Friday, December 4, 2009

Packing

Well, here it is - Friday - the day before I leave for Vegas! I'm so excited. I'm in the midst of packing right now but I wanted to show you the finished product of my racing jersey. I'm not sure how much of a pain the ribbon is going to be while running but I'll try it out at least nif I have to I'll just take them off on the course, but I hope not.
It took me a few hours to sew all the names on but I think it looks great. The picture doesn't show the gold names on the blue ribbon very well but it looks great!




I have to be at the airport bright and early (5:45am). It's a good thing I have an awesome roommate who is willing to drive me that early. My parents are leaving at 4am since they are driving and my dad found a reptile show in Vegas which they want to go to before the pasta party tomorrow.

Thank you all for your generous donations and all your support. I couldn't have done it without you!




- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Thursday, December 3, 2009

3 Days And Counting

I'm getting all nervous and anxious and excited and all these other emotions. Vegas is only a few days away. I leave Saturday and cannot wait!! Doing all the last minute stuff. I have to run out and get some GU and whatever else. Still haven't found leg warmers. Flashbacks in Hilcrest didn't have them. So I've just given up the search. It's not the end of the world. Maybe on my outing today I'll find some cheap orange socks that I can just cut the feet part off and make them leg warmers. Like the knee high socks or something. It's a thought I had yesterday at least.

30 minutes of running yesterday. I actually practiced my walking pace. It was a good workout. I figure I'll start out the race walking for the first few miles and then once my body is warmed up, I'll start some running. It's a good plan. Now only if I can stick to it.

I feel more ready for this race than I did last year. Maybe it's because the coaches were different and there seemed to be more support and comrauderie (did i even spell that right?) I don't know. It has just been a great season with Team Challenge and I hope to have more in the future. Though I think that if I stick around next season, I probably won't be a fundraising mentor, but I'll definitely help out. I think I've tapped out my fundraising for another year. It's hard asking people for money in this economy, but I'm grateful for the people that supported me this year. I have raised just over $3800 and as of right now, in the #5 slot for our San Diego team as top fundraiser. But that could change because Caitlyn and I have been at it. I get some $ in and then she does. I think right now I'm ahead. :) But it could change.

Anyways, I'm gonna go run my errands.

Tuesday, December 1, 2009

Going On A Leg Warmer Hunt

I still can't find leg warmers. At least not someplace that isn't online. I've tried some of the local accessories places like Claire's and Icing. I still have yet to make it to Flashbacks down in Hilcrest. I'll have to check that out tomorrow maybe if I have some time. It's not that I need to have them for the race, but it would complete the outfit. I mean, you'd notice someone running in bright orange leg warmers, right? It would be fun, but if I don't find them in time, it won't kill me. I guess I should have just bought them online when I found them, but I figured I'd try looking around town. Oops. Oh well. 
I have found some leg warmers, but none were orange. White would just get dirty fast so that option is out. And I haven't found any good blue ones either. Oh poo.

Anyways, tomorrow is my last group run until the race on Sunday. Wow. It's been 15 weeks since I first started this. Crazy.

I hope you all had a great Thanksgiving and have a great holiday season. Chanukah is right around the corner. Literally. It starts next week! When did that happen?!

Thursday, November 26, 2009

Happy Turkey Day!

I just wanted to wish you all a Happy Thanksgiving. I'll be spending it with my family for a turkey day lunch at 2pm. It was supposed to be later, but it ended up being earlier so that ALL of the family (that lives in SD) could be there. My grandfather and Helen are even coming down from Hemet to join us. It'll be nice. 
Now if I could just convince my boyfriend to join me....

Tuesday, November 24, 2009

11 Miles Strong

Well I totally got over whatever it was that I had on Thursday. It was just a 24hr thing because Friday morning I woke up feeling 100 times better! I think doing nothing all day after my walk at the lake helped.

Saturday was awesome! 11 miles was on the schedule and I totally rocked it out! I had this plan to do some running, but with limited maps, I felt the need to hang back and make sure no one got lost. I think there was one map for 5 of us. But it turned out to be a good thing. We pushed each other to go a little faster than usual. Kept a good steady pace too. I'm glad I bought some Gu the other day. It really helped keep my energy level up. And I didn't forget my water this time. So happy about that. I think I would have died without it. AND I only had one pee stop about 1:30 into it. If I can make sure that happens again during the race, I'll be okay and not lose momentum like I did last year. The pee stops can totally mess with your time if there's a long line.

I started to slow down a bit towards the end. I think it was the hilly-ness of the bridges we had to cross. That was when my asthma started to kick in and I had to focus on my breathing. But I'm happy to report I didn't have an asthma attack. I kept it in check. Yay me! Walking only, I finished the 11 miles in just over 3 hours. And I am totally happy with that. Honestly, that's actually faster than my half marathon time last year. I think I did the 13.1 miles in 3:38 or somewhere around that time. So to do 11 miles in 3 hours just by walking, I totally have this in the bag. Add some running in there and I for sure can make it in 3 hours. At least I hope. But I'm thinking positive here. No asthma attacks. No early pee breaks. Just cross that finish line with the crowds cheering. Yeah. That's what I see happening.

Thursday, November 19, 2009

Bleh

UGH! I feel HORRIBLE today. And I don't know why. I haven't been able to eat much at all. I think all I've had today is a smoothie from Jamba Juice and some scrambled eggs. Food just doesn't sound appealing. It's like I've got this almost wanting to throw up feeling but not quite. I know that probably doesn't make sense but it's the best I can describe it. 
It started when I woke up this morning, but I didn't think anything of it. I left the house to go for my weekly walk with Joy around Lake Miramar. It continued the entire time I was there. I stopped for Jamba and it helped a little bit, but not enough for it to go away. Laying down on my bed was good. It subsided a little but never fully disappeared.


I'm feeling a little better now. My roommate suggested I take some Pepto. So I ran out to Vons and got some, plus some chicken broth and saltines. Definitely helped. I hope it doesn't return tomorrow. Tomorrow is my day of rest from training and I've gotta get ready for the long run on Saturday. 11 miles. YIKES! But you know what, I can do it. I've done it before and I'll do it again. I just hope I don't come down with something.

Tuesday, November 17, 2009

18 Days Til Vegas

I can't believe how close it's getting to race day. 18 days to be exact! Wow. Time flies.

This week we are building up for our longest run to date...11 miles!! I walked 5 miles today with Joy. The weather has been crazy. I drove to the lake and it was cold. But within 30 minutes, it started warming up and by the time I was done, no jacket was needed. My car temperature gauge read 79. From 61 degrees just an hour earlier. San Diego has some of the strangest weather. Our "winter" weather. 70 and sunny. Can't beat that.

Coach Dave sent out his email about our group training tomorrow. Fartleks again. This time longer to help work on race pace. 4 minutes "ON" and 1 minute "OFF" so it should be interesting. We'll see how well I do. Looking forward to the challenge!

Sunday, November 15, 2009

Silver Strand

Racing in the 5K was so much fun! Regardless of the fact that I had to wake up at 4:30am, it was still a blast. It was cool driving down to Imperial Beach so early in the morning. Just in time for the sunrise. Though I didn't make it there in time to watch it, but I saw a little from the car. 
It was pretty cold this morning. My car temperature gauge read 51 degrees. Brrrr! And I know that it's going to be colder in Las Vegas! But I had my jacket, so I was okay. It was tolerable. I think for Vegas, I need to find like an Under Armour shirt to wear under my jersey so I don't have to worry about a jacket and still stay warm. 
There was only a handful of us this morning. I'd say maybe 8-10 people. It was a nice size group. My plan was to try and stay the same pace as Tiffany, but unfortunately my asthma wouldn't let me. Now I don't want to blame everything on it, but I have a feeling it's because it was so cold outside. My lungs were tight and hadn't warmed up so it was harder to take in the air. I have to figure out something. I really want to be able to run a mile without this feeling of gasping for air and I don't know what to do. The 2 different inhalers that I have which the doctor prescribed me last year just don't seem to work. Though I will have one with me during the race just in case. 
It's interesting. I was able to run for 20 min straight on Wed night, but this morning, I could barely run a mile without problems. I have only about 3 more weeks or so before the race to figure something out. Coach Dave wants to try something for our big long run next weekend. 5 min walk/1 min run for about 2 to 3 miles. Test it out and see if that will help warm up the lungs and get me going. I'm willing to try it. I've noticed that my running has been improving but usually at night and I'm thinking it's because of the time of day and air temperature. 


