CHICAGO only 4 weeks to go!

Before we get to the Chicago marathon update I have some catching up to do. Pictured here looking fabulous as always, is my partner Christine Sparks. Christine lives in St. Pete, FL and works all our expos and races in that area. We have some really exciting big events coming up. Visit our calendar or website for detailed dates and locations. Also Christine is training for her first full marathon,
SPACE COAST in Cocoa Beach, FL on November 29th. Of course Milestones Jewelry will be a featured vendor at the Expo for the marathon. The picture of her is from the US 10K CLASSIC in Atlanta. We love our Florida races, great partners and loyal followers but we are very excited to be branching out into north Georgia, SW North Carolina and Eastern Tennessee. We are working on securing Vendor partnerships with some really great events in those areas. Also stay tuned for a ton of new products. We are currently working on a new photo shoot so we can post our new designs to our on line shopping. But remember we love to do custom work, so if you don't see what you are looking for on line now please e-mail us with your request.

Chicago? Well I am logging lots and lots of miles. I was lucky enough to be back in the Tampa Bay area where I did my 21 mile run with my sister in law, Teresa and her friend Nicole. It was a great run, especially since I wasn't running alone,and I was running on flat land. But in the last 3 miles I got lost, my Garmin (better known as my permanent running partner) kept shutting off, and the Florida sun was beating me down like a dog. Teresa and Nicole were doing 18 miles and I had lost them several miles back when I had to stop at 7-11 for water. Right when I thought I couldn't take another step, the girls drove up beside me to cheer me on. Little did they know that as soon as I saw them I would break down in tears. Long runs this late in marathon training can really break you down and cause you to be so emotional. I shouted over the busy traffic "My watch died, I got lost and I don't know how far I've gone, but I MUST do 21 miles". At that point Nicole, (who had just run 18 miles herself) JUMPED from the car and said "LET'S GO, you only have a mile to go and I'm running it with you". I did have to stop one more time to Boo-Hoo loudly to get it out of my system so I could breath and then we sprinted the last mile to make sure I got in my 21 miler. Teresa followed in the car to make sure we were OK. Now that's what I call friendship. And that's just one of the many things I love about running and runners. We are a family, always there to help out a fellow runner. Thanks so much to Teresa and Nicole. I love you both and can't wait to cross the finish line with you and our gang on October 11th in Chicago.
Oh and I just got an e-mail from my coach, Joe Burgasser and he says
"I REPEAT, IT WILL NOT BE HOT FOR THE CHICAGO MARATHON THIS YEAR", and this man is always right
:-)
"People begin running for any number of motives, but we stick to it for one basic reason-to find out who we really are".
George Sheehan, M.D.

Until next time, remember regardless of what you choose to accomplish in life
"NEVER QUIT"
Melody