. Whoo!!

The most important thing that happened to me though was during the ascent over the bridge for the third time. I was feeling it big time, and had slowed to a walk at one point. All of a sudden I heard a voice in my ear, "Remember who you are running for" A man ran by me, and he pointed at me, and said, "They didn't quit, you can do it too" It was like a rocket being strapped to my back; I took off and passed all kinds of people, and made it up the last part of the bridge. After the recovery on the back half, you have to run through the flat part of the finish, but there is one more not that tiny hill to conquer. No problem!

I sought the man out after the finish and gave him a big hug and introduced him to my sister, Trellis, who'd run the 5K. He told me that he had been involved with TEAM in training for seven years, and just when he had stopped, his grandson was diagnosed with AMS. So, he knows what the society can do. He knows how it helps people and families diagnosed with cancer. It was a humbling and uplifting experience at the same time. That little voice of encouragement came at the best time and was such a powerful motivator, I felt like I was cheating, like I had taken a hit of some performance enhancing drug or something.

So, keep plugging away, keep running, if not for someone else, just do it for yourself. More pictures from the race and a few more stories to come. What a great day!!!

The Cause, the cause, the cause

We had a TEAM meeting tonight; we discussed proper footwear, which, since I am a tireless internet researcher, I already have. And we also discussed fundraising. Tons of cool ideas to help me reach my goal. I'm going to implement some of them over the next few months, so if you get multiple emails from me begging you to - SERIOUSLY, COULD YOU AT LEAST GO ONLINE AND GIVE ME A DOLLAR OR SOMETHING!!! just go about your business and delete them with all the other junk you get. Or you could check out my TEAM website, donate some cash, help some people struggling with a terrible disease, you get the idea.

I have gotten lots of support already from random people that I wouldn't expect, and I do appreciate it.

Tonight's run was on the treadmill again, 5 miles. And I did it in honor of our TEAM's honored hero, Oliva Cheek. Much more on her later.

Chance of Rain Inside The Gym - 0%, My Friend

I've been feeling a little puny the past few days, but I knew I had to get my "long" run in. I missed the GTS (Group Training Session) with the TEAM, due to them kidz and I in Dublin for Thanksgiving syndrome or TKAIIDFT syndrome for short. Plus it's been raining off and on all day, and I don't want to push the puny into full blown sick.

So, I decided to run on the treadmill today. Once I got going it went really well. I ran 10K in about 57 minutes, which is a record for me. I know the treadmill is way easier than the road, but still.

Tonight, I thought about Michelle, a friend of mine. She sent me a quick email and told me about her family and their struggle with cancer. Four of her Aunt's: Nell, Shirley, Cricket, Margie, all died from it. So, tonight's run is in honor of them.

If you want to donate to my TEAM in Training cause and our fight against Leukemia and Lymphoma you can click on the link to the right. You can also go to my TNT webpage, or the society's, and learn more about what they do and how your donation will make a difference.

Chance of Rain during my run 60% - Better Make it 100%

Happy Thanksgiving.

I set out on my 10K run this morning, thinking of my Mom, Sandy. Today's run is in honor of her. She has been a great devoted mother to me, and she has fought off liver cancer twice. I remember that day in the hospital in Thomasville, when the doctor came in and said, "It's Cancer" Truly one of the worst days in my life, but we and she got through it, twice. So, I thought of her often as this run progressed. Today was not easy; it started pouring down rain, I broke down and had to walk some, and it was really hard to start back up each time and try to finish, if not strong, then just OK.

I feel pretty good now, and I'm about to go to Dublin to spend Thanksgiving with both sides of my family. And I'm going to give my Mom a bear hug when I see her.

My Grandmother Payne

I just finished tonight's run, and it was tough. Not the run itself, but the running in the first place. I worked until 8 and got home around 8:35. The whole way home I was thinking, "Well, I won't run tonight. I'll run in the morning. I've got things to do, and I'm hungry" These kinds of excuses keep me and lots of others from just getting out there and doing it.

But one of the TEAM in Training video's I've seen had a scene in it where one of the coaches was telling everyone that the first mile sucks (everyone laughs), but it doesn't suck nearly as much as what someone battling cancer is going through. I thought about that as I was pulling in the driveway, and I thought, "All right, you are going to go inside, throw on your shoes, and do your 5K" And the run tonight felt like nothing. It was one of the easiest runs I've ever done. I didn't stop, I didn't take water with me, I didn't fade at the end, I just ran, and it felt great. It's the getting going in the first place that is the hard thing.

As I was running, I thought about an email that my Daddy sent me. He told me that my Grandmother Payne, who died of cervical cancer, would be proud of me for supporting this project. That led me to think of all the other people that I know personally or know of who are the real heroes.

So, I'm going to dedicate every run from here on out to someone I know who has fought or is fighting cancer. I may run out of people, we'll see. If you want me to run in honor of someone that you know, send me their picture, or tell me their story. I'll do the run, and I'll include them (if you don't mind) in an email or a blog posting. Having those thoughts running thru my head as I'm going are much more motivating than my ipod or the cool new shoes I felt I deserved.

If you get a chance, please check out my Team in Training Website. You can donate to the cause, and help support my Marathon training. You can also follow the links to learn more about TEAM in Training and the Leukemia Lymphoma Society.

Thanks

Politics and Runnin'

I think the story isn't "What if Hillary tanks??" because we don't know if that is going to happen or not. The story is that Rudy "911" Guliani is getting stronger and stronger, and could be capable of showing some real depth. Scroll down a bit in this Slate article and see what you think...

Oh, yeah... Did I mention that I'm running a marathon next year, and that I would love you forever if you helped out and donated to this cause. My TEAM webpage is the perfect place to go to. Every dollar will make a difference. Please help me reach my goal and help fight cancer at the same time.

I'm going to run three miles tonight and 5 more in the morning. I'll report back how I'm did.

Monday

Got up around 6am this morning and went for another short run. I went out and ran a little over 2 miles. I really need to get back in the habit of running just about every day I can in order to prepare myself for my long distance goals. Again, I was nervous about running in the cold, but it wasn't that bad.

I'm sending out my first email about the TEAM and actually asking (and hoping for donations). Fingers crossed. This first effort is just going out to family and friends. I want to put a few dollars in the tip jar before I start going whole hog.

If you want to check out my TEAM website and donate anything yourself, Here's the LINK. It really is for a fantastic cause, which I'm going to elaborate on and on about I'm sure.