But on the plus side, I did run the race faster than I thought I would. I had it in my head that I would probably finish the race in about 45 minutes. I clocked in at 41:39 (I think). And I think I was only about 5 minutes slower than Tiffany. Not too shabby. I was running between a 12:35-14:00 mile. At least Coach Dave clocked the first mile I ran at about 12:35. It's an improvement and I'm happy. 


I don't know how I had so much energy today. After the race, I went down to St Vincent De Paul to feed the homeless as I do pretty much every Sunday. It was awesome. I was in a great mood. But once those doors closed and we stopped, I could feel the energy start to decrease. I got home, showered and have been just resting and eating all day. Seriously. Why have I been eating ALL day?! I feel sick. I'm done. I brushed my teeth so no more food for me. Just water. I'm done til tomorrow.

Thursday, November 12, 2009

Seeing Results

I have to say that I'm finally seeing some really awesome results from my training of the last 12 weeks. If you remember back when I started writing my blog, I could barely run for a few minutes. I was always out of breath, mostly walking during trainings, and kind of settling on the fact that I'll probably be walking most of the race.
I am happy to tell you that yesterday during training, I was able to continually do the 20 minute warm up at a slow running pace AND was able to run the fartleks part for 10 minutes! Fartleks are the repeated intervals of alternating fast and slow. I am SUPER excited!! It felt really good to be able to keep up with the slower runners or shall I say, runner. Tiffany is one of my teammates who sticks to running every training, but slowly like at a jog. She mentioned it was nice to finally have someone to run with. :)
This Sunday is the Silver Strand 5K and so I'm hoping to keep up the same pace as during training yesterday. Tiffany is running it too, so maybe we can push each other. We'll see.

I was just really excited about that and wanted to tell you all! :)

Fundraising is going well. I'm only $1,547 away from my $5000 goal! Please tell all your friends and family know about this wonderful cause and encourage them to donate.

Tuesday, November 10, 2009

25 Days To Go

It's hard to believe that there's only 25 days left until my race in Vegas! Wow! Where did the time go? It feels like just yesterday I started on this journey again and here it is, less than a month away. I've kinda decided that I don't want this to stop. Meaning, the mentoring. I've really enjoyed the last few months being a support system for a few people. PLUS, I get the exercise too! Jessica Johnson isn't going to be back for the next season (she's taking on new ventures) but I'll be sure to let her know to have her replacement keep me in mind to continue with the newbies.

My fundraising is going well. I've accepted the idea that I won't be able to raise the same amount of money I did last year. I really think it was a fluke. My first half. My first "real" attempt at fundraising (I didn't put much effort into the Relay For Life last time, but I will next year when we do it for my mom). I'm almost at $3500 which is an accomplishment in itself. To had raised even $3400+ is awesome. I made my minimum for the race plus some which I'm proud of. I think I might change my idea of $100 donations for a place on my jersey to $50. It's getting down to crunch time and if that would help get more money to help find a cure for Crohn's and Colitis, then so be it.

All my mentees have made their fundraising minimum. I'm so proud of them. From here on in, they don't have to stress too much and just welcome more donations. They all get their Team Challenge Jackets! I LOVE LOVE LOVE mine! Truely. And we got new running shirts for training. Great material and a new saying on the back. "Let's leave the CRAPS in Vegas!" I love it!

This Sunday I run the Silver Strand 5K in Imperial Beach. I'm looking forward to it. I have yet to run a 5K. I jumped straight to the half. Go me! I'll be wearing the new shirt and sporting my Team Challenge gear. Then probably hop in the car and head over to the Hunger Project and feed the homeless (my ritual Sunday morning). I'll let you know how it goes. I'm hoping to finish within 45 minutes. It's only 3.1 miles which is nothing in comparison to 13.1, but it's a good way to practice pace for race day.

Have a good week everyone!!


Wednesday, November 4, 2009

Asthma Sucks

Ugh. I hate that I have asthma. It totally gets in the way of a good workout.
Tonight we had training at the UCSD track. I really enjoyed it last time. I did A LOT more running than walking and was able to pick up my pace a little which was awesome. Tonight, not so much. I was looking forward to it too. But I guess my lungs weren't happy. My warm up run was no problem and the first couple of laps around the track were easy peasy, but I think when I started to pick up the pace a little, I pushed myself too much and felt the asthma attack come on. No bueno.

I really wish that my inhalers actually did something for me, but I don't feel they do anything other than make my heart race twice as fast. Acupuncture didn't really work, though I wasn't going consistently since it was a little too expensive. Though I have found that the more I work out, the better my lung capacity has been. I have my good days and my bad ones. I guess today you would call it a bad day. Oh well. We'll see how I do on our long run on Saturday. I think we're up to 9 miles now!

Monday, November 2, 2009

8 Miles And Still Going Strong

I can't believe we're already up to 8 miles! And the race is less than 5 weeks away! AND I can't believe it's already November. Where did the time go?!

I have to say that I think the Tues & Thurs walks around Lake Miramar have really been helping. It's 5 miles around and doing it consistently twice a week, I think has kept my stamina going and pushing me that much more so to do another 3 or 4 miles would be nothing. Actually, it was interesting. After completing Saturday's running, I felt like I could still go another few miles if I had to. That was awesome! It's like I was tired, but I still had more energy. Weird. But awesome. I hope this continues because there's still another 5 miles I have to add on to the 8. Easy peasy, right?

This week we're pushing up the mileage and Saturday we will be doing 9 miles. I was looking at the paperwork and the most we'll be training is 11 miles. No biggie. Then it's just a couple more to finish the race and that shouldn't be a problem. :)

I bought my plane ticket back from Vegas. $25 on Southwest. So cheap! Arnon is coming with me and after race weekend, we're staying a couple extra days to have a mini vacation. Still not sure where we're gonna stay, but it looks like I'll be switching hotels (most likely) to Luxor. I don't think I've ever stayed there, at least that I can remember. My parents would probably know better. They used to take us to Vegas.
Anyways, I'm getting more and more excited every day it gets closer to race weekend. It's gonna be FUN!

On another note, this will be my 50th blog post since last year when I started writing about my training experiences. Wow. That's kinda cool. Here's to 50 more!

Wednesday, October 28, 2009

Brrrrrrrr!!

The weather today was crazy! We had some strong winds. All the stuff in my backyard got blown around from one side to the other...well maybe it wasn't that bad, but Zoe's dog bed was blown off the deck onto the dirt. CRAZY! Yesterday the weather was like 80 degrees and here we are today at 60 degrees with winds up to 30 mph. And apparently it's supposed to heat up again by the weekend. Really?! San Diego this year has had summer and spring, and I think that's it.

I have to start planning on running in cold weather. Group training today was at Mission Bay where it was FREEZING!! At least for us spoiled San Diego girls. The winds were so strong and so cold. I should have worn pants! I did have my windbreaker on, which only did so much. I have to figure out what's best to wear while running in cold weather. I should check out the stuff at Road Runner tomorrow. I've got some time. I know that I do want to find some good running pants. My problem is that I've got short legs and some "junk in the trunk," and most pants' inseams are too long for me. I know I could get a tailor, but I can't afford the extra expense, but I might have to splurge if I can't find ones that work. I have one pair of capri pants and they are great, but it's only one. I should have at least one more if not two. So we'll see.

