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....
Thursday, November 26, 2009
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.
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.
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!
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.
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.
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!!
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!
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!
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!
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