New Shoes Brings A New Attitude

I got new kicks to train in! First Wednesday run with the team I'm training with. Time to break them in! Let's do this!

That Time I Thought I Should Run Another Half Marathon

Ugh. What did I get myself into. I somehow thought it'd be a cool idea to run a half marathon again after 6 years. Well, I did get a little motivation. I received an email from CCFA about their newest endurance season in Las Vegas in November. It has been 6 years since I ran a half marathon (and with them). It's the last year that CCFA is going to be the charity for the Rock N Roll Vegas race, and now they've changed the race to run at night! Last time I ran it, it was an early morning race. So I see it as an added bonus that I get to run the strip at night. I'll have both experiences. The drunks stumbling out at 6am wondering what the heck all these people are doing, and then this year, it'll be the ones who are just getting started.

Training started last week. I'm trying to get back into the swing of things. It's been a while since I really exercised, so baby steps, right? I've been walking during my lunch break, getting in what I can in case I couldn't go running after work. Wearing my Fitbit has been helping me try and hold myself accountable for getting in my 10K steps a day. I've been averaging maybe 7/8K, so not too bad. I'll get there.

So now that I'm actually doing this, I'll probably be updating my blog more often (at least try to) with my ups and downs of running and fundraising and whatever else might come up. Should be interesting. . . wish me luck!

Motivation with Fashion

I read somewhere that if you put on your workout clothes, you're more likely to get out and exercise. So I tried that today. I almost forgot how great I feel after a good run/walk. Plus I don't feel guilty eating food! I took Zoe out with me. Either her age or the extra weight she has now slowed her down a lot more than I'm used to. We did about 3 miles in 50min. Not my best, but after a workout hiatus, it's not bad. One day I'll be able to finish a 5K in less than 40min. In the words of Barney Stinson: Challenge accepted!

I think cute workout clothes definitely play a part in motivation for me to want to get out and exercise. If I want to wear the clothes I have to work out. My mom bought be a couple running skirts a few years ago and I almost forgot I had them. There's a company out there that I once found at a race expo, Skirt Sports. They have really cute running skirts I want to try.

Speaking of cute clothes, I recently bought this adorable shirt.

I'm super excited to get it in the mail and wear it for my next workout! If you're a Doctor Who fan, you'll get the reference. :)

Wanted: A Day of Ridiculousness

This weekend's event couldn't have been more crazy. My friends, S & J, and I did something impulsive and signed up for the Bubble Run 5K a few days before the event. S needed some ridiculousness in her life right now, so I agreed to do it with her and J said "I can't think of two other ladies I'd rather do this ridiculous event with." And so it happened.

S, me and J before the bubbles

I think that if they has for feedback, we all would agree that starting a 5K at 9am on a blistering 90 degree day is NOT ideal. Granted, we didn't have to wake up super early, but still, I would have preferred it to start at least an hour earlier. Of course, we loaded up on sunscreen. Standing in the sun for an hour (with no trace of shade) before the run is definitely the way to get burnt. Luckily we were smart.

It was very exciting once it actually started. Crossing the start line looked a little like this.

A bubble-y start

Normally I don't like to get my clothes wet if I'm not wearing a swimsuit, but this was a god-send. Walking through the wall of bubbles was so refreshing. I really wanted to just turn around and stand underneath the bubble machine. But that would cause a traffic jam and I'd probably get pushed.

There were more of these bubble stations (pink, green, blue, yellow) strategically placed throughout the 5K. Pink was the first and we came out with it all over our clothes, body and hair. It was awesome.

Me and J with pink shoes!

This definitely wasn't a competitive race as there were no timing chips, but I saw it as a race to what little shade there was on the course. "Let's run to the shade," I suggested. And then we walked slowly in that before braving the sun again.

Green wall of foam

If you were wondering what it looked like walking through the bubbles, now you know. And then you come out with it all over, which is pretty cool (pun intended).