I remember reading something online about a beanie they have out there which you attach your iPod to and it becomes your headphones (or something like that). The things people come up with... But it is a brilliant idea, especially for the people who train in cold weather (east coast cold).

Talking about the cold weather today is making me colder. I think I need to warm up with a cup of tea or hot cocoa. Yeah. That sounds like a great idea. :)

Tuesday, October 27, 2009

Jersey Decorations

So I've been working on getting the ribbons ready to decorate my racing jersey. I found some gold puffy paint and blue ribbon. They turned out really well. The gold really stands out on the blue. Now I just have to sew them on. That'll take some time seeing as I'm not the best seamstress but I can do little things like this. It makes me want to take a sewing class.

I'm including a picture so you can see what they look like. When it's all done, I'll post the completed picture.






A BIG thank you goes out to all my super donors! Thank you for your $100+ donation!!

Tuesday, October 20, 2009

Track Workout

I totally forgot to write to you about how the track workout went last Wednesday.
Let me tell you...
It was an experience!! Really, it was. I went to a performing arts high school, so there were no sports, thus no track and field, so I hadn't set foot on one. Plus, in college, the only fields I ever went to were the football and soccer fields. So no experience at Redlands either.
It was fun. The ground was nice a squishy. Very easy on the feet. And I'm so glad that I have my newly better fitting running shoes! :)

None of my mentees were able to make it to the training, but that's okay. They are working hard training at home. So I focused on pushing myself a little more than usual. Track training is kinda fun. Granted you run in circles the entire time, but it's easy on the joints and it goes by pretty fast. We did a 10 minute warm up running around the track with some stretching afterwards. Then we did pacing. One lap at race pace, one lap at slower pace (kind of like a cool down). I did awesome. I was actually able to run around the entire track a couple times before my asthma kicked in. I haven't run straight for 5 or 6 minutes in I don't know how long. I was super proud of myself. I think for the first time, I actually did more running than walking. I hope to keep that up!
45 minutes of that. I felt great afterwards. Super hungry, but great. My best friend from NYC was visiting so I felt kind of bad that she was sitting and waiting for me to be done, but my iPhone kept her entertained for most of it. :)
I'm looking forward to doing another track training. I think we have one coming up again in a couple weeks. Tomorrow we are back at Mission Bay Park again. It's all pavement running so it'll be a little harder on the joints, but I can do it. I hope to do just as well this week. I'll let you know how it goes (and hopefully sooner than later!)

I've been walking Lake Miramar again. Every Tues and Thurs morning with one of my many preggo friends. Joy is awesome and it's so fun to see her every week and watch the baby belly get bigger!

I received 2 matching donations. One from Intuit and another from Qualcomm. For a total of $600 more. I have finally passed the $3000 mark!! Yay! Thanks everyone! Keep it up! Only 2 more to go. I have a lead on someone who could be a potential super donor. I hope it works out.

There's a big fundraising event this weekend. We're throwing a P90X Bootcamp. I don't know much about them, but I hear they are pretty intense. I'm looking forward to checking it out. I hope some of my friends can make it out. It's free with a $40 donation and if you've already donated, then all you have to do is make up the difference to get to $40 or if you've donate more, than it's completely free! So you should come. It'll be fun.

Anyways, I'm going to get to bed. There's a meteor shower tonight and I want to watch it. I'm going to pick up my boyfriend at 1am. So I need a few hours sleep at least for now.

Good night!!

Tuesday, October 13, 2009

I have awesome mentees!

I'm so proud of my mentees!! They are doing awesome in training and with their fundraising. Re-commitment is Monday and it looks like all of them are sticking with it and going to continue on to race day in Vegas. I'm so excited! Together, so far, they have raised $6,090! WOW! It's really nice to know that I'm helping them, even in a minute way. It's gratifying.

My fundraising is going well too. I'm up to $2,660. Which is about 53% of my goal. Friday I tried to set a weekend goal. I sent an email to 15 of my friends hoping that they would help me raise $300 by Monday. And if they donated, I would write their name on the shirt I wear to training this week. Out of those 15 people, only one donated. And he donated $100 which was totally awesome! PLUS he works for Qualcomm and put in the request for a matching donation. Doubly awesome! Not only will his name be on my shirt this week, but I will put his name on my jersey as well for race day. I'm sad that I didn't get a better turnout. On the plus side, my friend, Lauren, donated $36 which was great! And I have one more friend who wants her name on my shirt this week, but wouldn't be able to get me the money until tomorrow. I bent the rules for her. Why not? So I plan on using my Team Challenge shirt I got last year and finding some kind of fabric marker to write with. I don't want it to bleed. I have to check my marker box.
So, I've surpassed the amount I need to get to Vegas, but I'm still aiming for $5000. I'm halfway there. It's doable.

I walked Lake Miramar with a friend today. It was a beautiful morning for it too. This week is recovery week. So our distances are not that far, nor are the times. Today was supposed to be a 30 min easy walk, but I did all 5 miles. That's cause I'm awesome! :) Saturday I think we are only going to do about 4 or 5 miles. Easy peasy. I can do that. And it's at the beach - The Boardwalk. Should be fun. Tomorrow is at the UCSD Track. I've never been there, nor have I ever run at a track. Looking forward to the new experience. I'll let you know how it goes!

Sunday, October 11, 2009

Sevens

I'm up to 7 miles now! Saturday we ran in Encinitas at Moonlight Beach. It was a really nice area. The weather was perfect. Though it was cold at first, the sun came out and got a little warmer. No need for a jacket. I probably should have left it in the car, but I was freezing in the morning.
I walked mostly with my mentees. Kinda ran back and forth between them. 2 of them could only do the 5 mile route, which was totally fine. I didn't want them pushing themselves too much. And then the other mentee I have did the remaining 2 miles with me. She's good
company and keeps a great pace. I can run ahead of her to do my interval training, but she keeps up with her walking pace. Long legs help though. :)
I ended up running past the boat houses in Encinitas. I remember reading about them, but wasn't sure where they were. So it was kinda cool. And I had to take a picture of course to show everyone.




I figured out what the blister problem was. At first I had thought it was the socks, but it couldn't have been really. They were the same brand of running socks that I used last year. Coach Dave had made mention of the fact that my shoes seemed a little small when he checked where my toe was. But the guy at Road Runner was really sure about the fit. I mean, they are the knowledgeable one and I totally didn't think about checking the shoe size of last years running shoes. Turns out, that was the problem. My shoes were too small. A half size too small. When the guy measured my feet, he said that I wore 6 1/2. So a 7 would be good. They seemed to fit fine and they were good up until I started to get to 5+ miles. My feet swell.
Unfortunately, it was 2 weeks after the 60 day period that RR gives you to return your shoes. So I wasn't sure if they would take them back for an exchange. I figured I'd give it a try. Especially since after the run on Saturday, my feet were KILLING me. The blisters on the tips of my toes were getting worse. And going downhill made it excruciating. I actually walked slowly down the hill to try to avoid hitting my toes with the tips of the shoe.
Anyways, after some convincing, the guy at the register reluctantly agreed, but said that this would be my only time allowed. That was perfectly fine with me. I now know what size shoe to get when I need a new pair. I have yet to take them out and break them in, but tomorrow is a new day. Monday. The start of a new week.

My best friend, Jesi, is coming for a visit this week from NYC. Really looking forward to seeing her. I'm planning on getting her out there training with me. At least get her to walk with me. She says she can't run. Her birthday is Friday, Oct 16th and we're going to Disneyland. I'll get TONS of walking in there! :) Should be a fun day.

Wednesday is going to be crazy busy. I have to drive up to Seal Beach and pick up Jesi at her grandmothers. I'll do it early in the morning so that I can be back in time to make it to practice at 6pm with TC. Jesi can hang out at the bay while we run. She did say she wants to be at the beach as much as possible...

