Hello, My name is JAYME.

November 12th is coming fast, which means I have almost a month to go before I’m ready to tackle 13 long miles at the OBX. I started running back near the end of August and at that time I was barely able to run a mile without going into cardiac arrest. I suppose with cooler temperatures, a somewhat healthier diet which includes laying off the fries and consuming lots of water during the day, I have improved myself little by little in a month’s time. I can certainly tell a difference in my energy level in general and mostly when I’m playing basketball during the week. My shot is falling consistently and I’m able to contribute a bit more hustle on the defensive end. Last week I finally broke down and bought myself an Ipod Nano because I could no longer stand hearing my heart beating out of my chest. I cannot express how much of a difference it makes in my running. Upbeat music can certainly give a boost to your adrenalin when you start getting tired. I don’t think I could go back to running without it. On Saturday I pushed myself to running 5 miles for the first time since high school (yay). I’m going to try for 7 on Saturday after I put in some light running this week. My goal is to get up to 10 miles in training before the half marathon and I’m hoping adrenalin will push me the remaining three.

Believe it or not I have actually started running again. Kelly started running a while back and I got tied up and busy and couldn’t run with him. Now that I can, his knee is ailing him and he can’t run. So I’m just going to run alone and do the best I can! Let me state that I am not a competitive runner. I’m running to help improve my health and to keep the spare tire away, plus it will help when basketball season rolls around again. In order to help keep myself motivated, I’m the type of person that needs a goal. I can’t just run for the sake of running, so I was told I should run in a race. I must say that this is probably one of the biggest physical challenges that I have ever faced. I’ve done quite a bit of 5k running, but not anything close to a half or full marathon. I decided to enroll in the OBX Half Marathon this November. It’s a 13 mile course which is half of the full marathon 26 miler. I have been running close to a week — 1.5 miles a day on our old cross country course at the high school. This is a pretty good training course because it involves a lot of hills and woods. I’ll be running on flat land at the OBX, so running in a tougher environment will allow me to fair a little better. Yesterday was my best time for 1.5 miles since I started. It was something around 10 minutes — 6:40 min mile, not bad for an old fart I’d say. Wednesday I’m upping my distance to 3 miles if I don’t fall on my face. My goal is to increase 1.5 miles every week which is an extra loop around the course. Anywho, if you drive by the school and see someone sprawled out on the ground, call the EMS.

The Benson PFWB/Southside basketball team rallied to their third straight win of the season on Tuesday night. The defending 2005 champions scored a decisive win against Bethel Baptist last week, then collected two more wins earlier this week–one against Stone’s Creek and the other against Banner Chapel, bringing their record to a perfect 3-0. Since last year’s tournament run, the team has gone on a six-game winning streak. The team has a two week break before it resumes play against Benson Grove on January 5th to finish up the first round of division play. Below is the rest of our regular season schedule. Come out and support us if you can!

January 05, 2006 @ 8:00 PM vs BGBC
January 12, 2006 @ 7:00 PM vs Holly/Oliver’s Grove
January 17, 2006 @ 8:00 PM vs Lee’s Grove
January 23, 2006 @ 7:00 PM vs FO Methodist
January 24, 2006 @ 8:00 PM vs FO Baptist
January 26, 2006 @ 7:00 PM vs Burnell
January 31, 2006 @ 9:00 PM vs Bethel
February 02, 2006 @ 9:00 PM vs Stones Creek
February 06, 2006 @ 7:00 PM vs Banner Chapel
February 09, 2006 @ 8:00 PM vs BGBC

I must say that I’ve had the fe-vah for a while since our last triumph in the church league this year. I miss playing in the gym more than anything really. Playing half court basketball just doesn’t keep me in the physical shape I want to be in. So anyway, hopefully some medicine is on the way to break my fe-vah. A local group is putting together a YMCA league in this area. I’m hoping to get a few players together and get a team up. I’m really looking forward to getting back out there. I sure do miss it.