Orlando Heart Walk 2009

This past Saturday was the American Heart Association’s Heart Walk. It’s a 5k walk to raise money for the Association’s fight against cardiovascular disease. The event started at 8:30am, with registration and what have you starting at 7:30am. I had planned on getting to the location, which was Loch Haven Park by 7:30, but traffic prevented that from happening. Traffic was horribly backed up because of the event at the designated exit off of I-4. And unfortunately, the rude drivers of the state were already out and about even before 8am on a Saturday. Trying to merge into the turn lane proved to be a nightmare because of this. One of those, everyone’s in a hurry and being nice to you is the last thing on their mind.

Thankfully, I got to Loch Haven Park eventually and found the Track Shack tent. I was walking with the Track Shack team for the walk. After checking in and getting my nice, spiffy Track Shack shirt, I was able to go over to the Tribute Wall and write my tribute to my grandfather, Lye “Pop-Pop” Chenoweth. Also, I got a tribute sticker to wear during my trek to let everyone know that I was walking in memory of someone.

Before I knew it, 8:30am arrived and the event began. There were a lot of people walking which was nice to see. I ended up losing track of my team, so I ended up speed walking and running on an off through the three miles. This gave me a great workout, especially since the route included uneven terrain (sidewalks, stone pavement, hills, etc). Along the miles, there were volunteer “cheerleaders” who cheered us all on as we walked as well as people handing out cold bottles of water. Each mile we made it through had a marker, so you knew how far you’ve come and how much further you had to go.

That third mile sign came up and then the finish line. While it felt good to complete the 5k, now that I’m in such good shape it didn’t seem like as much work as the Breast Cancer Walk I did a few years back did. Amazing what getting healthy and in good physical shape will do for you. I discovered that I was the first Track Shack walker to make it back to the tent which was cool to hear. Obviously, it wasn’t a race, but that made me feel like I had come a long way.

All in all, I enjoyed the Heart Walk. I will definitely participate in another one, and have plans to do some other upcoming walk/runs with Track Shack.

Busy, busy, busy!

Apologizes for my lack of updates, life has been keeping me running around lately. I have a lot of thoughts and ideas floating around in my head right now, so much is going on. In fact, one of the things going on is my plan or goal to move back to Asheville next year. I have come to the conclusion that I just miss the mountains so much that I want to move back there as soon as possible. However, I stepped back and realized that while I would more than love to move back there tomorrow, I needed to be realistic. So, I have created a time goal for myself for moving back to AVL. This journey, to get things in order and all will be chronicled in a new blog I started called, Chasing the Dream: The Journey Back to Asheville. Please check it out if you’re interested. I will also use that space to post various Asheville news and what have you, as I am always checking in with what is going on there.

Nanowrimo 2009 is just a month and a day away. I will be participating again this year and cannot wait to get started. Last year, I barely started my crime novel when everything fell apart with my job and all, so I have decided to push the few pages I did write aside and re-start that novel. I haven’t even looked at what I did write, so this will be a completely fresh start on the story. I have already done so much research on it, and have been wanting to get back into writing it. Nano is the perfect time to do just that. So, I can’t wait to dive into a crazy month of writing my ass off. 🙂

This Saturday is the National Heart Association’s Heart Walk. I will be participating in my local 5k walk here in Orlando. Very much looking forward to this, as not only is is a great cause (I will be walking in memory of my grandfather), but it is a great workout. Pictures and a report of the event will be posted either after the walk this weekend or by Monday.

Finally, my married couple friends from Asheville are coming for a visit for a few days to Florida. I will get to have a nice lunch with them on Sunday (vegetarian/vegan style!), so expect some musings and such on that fun time as well with the next blog update.