Thursday, October 8, 2009

Riding In Style

Well, my shins are feeling much better today. I did meet Joy at the lake today and was hoping to not have shin splint problems. I have to say that it wasn't so bad. Maybe the ice and ibuprofen did help. I don't know. I did some stretches before the 5 mile walk. And though there was still a little pain when I started, by mile 3.5, either my shin went numb (unlikely) or my muscles warmed up and good to go. Whatever. I'm happy. I'll ice again tonight and take some more pills.
Tomorrow I'll take the day off, since, according to the training schedule, today was the "off" day.

I want to give you all an update on my fundraising. It's going really well. I'm at $2374 which is 47% of my goal! THANKS!! With that said, I still need another $2626 to reach that $5K goal I have. Please pass the word around. Jess has suggested we give ourselves a goal of trying to get $300 by Monday. I think it's possible. If I email 10 people and get them to donate $30, it's definitely possible.
Jess sent us an email tonight with info about recommitment and all the Vegas travel plans. There's so much information but I'm getting very excited about it all. Like it's all really coming to fruition. CRAZY!! I saw there was something about if you raised $7500, you get an extra night in Vegas and get transported to the Ghost Bar for cocktails and hor durves in a...wait for it....LIMO!!! Now that's riding in style!! Maybe that should be my new goal. $7500. It could be possible. And I saw that if someone raises $10,000, they get upgraded to a suite! A friggin' suite!! Wow. I wish it was easier to get sponsorships. That would make fundraising life soooo much easier. "Here you go - $5000." "Thanks!" I would say. "You're awesome!" But it's easier said than done.
But my dad has a lead on someone who might be willing to donate a large sum. His landlord. I guess a couple years ago his landlord donated $5000 to the San Diego Young Artist Symphony. It's something my parents are always involved with since my sister had performed with them. I think I'm going to try and get this guy's information and send him a sponsorship letter. Maybe he'll donate to the cause. I'll let you know what happens.

Saturday's run is in Encinitas. I think it's going to be another 6-7 mile run. Woo hoo! Go me!

Wednesday, October 7, 2009

Shin Splints

Bleh! Shin splints suck!!

I went to training tonight and what happened?!! I got shin splints. Like within 5 minutes of walking. Running I'm fine, but walking...it hurts like a bitch!! I pushed through it, but it just got worse. I even tried walking slower but it still hurt.
Coach Dave gave me some advice on different exercises I can do before a warm up and at home while resting. I'm supposed to take it easy, but I'm going to Lake Miramar tomorrow morning with my friend, Joy. Hopefully it won't be so bad tomorrow.

Zoe had a good time running with Coach Dave though. :)

Ok. I'm gonna go ice my shins now.

Happy Birthday Mom!

This past week's training has gone well. Saturday's run was in Coronado. And the weather was perfect!! The sun was out, but it wasn't too hot. There was a nice breeze. I think I only made it about a mile before I had to take my jacket off.
Most of my mentees made it out this weekend. The Dale family did a great job. 6.5 miles! We actually went farther than expected. None of us saw the neon chalk on the ground to mark the 2 and 2.5 mile turnaround. We ended up making it to the 3 mile marker! Not too shabby. We ended up doing a little over 6 miles. It was exhausting, but felt really good.
I have to say that I think I need to start training with the Energy Gu. I tried it once during a 5 mile run and half way through, when I took it, it totally gave me that extra energy to get me the rest of the way. Now that we're getting into longer training sessions, I'm finding my stamina runs short about 4 or 5 miles in. I think the gu will help with that. Last year I used the flavored power bar power shots to get through the half marathon. They helped. I want to try the gu this year. They are in smaller packages and I can fit more of them in my pocket. I have to take a trip to REI or Road Runner and see what goodies I can find. :)

The run on Saturday left me exhausted for the rest of the day. But I did feel great. Though I think I need to find some new socks. I feel like I'm getting blisters on the tips of my toes and occasionally I'll get one on the inside of my foot by the heal. My friend, Sara, gave me some names of socks that she likes. I'll have to check them out. I figure if the same thing happens with the socks, then maybe my problem is with the shoes, and I'll have to get new ones. Though I hope I still have time. I don't remember exactly when I got my shoes and the time might have expired already to exchange them. Bleh. I don't want to have to spend the money on a new pair of shoes. They are just so expensive.

My interval training of 4:1 is going well. Not ready just yet to up it to 3:2 but I will...eventually. Slow and steady wins the race right?

Yesterday, I did an intense walk around Lake Miramar with a friend and Zoe. It was good. My body aches all over, but it's a good ache. It means I'm working hard, at least that's what I tell myself. We're going to do it again tomorrow. But tonight, I have group training at Mission Bay Park again. Looking forward to it. I know Zoe is excited! :)

One more thing before I go.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM!!!

Her bandages are off! Her boobs are perky again! And all for her 65th birthday!

Friday, October 2, 2009

Mom Update

So I want to give you a little update on my mom.
She's doing great. Wednesday she had one of her last surgeries. This one was for the reconstruction of her breast. She now has a matching (and perky) pair of boobs. And all just in time for her 65th birthday! which is next week.
I was a little surprised at the fact that the hospitals are now doing outpatient surgeries for things like this. She went in for surgery in the morning and was home by late afternoon. Seriously?! They don't want to keep people in the hospital anymore? I mean, I guess recovering at home would definitely be better than in a hospital. I just find it fascinating that most surgeries have become outpatient. My gallbladder surgery years ago was supposed to be outpatient, but because of complications I was in the hospital for a week, where as my grandmother had the same lapriscopic (sp?) surgery and she was out of the hospital the same day. It just boggles my mind.
Well, in any case, I spent a good portion of the afternoon yesterday hanging out with my mom at home watching a couple movies. Have you seen Calendar Girls or Mrs. Henderson Presents? They were really fun. Mom and I were laughing hysterically. It's always nice to find a movie that puts you in good spirits. And that's what my mom needs most. She has a little discomfort from the dressings, but I believe she gets those off on Tuesday at her follow up appointment.

Team Challenge Update:

So I've kind of got another mentee. Caitlyn ran the Napa half with me last year and she's doing the race with me this year, but she's gotten discouraged with her fundraising. Being the awesome person that I am, I have decided to take her on as a "fundraising mentee." She doesn't really need my help with running and stuff as she is definitely a RUNNER in the true sense of the word. I think she said she has a goal to finish the half in 1:30 or 1:45. Crazy!
But since I seem to be doing really well with fundraising, she has asked that I help her with some ideas. I couldn't say no. :)
Last night we went out to dinner at TGIFriday's in La Jolla. It turned out to be an awesome brainstorm session. This guy came up to our table after we were done eating and started chatting with us. Turns out he's a magician and had a plan for Caitlyn's fundraising dilema. He showed us some magic (which totally drove us crazy in trying to figure out) and said that if we can get a venue and get a lot of people to show up, he'll do a show and let us keep the profits. 100% of the money! WOW! How awesome is that?! So now Caitlyn has to get herself a location like a community center room or ballroom. Once we get that, then I'll make her a flyer, we'll distribute it, and hopefully she'll be able to raise at least another $1000. I think it will totally work out as long as Caitlyn puts forth the effort to find a place (hopefully a donated place). Then the rest is easy enough to make happen. So if anyone knows of a place that would be willing to donate the space and get advertised on a flyer, PLEASE let me know!!

Next on my list: To help my mentee family with a big fundraiser. Hopefully we can sit down tomorrow after training and do some brainstorming.

Wednesday, September 30, 2009

5 miles and still going strong!

Wow. Training over the weekend was intense. Saturday's group run was at Miramar Lake, not too far from home. We worked on distance this weekend, rather than speed. 5 miles! Woo hoo! That is the farthest distance so far this training season. And it's just going to get longer. I think next week we'll be increasing it another 1 or 2 miles.
I did the lake in about an hour and fifteen. Not too bad. I have a personal goal to work on. I want to try and get 5 miles done in one hour. I know it's possible, but it's going to take a little work. Saturday trainings I focus more on the needs of my mentees rather than my own, so I have to do some distance training during the week. And this past Saturday I did all walking. There was no running involved. Instead I worked with one of my mentees on speed. She's a fast walker, but I think it helps to have her long legs. :) So to walk 1:15, I think if I were to add in some running intervals, doing 5 in 1:00 is definitely possible.