J is a little green

You would think that they'd have more than one water station for races that are on super hot days, but it's hard to predict what the weather will be like when you're in the planning stages. A lot of people were pouring the water on their heads to cool off. I just drank 2 cups. I'll just run to the next bubble station. Blue.

I think the best part about this one was that I got to see parents push their kids in strollers through the foam. They came out with a stroller full of bubbles, no children in sight. This one woman had to shovel out the bubbles to free her kid!

Lost baby

Found baby!

Surprisingly, the kid wasn't crying. I think he actually enjoyed it.

And then there was yellow. So many people had been going through there, the bubble wall was non-existent. There was a pile of bubble, but the wind was pushing it out of the machine to the right, so unless you wanted to wait for people to walk through that side... 

Mellow Yellow

but somehow we managed to still come out with yellow on us, if only on the feet.
 

S has yellow feet

Crossing the finish line, we entered into a bubble foamy awesomeness party. Which is where we hung out for a while to cool off from the sweltering heat.

S and me cooling off

Me and J standing in the bubble wall

drowning in bubbles

Best bubble bath ever!

Even though my feet were swimming in my shoes, my clothes sopping wet, and my body dyed with color, the question I ask myself is, would I do this 5K again? For sure.

A hot mess, but loving it!

My First 5K of the Year

5:00am came way too early. I really would have rather hit the snooze button indefinitely, but I forced myself out of bed. It's been a while since I've had to get up that early. So glad that I laid everything out the night before so I could pretty much just roll out of bed and put on my race clothes.

The race started at 6:45am which is really early for a 5K. Generally they are more around 8/9am. But my friends and I made it there without a morning coffee. This race, the Hot Chocolate 5K, sold out with 7,500 people. When we lined up, you couldn't even see the start line.

Start line is around the corner and up the hill

Making our way up to the start

I have to say, the workouts that I have been doing the last 30 days or so, seemed to have helped with this race. Though my face was completely flushed at the end, I survived. The course was filled with hills. I definitely didn't expect that. Though I shouldn't be completely surprised; it is downtown with some crazy hills.

Beautiful San Diego morning (downhill)

I did beat my 5K walking time by 3 minutes. It's not a lot, but it's an improvement since my injury last year. Once I'm given the OK to run again, I plan to work on getting a 5K PR from running. Last time I tried running a 5K, I think I finished in 44min. I've been working out now, so I know that I can do better. I can't wait for that day to come. But until then, I'm walking.

2011 Iron Girl 5K time: 55:26
2012 Hot Chocolate 5K time: 52:58
2012 Iron Girl 5K time: TBA in October

Thanks to my girls, Cristal and April for walking with me. They could have run, but instead chose to walk with me. That's my support system. They are awesome. And after the race, we indulged in some Ghirardelli hot chocolate and fondue breakfast.

In line for our finishers breakfast

Breakfast of champions

Me and the girls

The rest of the day I plan to relax. Take a nap and veg out.

Workouts begin again tomorrow morning.

A Slow Process

 

I know it's only the 3rd week into my new weightloss/exercise plan, but it's even more clear to me now how tough this journey is going to be. I've been working out around 5 days each week for at least 30-60min, which is awesome for me, but results so far are barely there. I became so complacent as a couch potato, granted a lot of it had to do with my health, but now that I'm back to 100% I can't stay at this weight. I need my muscles back. I know results will come later, but it's hard to see where you want to be right now and you can't snap your fingers to make it happen.

If only I had my own personal genie...

• I'd have my own personal trainer
• I would make the time to workout a couple hours a day
• I would have a personal chef to make sure I eat all the right foods
• My ankles would be good as new and I'd be able to run again

What would you do if you had a genie?

Finding My Groove

Boyfriend got me off my butt tonight. It's been a pretty lazy day, so getting out of the house was nice. Even Zoe was just sleeping the day away. It was nice that someone in the house took initiative to get us out.
What was originally supposed to be just an out and back walk, turned into a 1.5 hour walk. 4.91 miles. Fairly leisurely. I think we averaged an 18 min/mile. I think at my best I've done 5 miles in just over an hour, but I was training for a race. This was merely a "let's get out of the house and enjoy the weather" kind of walk. And it was definitely nice to NOT walk by myself. I love Zoe's company, but we can't have conversations other than her wagging her tail to let me know she's having a good time.

