Funny Picture of Luke

Here is a cute picture of Luke. He just wouldn't let go of that Binky. Luke has been with his new Mommy and Daddy for just over a month now and everything is going great. We all love him very much. Thanks for letting me share. Later, Melissa

WW (Weight Watchers) Report and some new gear

Hi everyone,

Well, it's been a week since I've written, but I have great news. My official weigh in for the week of April 27-May 3rd was a weightloss of 6 pounds. I am so excited. I knew I had a good week, but didn't know it was that good, so I lost the weight I had gained plus a couple of pounds. It's really got me back in the right mind set again and really motivated. One thing I did during my great week was go and buy some new gear. I headed off to the local running store. I asked about 5 runners at the gym where they shop for running gear and 4 out of 5 runners said, DICK PONDS of Barrington.



A great gentleman named Bryan helped me find the perfect shoes for my silly 'ol feet, but there was just one little problem. He didn't have them in my size. I bought some socks and some sunglasses and headed to another location. I hopped in my car, with my new shades on and headed about 25 minutes south to DICK PONDS of Schaumburg, where a super lady named Kay helped me get all fitted for my shoes.

Here I am checking out my new running/biking shades in my car at a red light on the way to the Schaumburg store. No more bugs in my eyes anymore.

Here is my beautiful shoe. I bought BROOKS Adrenaline GTS 6. I have no idea what all that means, but that's for all you runners out there that care. I couldn't wait to get to the gym the next day.

Here is a picture of all my new gear. I got some very cool socks. Check out the pair with the bikes on them. I've already worn them biking and spinning. Cool.

The next day I headed out the door to the gym, stretched, hopped on the treadmill, walked a couple of minutes and then uped the speed. For some reason my new shoes did not make it any easier to run. I thought once you got the shoes you could just do it. :-) After 30 minutes of running/walking/panting/gasping I called it quits. I have done that again and it was a little easier. This time I walked/ran/panted, but no gasping this time. I was supposed to go and do this torture again yesterday, but my back went out Thursday night, so I haven't been able to bike, SLOG (slow jog) or swim at all, but I am not going to let this get me down. I will be back next week and I will run/walk even longer and better. I will keep you posted on my running adventures.

Another very cool thing I just signed up for today is called BIKE THE DRIVE 2006. For those of you familiar with Downtown Chicago there is a road called Lake Shore Drive that stretches out along our lakefront. On May 28th they will be closing it in both directions from 5am-10am and opening it to bikers. You can choose to do the 15 mile loop or the 30 mile loop. I will be doing the 30 mile loop. I will definetly be taking pictures and will blog about it. I was only going to the the 15 mile loop because that is how long my Triathlon bike will be, but I decided that I want to challenge myself to the 30 mile loop because I know that I can do it. I am very excited and cannot wait.

Until next time, Melissa