Last Wednesday at group training, I didn't have any mentees with me. I was by my lonesome. No walkers. So the coaches had me work on speed. I did 40 minutes at a fairly steady fast pace and felt great! Since I had told Coach Dave that I wanted to try running a little, he is having me work on a 4/1 interval to see how my lungs and I can handle that. 4 minutes walking, 1 minute running. It's doable. :)
Zoe came with me again. Coach Dave LOVES having her run with him and I can say that Zoe absolutely loved it too! She was a happy and tired dog.

Tonight's group run is in Balboa Park. So far most of my mentees are planning on being there. We're doing TEMPO training tonight. Will let you know how it goes.

Monday, September 21, 2009

Happy Birthday To Me!



Today is my 30th birthday! I can't believe I'm 30 already. 3 decades of me. Crazy. But I'm excited for what this next decade will bring. Since Monday is really not a good day to celebrate, I'm throwing myself a big birthday bash on Saturday. It should be LOTS of fun.

I did get up and go for a run today! Well more like a walk/run. More walking than running. My achilles is still hurting but not as bad. It actually feels a lot better, but I decided to take it easy.
I've been working on a personal goal to try and do 2.5 miles in 30 minutes. I'm getting close. I did 2.27 miles in 37 minutes. Though I did walk almost all of that, so I think it's pretty good. I figure if I can do 5 miles in one hour, than I can finish the race in just over 2:30, which would be totally awesome considering I did 13.1 miles last year in 3:33. So it's just a goal of mine. I'll let you know when I reach it.
We have training on Saturday at Lake Miramar. If you go all the way around the lake, it's almost 5 miles. 1 hour to get around it would be awesome. But I think that's something I have to accomplish on my own time and not on Saturday. I want to make sure that my mentees stay at a good pace and not push themselves too hard. I want them healthy and not in a hospital. If I can get them to walk it in 1:30, that would be great. I want them to start at one thing/one goal and then work their way up - pick up speed or whatever it is they need to cross the finish line.

Well, I'm going to go enjoy the rest of the day! Have a good week!

Sunday, September 20, 2009

Recap of the Week

So I realized it's been about a week since I last wrote. Let me catch you up.

My fundraising is going super duper well! I'm already up to about $1700 and I just got 2 more donations in this weekend which should bring me up to about $2000. You guys are awesome! Please keep forwarding out my fundraising webpage to all your friends, family, co-workers, etc. You know what's really cool is that I've had a few people donate $26.20 in honor of the 2 half marathons. 13.1 x 2 = 26.2 It's AWESOME!! I love it!
So I've got about $3000 more til I reach my goal so keep them coming!


Wed (16th), we had a really good run/walk. Group training was at Mission Bay again. I took Zoe this time with me. She was soo good. Everyone loved her. Even Coach Dave fell in love. He ran with her on the way back. Zoe LOVED it. When I run with her, she still sort of has some freedom to sniff since we don't go so fast. But with Coach Dave, he's a runner in the true sense of the word. Zoe actually go to RUN. And from what Dave said, she was actually going faster than him, but he didn't want to push her too hard since he wasn't sure if she could take it. I told him next time to go as fast as he wants. She'll keep up. He's excited to do it again. I think as long as we have runs on Wednesdays at Mission Bay, I'll probably bring her. She'll be our Wed night mascot. Now I just have to work on getting Zoe her own "I get the runs for Crohn's & Colitis" t-shirt. That would be so awesome.

I wasn't able to make the Saturday group run because of Rosh Hashana, the Jewish New Year. I had to be a good Jew and go to temple. So needless to say, this weekend has been training free. But I'll get back to the grind on Monday.
I've been feeling some pain in my right achilles. I think I need to stretch it out and do some strengthening exercises. It totally kills to try and walk. And I don't even know why it started. I don't remember aggravating it at all. It sucks. I'll have to email the coaches and find out if there's anything else I can do besides the calf stretches to get it healed. Bleh. No pain, no gain. Right?!

Well, I'm gonna go work on healing my achilles. Send positive thoughts my way. Thanks!

Sunday, September 13, 2009

The End of Week 3

I can't believe how awesome you guys are!! I have now reached 25% of my goal! And I have a handful of names to be adding to my racing jersey. Keep those donations coming!!

Yesterday's training was in La Mesa at Lake Murray. I can honestly say that I do not ever recall being at that lake (in my almost 30 years of life). It's really gorgeous! I love Lake Miramar, but this one has these gigantic geese honking around everywhere. It's really cool. Though the trail doesn't go all the way around the lake, you can still get a good 6 miles or so it if you go out and back. I think we did about 3.5 maybe 4 miles total, which is really good. A little running. A little walking. It was pleasant.
I'm concerned my mentee, Sherry, is pushing herself too hard. I love that she is so motivated to get out there and train and try and run a little. But I'd rather her walk and work on maybe a faster pace, than see her get complications from running (if it's been too soon since her surgery) and relapse. But only Sherry knows her body, I'm just here for moral support.
Bruce is doing awesome. He's picking up speed really well and before he knows it, he'll be ready to do some running/walking intervals at a good pace.

We had a nutrition clinic after training. Learned some new things. I went out to Target today and bought some G2 (the lower calorie Gatorade). I haven't tried it before but I guess it's supposed to be better (less sugar) for training. Though there are better sports drinks out there, that's all that Target had while I was there. I need to go into REI and pick up some Power Bars. I have some of the energy shots from last year (which I think are still good), but I don't have power bars.

I went with the Dale's to D.Z. Aiken's for brunch afterwards. I LOVE that place. The challah french toast is my favorite. They hadn't been their before so it was nice to be there for their first experience at DZ's. I'm thinking we might have to do breakfasts more often after trainings on Saturday. It's a good way to get to know my mentees better and to help them brainstorm for fundraising ideas. They have to raise $6800 I believe in order to get all 3 of them to Vegas. But I know they can do it. We'll come up with some good stuff for them to do.

Anyways, I can't believe it's already the end of training week 3. Only 12 more to go! Vegas will be here before I know it.

Friday, September 11, 2009

Donation Received!

So I sent out the letters on Wednesday. And guess what?!! I just received my first donation in the mail!
My thanks go out to Dr. Fred Larson, my dentist. He donated $100 and I will be adding his name to my jersey for race day! That brings me to $571 and 11% of my goal.

Keep them coming guys!!

Click here to donate now!

Wednesday, September 9, 2009

My Mentor Shirt























How awesome is this shirt?!!
I finally got my mentor t-shirt and I'm so excited! We have a run tonight at 6pm so I'll definitely be sporting this.
It's so orange, you can see me a mile away!

Sunday, September 6, 2009

Awesome Mentees

So I finally got to meet my mentees, well almost all of them. They are super nice. I have a family I'm working with. A husband and wife duo. They are too cute! The wife has Crohn's, which almost took her life last year but she's doing great now! And I'm so proud to have her and her husband as my mentees. They are starting out as walkers, but in the future, they want to be able to work up to running. PERFECT! I can do that! I can get them there.


Our group training was in Encinitas this time. I've never run up there. It was a nice run/walk. We ran along the coast highway. I think we did about 3 miles in just shy of 45 minutes. Not too shabby. I got some good advice from one of the coaches we have about walking. Since walking, I've found that I've been using totally different muscles and the pain I've been having on my shins (not shin splints) is completely normal. It means that my muscles are working to get stronger and eventually the pain will go away. That's good news. And I got some good stretching suggestions for my shins. Yay!
Oh, I almost forgot...I ran for a while too during the training - for about 8 minutes! It was awesome! I'm working on stretching those lungs out. I still haven't called the acupuncturist yet, but I will. I think probably some time this week.
There are 2 of us walking mentors. Me and Jake. I found myself at the training in between the fast walkers and the slower ones. I think my walk/run intervals will be good. I met a couple new participants who just joined our team on Saturday morning. Both walkers. One is the fast walker (she has long legs) and the other is more my speed. Not sure which of us mentors they will be matched up with, but I'll be very happy to have one or both of them.
I have one more mentee who Jess said probably won't train a lot with us as he is part of Team Fusion (a large group of people from a company who joined Team Challenge). But I hope to meet him soon. At least I can support him via email or phone.