I'm now exhausted. I think I might have pushed myself a little too far, but at least I got out. Most likely, I'll be sore tomorrow, but I'll use it as a day to stretch and recover and then get back out there. Getting back into the groove of exercising is really hard. Especially when you've had a 7 month hiatus. Word of advice, don't sever your ligaments. It takes you out of commission for a lot of things. Exercise in particular. Now I find that I'm fighting with myself everyday to convince my body to get out of bed and create some endorphins. Problem is, the warm bed usually wins. And I put of getting back into shape for another day. In my head, I see me running (which I can't do yet) and slowly taking off the weight that the meds made me gain. I have a goal to achieve by October. It's realistic and attainable, but I really have to step up to the plate. I currently can't rely on training for half marathons to reach it, so I need to find another way to keep the motivation going.
I have some amazing friends that have offered to walk with me a couple times a week, which I will definitely be taking them up on. Exercise with friends makes the workout more fun. At least in my experience.

So here it goes. Today I walked 4 miles. I'll stretch tomorrow and take Zoe out for a walk. Not 5 miles, but a nice neighborhood walk. I'm always looking for new ways to shed some pounds so please feel free to send me your suggestions or what you do to keep in shape.

At The Starting Line Again

Wow. I can't believe it's been almost a year since I wrote. But, here we go again. I must be crazy. I've signed up for 2 events this year...so far.

The first is the yearly event in May with my parents to do the Relay For Life, which benefits the American Cancer Society. I like this event because it doesn't cater to one specific type of cancer. The money raised goes to help fund research for all cancers. And they don't ask you raise a certain amount of money. They just encourage everyone to raise at least $100 (if you want a t-shirt).
My mom was diagnosed 2 years ago with breast cancer. 5 days after her mastectomy, she demanded we go to the Relay event so she could walk the first lap with all the survivors. I had her out for 2 hours and then she was beat. Rest was definitely needed. My mom is a trooper. She's doing really well now - in remission and her hair has grown back.
I'm team captain again for our Purple Cancer Eaters team. I've recruited some new people to join our team and I'm hoping to have it more organized - at least with a scheduled walk list so everyone knows when they are going to walk. Last year, I walked longer than I should have in the middle of the night because people were sleeping and I didn't want to wake anyone. They kinda got upset about it, so I figure, with a walk schedule, everyone can sign up for when they want to walk. If I can get 12 people on the team, then really everyone only has to walk 2 hours. Definitely not that bad. I'll keep you updated as it goes. I really need to get fundraising. Only $150 so far. I know I can do better!

Event #2 is in July. My friends and I decided we wanted to run the Napa half again. I think we're crazy. But I'm excited to do it. We created a team of about 7 of us. Team Super Poopers. Jill, our team captain, who I ran Napa with in '08, didn't want to run AND fundraise with Team Challenge, but still wanted to be a part of TC. So, we created a team in honor of the poop diseases, Crohn's (which Jill has) and Ulcerative Colitis (which my mom has). We definitely need to start training because July will be here before we know it. Half the team lives in San Diego and the other half in LA and one in Indiana. So all of us getting together to train probably won't happen, but the girls that are in town, I can train with them.

There is one more event I think I might sign up for, but it's not until November. I did the Iron Girl last year with my mom and my sister. It was a fast 5K and my mom and sister's first one. I felt honored to do it with them. I'm hoping they'll want to do it again this year. I need to beat my 5K time. Stupid asthma.

Anyways, here's to a fun-filled new year full of running highs and running lows. I will try and write as often as I can (or at least when I remember).

Back On Track

Things are falling into place again. I'm back to running again. Zoe's getting better at NOT peeing while I'm trying to run, but she still does at times. I'm trying to teach her that when I walk, it's okay to sniff and pee, but while running, it's not good. 

