Congrats on getting out for walk Liz. I still wear your bracelet, and it continues to inspire me!

Jo in To

Living is a good motivator for me right now! In fact I just went out for a nice one mile walk and it felt so good! The temps are in the 50's, perfect in my opinion!

I have a whole new motivation for me now! But having a race to train for used to be my motivator, always have something to train for, pay for the registration so you can't backout, well I guess you could if need be, but it is a good motivator!

Get a MP3 player and put inspirational music on it and up beat music, great retro 80's music is AWESOME to have playing. Or perhaps some WOW cd's, this are Christian Rock CD's.

3 days of exercise is a good goal, running three days and maybe the other days walk. I think something should be done daily weather it be Yoga, walking/running, weights etc....But do not beat yourself up
about it!

OWN: One mile walk and it felt so good!

God Bless,

Lizzy

Hello again Harriet and Liz! I’m the ‘crutch guy’ you ladies ‘smoked’ on the Penguin Pace 5K in Columbia,MD…Ha-Ha! I tried pacing with you ladies but the clunking sound of my crutch was probably annoying. Besides, it was difficult keeping a consistent pace with crutches on that hilly course.

Congratulations Liz on racing again and continuing your marathon legacy. You can now boast about beating an Ironman (70.3) on a 5K race. Can’t wait to run with you again but next time without crutches. Can’t promise you will ‘smoke’ me again but can promise you will be running with a friend.

Thanks Nancy for ratting them out…J/K ;-)

Crutching in Columbia,
Arnat Vale

It sounds as if "Karen's Penguins" made out like bandits in the race!! All kinds of goodies and prizes!
Harriet must have been really exhausted to go to bed---I can just imagine those rowdy penguins at a pj party!
Congratulations Lizzy on a fine finish!! It was good you all had so much fun and thanks everyone for posting reports!

Hooray for Liz and everyone. Glad you are all having a good time.
Marathon John

YEAH LIZ ----sounds like you guys had a wonderful time and we need to
see the pictures from the pajama party. We are all very happy that
you are "racing" again. Keep on Running--SD is waiting for the
invasion of the Penguins.
I don't know how this post is going to "look" or even if it will come
thru --I am using a Mini Mac for the 1st time and since I am computer
challenged anyway - this makes me doubly challenged !

Daria

That was really a fun encounter, well worth the long drive
from New York to Columbia. Lizzy looked really great, especially in
her bright red penguin jammies. And J'net was such a great hostess.
When I didn't get any award, despite coming in second in the 70+ age
group (because the highest official age group was 60+) J'net
complained to the course director and got him to give me the last
remaining "Penguin Pace 2007" hat in recognition of my achievement.
Lots of other Penguins were there, including MaryD, Harriet,
Paulette, *jeanne*, and Mindy. The course was nice, though somewhat
hilly. It was cold, but not as cold as the Manhattan Half Marathon.
My time was 31:07. I tried for under 30, but the hills did me in.
J'net was at the end of the chute, collecting the number stubs, and I
kept her company until the rest of the Penguins came in. Harriet and
Lizzy were still on the course when I decided to run back to meet
them. By this time, the orange cones were gone and, as I often do, I
kept going straight where I should have taken a turn. After running
about one mile and seeing nobody, I realized I was lost so I turned
around and ran back. I finally went in when the raffle was over and
much of the food was gone. Fortunately, there were still lots of
delicious croissants and other goodies left over, so I didn't go
hungry :-).

We did miss you, Nancy - I just figured you'd show up, but Jeanne told
us that you now live much further away from Columbia MD. But it was a
wonderful surprise to see Paulette Chellis and "Jeanne from Chesapeake"
at the race. Daniel and I drove from NYC to Columbia on Saturday in a
little over 3 hours, meeting Jeannette, Mary and Mindy/Phil for packet
pick-up and then lunch at the Hobbit's Glen golf club restaurant. Then
after unpacking at J'net's, the four of us went to BWI in J'net's car to
pick Liz up. J'net had to circle in the car, but we found Liz and her
luggage and then packed ourselves back into the Subaru for a tour of the
countryside back to J'net's. Dinner was Mary's pasta and delicious
homemade sauce that she brought with her from Michigan. J'net was a
great hostess, and quite brave to have such a bunch of rowdy Penguins in
her home. I had to crash early because of some accumulated sleep
deprivation, but I could hear bouts of laughter coming from the first floor.