I took today off from training. Back to the streets tomorrow.
Hope you're all having a great Labor Day weekend!

Friday, September 4, 2009

Picture of the Day


Zoe is completely pooped out from our walk/run today. I think she'll
sleep well the rest of the day.
Wish I could say the same. I've got errands to run. But at least I
feel energized, right?!

Thursday, September 3, 2009

The Power Of 3

So I've been matched up with 3 mentees. I have not met them yet, but I'm hoping that they will be at the training on Saturday in Encinitas. I'm looking forward to being able to help them and answer all their questions (or at least the ones I have the answer to). Tonight/tomorrow I'm supposed to introduce myself via email and remind them to come out to the training on Saturday, make sure they're out there starting to fundraise and "sell" how much fun trainings can be! I can do that. :)


Ugh! This weather sucks! It's so hot, even at 8:30am! I'm good with high 70s low 80s, but high 80s and feels like 90s, does not give me motivation to run or even walk. I guess I'll have to get up earlier. But I'm doing it! Yay me!

Wednesday, September 2, 2009

Fundraising Letters


I finally finished addressing about 100 letters to be mailed to family
and friends. I hope this works like it did last year! They even have
self addressed stamped envelopes. How can you not write that check?
Please pass on the info to all of your family and friends. I could use
all the help I can get. $5000 is still my goal and I'm only at 5%.
I included a picture of my letters awaiting the post office.

There's a run today at 6pm in Mission Bay. I hope it cools down by then, at least a little. Running in 90 degree weather is really not all that fun.
I hope you are all staying cool in this heat!

Monday, August 31, 2009

Training Season Has OFFICIALLY Begun

So here we are on Monday, my first "official" day of training at home. Saturday marked the start of Team Challenge Las Vegas! We had our first group Saturday run at Mission Bay. I got there around 8:30am at the temperature was already at 85˚!!! What is with this global warming?! Seriously. I'm ready for some cooler weather.
There was a good turn out on Saturday. And there was actually a good balance of guys and girls. Mostly girls, but there were a handful of guys. I think we only had like 5 guys when I did the run last year in Napa.
I'm liking the coaches so far. They seem very attentive to everyone and I think they will be an excellent support system. There were quite a few runners, actually mostly runners at this group session. There was one walker. Jess has officially asked me to be the walking mentor. There is one other guy, Jake, who will be mentoring with me. He did the Napa race this past July. He seems cool. Jess texted me the other day to tell me that there are a handful of other walkers and she'll be matching me up with them. Maybe I'll get to meet some of them on Wed for the mid-week group training session.


I did a 30 minute walk/run today with Zoe. I feel really good after it, too. I was really only planning on walking the entire time, but there was a downhill on the way home and I figured I'd take advantage of it and run a little. I really do love running, I just have my issues. BUT, on a positive note, I ran for 5 minutes straight! Twice. No stopping. A little downhill, to flat land, to half way up a hill. AND I didn't take my inhaler. I haven't taken them in a long time. I'm trying to not use them and naturally get my lungs to take in more air. I need to go back to the acupuncturist and see if she can help too. I had to stop since it started to get too expensive, but my mom has informed me that I have a $100 credit with her from referrals my mom sent and Dr Wang is planning on giving me a discount since she really wants to help me. So how can I pass that up?


And one more thing before I go.


Happy 1 year anniversary to my most awesome boyfriend who brought me flowers last night at midnight! We won't be able to see each other tonight since he works til after midnight, so he stopped by on his way home last night and surprised me with roses. He's so sweet! I think I'll keep him.


Friday, August 28, 2009

Snail Mail

So I found out that my mom had another flare up a while ago. I guess it's passed, but if I remember the conversation correctly, the doctor is concerned and wants to do some tests - I think that's right. But in any case, she's doing well otherwise. My mom is also on her 3rd week of the 4th and last round of chemo. Yay! Though she does look beautiful bald, my mom can't wait for her hair to grow back. Once it does, she says she's going blonde! My mom a blonde. I never would have thought, but the wig that she has that is blonde actually looks really good on her. *sigh*
I could never go blonde, not that I want to. I love my dark hair and blue eyes. I just play around with highlights. I love the dark with red highlights. My hairdresser, Marcy, is awesome. I haven't been disappointed with a hair color yet. I'm thinking for race weekend that I'm going to re-do my highlights with BLUE and ORANGE so that I totally sport my Team Challenge spirit! I think it'll be awesome. Unless...I could always to just blue and orange hair! Ha! What do you think? Should I do highlights or actually color all the hair? I'm open for suggestions. I have til December anyways.


I started sending out all my emails for donations. So far I've got $211. That's just 4% of my goal. I finally finished the letter I'm actually sending out via "snail mail." I have 100 copies and 100 stamps. Gavin at the UPS store in Mira Mesa totally was able to fix the issue with one of the PDFs I have for the donation form. He worked his magic with Corel. He's awesome. Now I have to start addressing envelopes and stuff. That should take a day or two, but that was where I was able to raise the most money. People don't normally get snail mail anymore. I always love it, especially when it's not junk mail or bills. It makes me feel special. I'm pretty sure I'm not the only one that feels that way. If you have an address of someone that you think would donate and help me reach $5000, please shoot me an email with their info and I'll send them a letter via the US Postal Service.


And one more thing. It's really friggin HOT!

Thursday, August 27, 2009

Quick Sniff

Today I did just a quick 30 min walk with Zoe. A different route than she's used to so there were LOTS of new smells for her. Her wanting to sniff everything does hinder the walk a bit, but she's getting better and doing the quick sniff to keep the pace moving. A major improvement from last year when it was difficult to take the dogs out because it was snifftastic for the dogs on a regular basis and they hadn't been used to the pace. Zoe's getting the hang of it. If we run, she's learned that everything has to be fast - sniffing, peeing, whatever. And when we walk, she has a little more time to do everything. But she keeps up, which is good.


Yesterday's run was good, but totally made the start of my day suck. Zoe and I were heading home as we were crossing the street, this bitch in a white car decided she didn't want to wait for us. She almost hit my dog! as she swerved around us. SERIOUSLY??!! She could have waited like 10 more seconds and we would have been passed her car. Friggin' Mira Mesa drivers. Same thing happened last year with a truck. I don't want to get all racist or anything, but asian drivers in Mira Mesa should not be behind a wheel. They are totally inconsiderate of pedestrians, drive too slow, or whatever. Now I'm not saying ALL asian drivers are bad, but living in Mira Mesa practically my entire life, I've only had bad experiences with them.


So anyways, enough of that.


Saturday is our first offical group run. Looking forward to it. I'll let you know how it goes.

Tuesday, August 25, 2009

Back in Cali - Getting In The Groove Again

Hey everyone! I'm back in Cali!
My trip to Canada was spectacular. It rained. And rained. And rained. And then we sped through the mid-west of the USA - North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Iowa, Colorado, New Mexico, and finally Arizona. Didn't really get to see much, but it was fun. Though the days were really long in the car. It's a good thing that Lea and I get along so well! :) Her dog and cat are great travelers. Mine is the same. Zoe, she likes to lay down in the back of my car on her dog bed. Things are gonna change with her though. I bought her a dog seat belt thing. Lea uses it for her puppy. It'll be safer for Zoe and she have non-stop access to the open window.


