Crazylegs

Today was the Crazylegs Classic 2009 run/walk. John and I ran it and I never did end up finding my teammates or other friends I expected to see. I attempted to meet up with my coach and a couple teammates pre-race for a group warm-up run. We were supposed to meet at 8am in front of the Kohl center. However there was some miscommunication and after I waited outside for 10-15 minutes and the rain and thunderstorms started, I assumed our run was cancelled. I got a call from my coach as I was heading back home to wait out the storm, and evidently they were hanging out inside... oops. The race went well despite the rain and intermittant downpours, with thunder thrown in there to keep us on our toes! I was soaked to the bone, but my breathing was good, and I kept a decent pace. My first mile was 7min 58 sec accoring to my stopwatch. I finished the race in just over 42 minutes. I'm pleased with it, given the conditions, and my left leg/hip/butt has been causing havoc with tight muscles since my mileage increased with training. It acted up on me, but I was able to work through it, and that made me very happy. John kicked my butt finishing in 34:43. I'm proud of him. It makes me happy that he's embraced running the way I have and he has even been talking about running the Madison Half Marathon with me next month. I love that my running passion has rubbed off on him!

Good grief! I am overdue for an update...

My recommitment papers were due back to the TNT office on April 1st. No fooling around for them--they want to know we're serious!

I got the call tonight to confirm my travel arrangements. I plan to extend my stay a few days to visit with friends Adriana and Todd. Seattle, here I come!

I am both excited and admittedly, nervous. You get to a certain point where you think, "what did I get myself into?!?" I have committed to a lot here! I am testing both my physical and my mental/emotional strength. My anxiety is at a high right now, and it's affecting my sleep. I can't say the stress is all bad, some of it is good. I felt awesome running 12 miles around the lake on Saturday! You'd think it would tire me out so much I'd sleep well! But I think I am nervous about being able to raise the last half of my fundraising goal. I have to get creative now...

Speaking of creative, I started making handmade bracelets and necklaces. I plan to sell them and contribute all of the proceeds to my fundraising campaign.

Here are a few examples:

These are just a few of the ones I have made. They will be available at Macha Teahouse (www.machateahouse.com), or you can request one from me directly!

I was having technical problems and wasn't able to upload photos of the necklaces... I'll work on that--never claimed to know what I was doing with these posts!

Another fundraising idea I am tossing around is to host a "Speed Dating" session. I'm still working on a location, but I think it could be fun! Pass the word onto all your single friends! More info to come... (I promise!)

100 miles and counting...

Today I hit the 100 mile mark for my training runs. I've been adding up the miles I have run since I signed up for the marathon, and my total is now at 102.6! Today was a gorgeous day, and I went out with Janelle and Paul, some friends I met a couple years ago and trained with for the 2007 Chicago marathon. That was when I found out about the missing bone in my foot... it was the complications from the missing bone that took me out of running the Chicago marathon. I took time off to allow my foot to heal, and overcome the frustrations of losing my conditioning and everything I had worked so hard for. I had a big mental hurdle to get past, and wasn't ready to commit to another race till now. So getting to 100 miles is an accomplishment for me in a couple of ways. It not only signifies to me the commitment to the race with TNT, and the major stepping stones on the training path, but also reminds me that being a runner is an important part of what defines me. I don't just run. I am a runner.

The Team

Here are some photos from our team group runs. So far I have only been able to attend 2 of the group runs, due to scheduling...

Stretching post run...

Everyone is enthusiastic and encouraging. They are a fantastic group of people!

Welcome to my blog! I finally got it going!

It has been a month since I went to the Team In Training(TNT) informational meeting and decided then and there to sign up for the Seattle Rock 'N' Roll Marathon. So far I have run 53.4 miles total with my training runs. Today's TNT group run was by far the most challenging. The group met at the Sheraton hotel for a run around the Monoma Bay. We had a fresh layer of snow to contend with, and the snow was still falling... (I had snow building up on my eyelashes as I ran). We were scheduled for 6 miles, but decided to trim the route a little because of all of the snow. I would say it ranged from 4 to 8 inches deep, depending on drifts, and we had a hard time finding the sidewalks or paths along the route! Some of it was "off road" as we zig-zagged around trying to find the path. Nothing was shoveled, and very little of the roads were yet plowed. DanO and I ran together and practiced "high knees" and got a good calf workout. It was challenging, but a lot of fun!