Weather conditions were pretty good for the race, cold but sunny with
just a bit of windchill. The roads were clear with just a few small icy
patches, not a problem since I was walking with Liz. There were little
groups of young volunteers at each of the turns, and not only did they
point out the turns, they also cheered us on. Liz and I set an initial
goal of beating the little old lady (86 yrs) who had been the last
finisher the year before, but she apparently turned around early and we
didn't see her. Our next goal was to smoke the guy on crutches, a local
triathlete who'd torn a calf muscle at RNR-AZ three weeks ago. It was
nip and tuck the first mile before the hills got to him. We passed one
other guy a bit further on. Liz did great, but the last half mile had a
couple of good-sized uphills in it, and I could see her calling on those
inner reserves. The triathlete was starting to get closer when we
turned the last corner and cruised through the finish line where J'net
was waiting for us.

Daniel had also been waiting for us, but decided to run back out on the
course to meet us. Unfortunately he apparently missed a turn. He
reappeared about 10 minutes after we finished.

This race has a really nice catered brunch with delicious pastries and
croissants, fresh fruit, juice, coffee and hot chocolate. There were
lots of raffle prizes and giveaways, including the prize for the
participant who came from furthest away (our own Lizzie!). Mary got 2nd
in AG, but the oldest AG was 60+, so Daniel had to compete against those
60 year old kids. However J'net cornered the race director and made him
cough up a prize for an impromptu 70+ category - so Daniel got a Penguin
Pace 2007 cap. And the director of the Bain Center, for which this is a
fund-raiser, gave some extras of the race sweatshirt to Liz, J'net and
Mary. The back of the shirt, which lists the sponsors, has an
acknowlegment for "Karen's Penguins" and "Running for Liz".

So now I have four Penguin Pace t-shirts and two Penguin Pace
sweatshirts in my wardrobe. This is a fun race, and always a welcome
opportunity for a Penguin mini-encounter!

Harriet

Lizzy,

You continue to amaze and inspire me. I am so glad to hear that you are on the road to recovery and that you finished a 5k. Yeah!!!!

Marsha Sea

What a great day!

I flew in yesterday and was met in true penguin fashion by Mary,
Harriet, Daniel and J'net. I had a great flight out! Brrrrrrrrrrr it
is cold here!

We had a great night last night, yummy pasta dinner a la Mary D and
homemade pasta and sauce. And then we had a sexy penguin pajama
party, we have pictures to prove it, Daniel's outfit was
particularly fashionable!

We rose bright and early today, 5:30am, 3:30am for me, thankfully I
slept good. Took off for the race in the Brrrrrrrr cold! I layered
and was very toasty.

My niece showed up with 18 of her Americorp buds and they all
volunteered and did AWESOME!!!!!! It was so good to see her, what
great kids!

Race time....Harriet stayed back with me and we had a goal of beating
the guy on crutches, it was neck and neck for awhile, then we pulled
away at the end. We came in at a blistering 1.05 and then cheered in
the cute guy on crutches. There were actually two people behind us!

Then we waddled into the Bain Center for a post race brunch. Had fun
answering all the Arizona trivia questions, I got them all right, lil
did they know an Arizonian was amoung them. LOL I was humbled by a
lil tribute to me, and now I have a claim to fame by being on a race
shirt. Actually it is a race sweatshirt.

I had a few more surprises, I thought I recognized someone and
REJOICE it was Paulette Chellis and another Penguin Jeanne from
Chesapeake Bay was there too and it was nice to meet her! I AM SO
BUMMED Mindy was not able to come today and I missed the lunch
yesterday. Where were you Mindy?????

What a great day....and what a fitting race to be my first comeback
race! Penguin Pace......with my name on the sweatshirt! I will
treasure this day!

After a great nap I am ready for the SuperBowl and the great
commercials!

God Bless,

Liz

Hi all, Just thought we would check in and mention the fact that we had a
marvelous time.
J'net, Harriet, Daniel, Liz, Paulette, Jeanne, and I all were at the Penguin
Pace 5K race this morning. J'net worked the finish line, and the rest of us
all did the race. Yup, even Liz. Liz and Harriet walked the race and the
rest of us ran. Daniel was the first to cross the finish, I was the second,
but I took 2nd in age and poor Daniel was shut out. The last age group was 60
up, so I made it while Daniel did not. Liz won a couple drwings and came
away with a golf umbrella and a hat. I got a hat as my old age award, and also
got a purple hat that was thrown out, and I caught it. And I got a golf
umbrella also cuze I knew the answer to a question. (see, I'm not so dumb after
all!!!)

Liz flew in yesterday and is doing great. We had a great time. Today she
walked the 5K which was 1 mile farther than she has done so far.
We all kinda took a nap this afternoon, then watched the movie "Legally
Blonde", the golf and now the game and Chicago took the lead on the opening play!

Mary D
Oh yeah, people here are complaining about the cold. sheesh, its 27.
Shorts weather!