So I went for a run/walk today. More walking than running. I really haven't done any exercising in 2 weeks! Yikes! I definitely felt it today. I'm all gross and sweaty and exhausted. But it felt really good to get out again. Team Challenge had it's kick-off party Saturday to officially start the training season for Vegas...and I wasn't there. Boo! But Saturday is our first offical group training where we will find out what pace everyone is at and I'll get matched up with my mentees. Should be exciting! My goal this year is to be more diligent about getting out EVERYDAY and doing at least 30 minutes of training. There actually is a training schedule for each week that we are to follow. So as long as I have that posted somewhere on the wall where I can see it, I can follow it. I know myself, and there are days when I'll just get lazy and not want to run and instead I'll jump on the elliptical. Which I guess is okay too. It's something. But I'm definitely looking forward to this season. I'll try to be more on top of my blog writing. A few times a week, if not a chance to write every day how things are going. Last year I seemed to only have a few every month. So I'm going to change that! Yes I am!


Alright. I hope everyone is having a good week so far. Don't forget to donate!! And please pass my fundraising website on to all your friends and family. I really want to reach my $5000 goal this year!


Luv Ya!

Wednesday, August 12, 2009

Hello From Canada!

Today I pretty much spent on a plane to Canada. Winnipeg, Manitoba to be exact. Why? you ask. One of my best friends, Lea, has spent the summer out here running a day camp and she needed someone to drive back to the USofA with her. I gladly accepted. I've never been to Canada and I've been itching to travel again. So this was nice. I've been looking forward to this for a few months.
Lea had told me to expect cold weather, and I've got to say, it is anything but cold here. It's hot and muggy, just like NYC! Though I am totally loving the lightening tonight! I can see it as I stare out the window. It's awesome. I haven't done much today. Rode on 2 planes, went to the Winnipeg Zoo briefly to see the statue of Winnie The Pooh (though we didn't get a chance to see anything else). Went shopping at the ROOTS outlet (it's the clothing company that did all the Olympic gear for years). I had dinner with some of Lea's family and on the way to Lea's cabin at the lake, we stopped for a shake. It was really good, but super sweet. I mixed 3 flavors - chocolate, peanut butter, and marshmallow. It tasted like a Fluffernutter with chocolate. It was oh so very yummy for my tummy. Though I have to admit, I did not eat the whole thing. I put the rest in the freezer to have later. It was just too much sweetness.

The time difference is about 2 hours ahead of California. I'm tired but I'm not. It's very peaceful here tonight. As I stare out the window I can see the moonlight reflecting off the lake. Very calming. Looking forward to seeing the land in the morning. I'll take pictures.
Lea works at a camp about a half mile down the road. I plan on doing some walking tomorrow to check out the area and meet her for lunch. And I'll get my workout done. How convenient. :)

I hope this posting finds you well. I have just received 2 donations so far! Shout out to Sara Turner and Sal Pecoraro! Thanks so much!! Sal has become my first $100 donation. Way to go SAL! You are first on my list of dedicated miles. I hope there are more $100 donations to come from all of you. I am 3% closer to my goal of $5000!

OMG! I just heard some THUNDER! Awesome!

Tuesday, August 11, 2009

Help Me Reach My Goal!

I have finally set up my fundraising page!
Last year my goal was to raise $3500 to go to Napa and you all helped me reach that and MORE. I raised $5300 last year! WOW! I hope to do that again. But of course, I can't without your help. So donate today! It's 100% tax deductible and if your company matches what you donate, that's even better!

I want to try something different this year. An incentive if you will. I got this idea from a participant this last season in Kona. For anyone that donates $100 or more, I will dedicate a mile to you. There are 13.1 miles, so there's plenty of room for everyone. If I get an overwhelming amount, I will just have to double you all up! I've also been thinking about writing names on my jersey for those who donate in the $100+. I will definitely let you know if that works out. If I can get enough $100+ donations to fill up the shirt, that would be awesome!

So here goes...

Click here to donate. And pass the information on to everyone you know! Seriously. Do it!

Let the fundraising begin!!

The Mentor Challenge

So after much consideration and deliberation with friends, it's been decided that I WILL be a mentor. I know in my last entry it seems to go down the opposite direction, but my friends (who are awesome) have made me realize that this really is something I would be really good at. I think the whole situation with my mom has effected me more that I care to realize or admit (until now). I've been on this emotional rollercoaster. Doubting myself and my abilities and whatnot. I think now that I've acknowledged it, things will be easier to manage.


Yesterday I attended my second info meeting at the Carmel Mountain Ranch library. There were a lot of mentors, but I think we had more guests which is really exciting to see. I'm hoping most, if not all of them will sign up and join our team. It's going to be a lot of fun. The more I go to these things, it just confirms how much this organization has touched me. I really do want to help and find a cure for all those living/surviving/suffering quietly with the diseases. Until I found out about CCFA, I did everything for the American Cancer Society, and though there is nothing wrong with that, I just feel that there are other organizations out there that need help and funds to do the research to find the cure. This doesn't mean I will stop with my ACS involvement. I will still do the Relay For Life next year in May. I have to. My mom is a survivor of breast cancer (diagnosed in Feb) and I have to help. Now I just have to find an event to do for MS since it also affects a VIP in my family.
But anyways, I'm getting off track. I'm really looking forward to the first training day and meeting everyone. I'm sad I won't be at the kickoff party next week, but I'll be there in spirit.


I'm going to leave you with one last thing. At all the info meetings, we have been showing this video about CCFA and Team Challenge. Everytime I watch it, it makes me all teary-eyed. I thought I'd share it with you and give you a better glimpse into what Team Challenge is.



Friday, August 7, 2009

Undecided

So I've been thinking lately about this whole mentor program for Team Challenge. Thinking that maybe it's not something I want to do completely. It's not that I don't want to be a mentor, it's that I've just become undecided. Pretty much all of the people Jess has asked to be mentors have just finished their race in Napa or Kona. They're super pumped off that high you get after running a race, they are still in running shape, and they all know each other. Not that I have a problem not knowing people because I'm good at making friends, but somehow I feel out of place. And I don't know why. Plus, I'm definitely not in racing shape.
I've been doing a little over 2 miles a day and I'm beat. Seriously. I think it's mostly because the sun is beating down on me and I can't take it anymore - and it's only 9:30am!! I've been getting up earlier and earlier to try and beat the heat from the sun. It's just not working. Today I was out of the house by 8:30 and though at the beginning there was a nice breeze and a little overcast, as I continued on my route, the sun peaked out and blasted it's rays down on me. Ugh! Stupid heat. I even checked the weather before I left and it said, 65˚. PERFECT! But about 20 minutes into my run, the sun got me. I had no chance. I think it's been 80˚ since.


So let me get back to my original point. Mentoring. I heard Jess say she has about 19 mentors. Wow! Things have definitely changed since I ran with TC last year. We didn't have one single mentor, and now there's 19. Wow. That's all I can say.
I think that's great for Jess. She's made the program such a success that all these runners and walkers want to come back and do it again and help out. I want to help out, but at the same time I'm not sure. Maybe there's a way to be like a mentor's helper? I can have all the same responsibilities of keeping people motivated and help when needed, but without the "mentees." I don't know. I think I just need to sit down and talk to Jess about it. I'll have to remember to do that on Monday before the next Info Meeting.
Speaking of which, I went to the first one up in Carlsbad at Lululemon Athletica. The store has some nice clothes, just a little to pricey for me. :) Anyways, the info meeting seemed to go well. There were a lot of mentors-to-be there as well as quite a few people interested in joining the team. There's only one more meeting that I can go to before my Canada trip next week. So Monday, before my soccer game, I'll be up in Carmel Mountain trying to recruit some new people.
I was kind of hoping that maybe one of my local friends would want to do this with me, but no one has stepped up. They sound interested and like the idea of it, but just not quite ready to take that leap and just do it! Oh well. I just hope that I can get a group of friends to come up and cheer me on. That's what I was missing last year. There really wasn't a cheering squad besides Jess. I mean, there were LOTS of people cheering as we went by, but it just makes it that much better when your friends/family are there. My parents were going to come last year, but it was too far in the end. BUT, they will be there this year which I am super excited about.
Though I have to say that Caitlyn, who ran the race with me, was there when April and I crossed that finish line. It was a great feeling.
Vegas is not far. Everyone loves Vegas! So really there's no excuse this time. :0)

Tuesday, August 4, 2009

Getting In Gear

So I'm getting ready for the season. I just got some new running shoes and they are really comfortable so far. The nice thing about getting shoes at Road Runner Sports is that I can try them out for like 60 days and if they give me any issues, I can return them and try another pair. It's awesome. But I have a feeling that these shoes will work out.


My dog, Zoe, loves when I train because she gets to go out for runs with me. This dog has so much energy. She can keep up with how ever long of a run I go on. 2 miles or 5 miles, she's right by my side. I love it!


I'm back to playing soccer again. After taking the last 4 months off to let my ankle heal from injuries, it's so nice to be able to play again. I've totally missed it. Last night was my first game in a while and we kicked butt! 9-2 and one of those goals was scored by my boob!! Yes, I said boob. It kind of just bounced off it and into the goal. It was awesome! No one really saw it, but I felt it. :) What a great way to start the season.


The kickoff for Team Challenge Las Vegas is in a few weeks. I won't be able to make it, which I'm bummed about, but the first training starts on the 29th and I'll definitely be there. I leave for Canada next week to visit a friend and drive back with her to the states. I probably won't get back to San Diego until the 24th, but I'm looking forward to the road trip home. Should be lots of fun. I'm hoping to keep up the training in Winnipeg. I've been doing about 30-45mins a day, either walking or running. Lea says there's not much to do in Winnipeg Beach, but at least I could walk around the lake or something.


I'm super excited about this season. It's going to be a lot of fun.

Saturday, July 11, 2009

Holistic Medicine

Yesterday I decided to take a chance and go see my mom's acupuncturist. My mom goes for help while she has her chemo. Dr. Wang gets rid of any nausia and keeps her healthy (as can be). I took her there a couple weeks ago and talked to the doctor briefly. She said she could help me with my asthma. So I figured I might as well try. If it helps me run better and makes me healthier, I'm willing to try it.
I was a little apprehensive at first, but I got over the fact that needles were going to be stuck all over my body. It actually wasn't that bad. The nice thing about Dr Wang is that she's not just an acupuncturist. She actually has a PHD and then she studied acupuncture. So I feel very comfortable with her.
It was kind of weird at first seeing the needles protruding from different areas on my body, but I got over it quickly and took a nap. I don't feel immediate results, but I did feel very relaxed. She gave me some herbal tea to drink over the next 6 days. They are the strangest looking herbs, but they have a nice smell. I'm supposed to let them soak in water for 1hr and then boil for 5 min. Interesting.
I told her that I'm running the half marathon in December and so she has this goal to make me better or close to, within the next 21 weeks. Though that does mean I get to be a regular patient - like 4 times a week. But if it helps, then so be it. I'll keep you posted on my progress.

Thursday, July 9, 2009

I'm Gonna Be A Mentor

So last night was the mentor meeting group for Team Challenge. I got to find out more about what the duties are and all that jazz. I think it's totally something that I can do. I'm good at motivation, right? I've experienced the ups and downs of training and fundraising and everything else. I think I'd be good at this. Most of the interested mentors are runners, so I think I'll be mentoring the walkers. Cristal is the walking coach, so I know for sure she's gonna need some help. I can walk. I can jog. It'll be good. I can do the walking at the training sessions and do some running training on my own time. It'll work out. This'll be fun.

Jess has also decided to start a Team Challenge committee and I'm totally going to join that too. I want to help with events/fundraising. I love party planning! Just ask all the people who have come to my themed birthday parties. :) I have a really good feeling about this.

The Kick-Off party for the race is Aug 22 and I don't think I'm going to be back in time for that. I'm leave for Canada Aug 12th to see Lea and drive back to AZ with her. I know we'll be back to AZ in time, but I don't think I'll make it back to San Diego. I believe my parents are going to drive out to AZ to pick me up at my Aunt and Uncle's place (who I intend to visit with for a few days). But Jess said it wasn't a big deal. She just needs to know who will or will not be there. But for sure, I'll be back in time for our first group training session on the 29th.

I'm getting super excited. This is gonna be a great season!

Wednesday, July 8, 2009

Testing The Waters

So I took Zoe out for a walk today. Not a super long one, but it was a good 30 min walk. I really need to do it earlier in the day, because at noon, it's just too darn hot! But we did it anyway. While walking, I got the urge to see if I could run without any ankle problems. It actually wasn't so bad. I didn't feel any tightness or soreness or anything to make me think I couldn't start running again. It was a nice feeling. Granted my lungs need work. I didn't bring my inhaler since I wasn't planning on running, but I survived.


I have to start taking the steroid inhaler again on a regular basis if I expect to run. I hate having this exercise-induced asthma. It really holds me back from doing what I want to do. And I never really found the inhalers to work that much. I'm thinking of trying out my mom's acupuncturist. Apparently she helps with asthma and I'm willing to give it a try. If she could make it so that I can run longer than 3 minutes without becoming out of breathe, I think I'd be in heaven. I can't remember what it's like to run without breathing problems. I've had this issue since I was 17 and I've felt that all it's done is held me back from any type of sport. I was able to survive soccer because it's stop and go running, but for me to run another half marathon, I'd like it to be a little easier. I'm very proud of myself that I was able to run a half in the 3.5 hours, and with 2 asthma attacks (mostly caused by emotions running high); but I would love to be able to do it in less than 3 or even 3 hours would be awesome! So we'll see.


Anyways, I have the Team Challenge Mentor meeting tonight. I still have to fill out the application, but I'm excited to find out more about the position and what it entails. Being that I'm not a "runner" per se, nor am I a full-fledged "walker," I'm hoping there's a happy medium. Maybe to be the "wunner" mentor. Ha! We'll see.


I should probably go hop in the shower now. I feel so diiirty. :) But good after a nice walk/run this afternoon. I know Zoe is completely pooped out and that's a good sign. She's got so much energy that she benefits from my training sessions too. She's a happy pooch.

Wednesday, July 1, 2009

At The Starting Line...Again

So I've been thinking about running another half marathon. There's this one in Las Vegas - The Rock N' Roll Marathon which also happens to have a half marathon too! My friend, Sara, is an avid marathon runner. She has this goal to run a marathon in every state. She's getting pretty far in that goal. But I guess she found this one in Vegas and it just so happens that the race is also affiliated with CCFA and Team Challenge. How perfect is that?! I can run again, this time with a long time friend, and raise money to help Crohn's and Colitis!

I got an email a few weeks ago from Jessica Johnson, the coordinator of Team Challenge. She asked if I'd be interested in being a mentor for this next race. How could I not? I get to train with a great group of people, encourage others to overcome any obstacles they have about running/walking a half marathon, and tell them my story about my first adventure. I think it's a great plan. I believe training starts in August so it works out perfectly.

I had an ankle injury back in March, which I injured again a month later. Totally sucks. I haven't played soccer in months. I haven't run. I've just walked and taken it easy. I'm trying to ease my ankle back
into training mode. I've been doing some strength exercises for it so that I can try and prevent this from happening again.

I'm definitely going to have to invest in some new running shoes as I'm sure I've succeeded in passing the 300 mile mark on my shoes. I hate that they're so expensive, but my feet love that they are protected and comfortable. My running jersey from last year is all blinged out, PERFECT for VEGAS!!! Thanks Jessica! I'm pretty sure I can use it again. If not, I'll just have to enlisted Jessica's help again to sew on all the sequence, if she has some time. But I think it should be good.

I'm so excited!! This is going to be another awesome chapter in my life and this time, I hope my parents can come up and cheer me on. It's a little closer for them to get to. :)

Til next time!

This is Deb. And I'm running for you!