I found a new 2 mile route in the neighborhood. There are more street lights, and they never cooperate with me. They are always red when I need them to be green. Granted, it IS a nice break from running to catch my breath, but sometimes the light is just red for too long. We've got to work on that.

I had a library book to return today, so it gave me the perfect opportunity to try out the new route. I walked with Zoe there and once I dropped it off, I decided I'd see how far I could run without stopping. I kept a nice easy slow pace and it worked out great. From the park to the first street light. Stop and rest, then cross the street. Then to the next light, which was a larger distance. No problem. Take a breather and then cross the street. To the next light which seemed even farther away, I actually stopped for a minute and walked, but not until I made it halfway up the hill. But I kept going and got to the next light. Breather. Crossed the street. Halfway to the stop sign - a good 3 blocks - I stopped to walk. But once I made it to the sign, I ran all the way home. 
I totally forgot to stop the timer at the lights, so I think my time would have been better. But I did 2.01 miles in 35min! So awesome for me. It's about a 17min mile. I can definitely do better. I think I'll try it again tomorrow. 

Laziness

Wow. I've been lazy. No real exercise lately. It's been like 2 week. Granted, I have been walking the dog, but I haven't gone running in a couple weeks. And I really need to get back to it. April 12th is the date that I meet up with my friends I'm running the San Diego Rock N Roll with. We plan to start our group training together. Saturday or Sunday will be the long runs, and the rest of the week, we'll do a few miles. Though I realized that our long runs aren't going to be LONG runs like they have been in the past. So since we are doing the relay and not individually running the full marathon, the long runs probably won't be 10 miles. I think the most one of us will have to run in the race would be about 8 miles. No problem. I can do that! If I can do 13.1 miles, 8 should be easy peasy.

My friend, Sara, is running the Seattle Rock N Roll a few weeks later than my race, and she's doing the FULL. Though she is a crazy marathon runner. For this current race, she's training with Team In Training and raising money for blood cancers. Today she's running like 30 some odd miles for all the people that donated this past week. That's intense. But it's awesome that her friends donated to make her run so far.

Relay For Life is coming up in about a month and a half. I haven't been doing any serious fundraising like I have in the past. I'm kinda tapped out on the whole thing, but I have raised about $400 which isn't too bad. I'm working on redesigning the t-shirts and still haven't had a team meeting. No one ever really responds to the emails I send out. I know that the other teammates are living all over, but it would be nice to know at least that they are getting my emails. Oh well. 

Mom is doing well. Her hair has grown back, she's had a couple hair cuts, and now she has just informed me that she can go bra shopping for whatever kind she wants. No more just no underwire. So I think next week we're gonna go take her and get some cute bras. :) 

Starting Monday, I'm going to get back on the exercise horse again. I'll have soccer to start it all off with and then I can do my running and strength training the rest of the week in preparation for our group run. Yay! I can do this.

New Adventures

So I've taken on 2 new running adventures. Well, really one's walking and the other running.
The first is the American Cancer Society's Relay For Life. It's a 24hr walk here in Mira Mesa/Rancho Penasquitos. And I don't do it alone. My parents have put me in charge of getting a team together for this relay. My mom is really excited to be a part of it since she IS a SURVIVOR. The nice thing is that there's no fundraising minimum. Not that I have a problem with fundraising or anything, but I just finished a big fundraiser for Crohn's & Colitis, that I think it's time to take a break. At least for a while.
Our team name is Purple Cancer Eaters. We've done this relay for a few years now, but we took off last year due to family stuff. So we're back now and I'm in charge. Yay. I love how I get delegated as team captain. But I have recruited a few new people. So far we have a team of 7, which is awesome. And we've raised more than $600 as a team! Go us!
The relay is in May, so there's a few months to try and do a few fundraisers or something.

My other new running adventure is the San Diego Rock N Roll Relay. This one I'm running with friends. Actually 3 of my girlfriends I met during my first half marathon in Napa. Our team name is Running Winnos. We meet up once a month and drink wine and gossip and one of our houses, so the name is fitting. Plus we all ran together, so why not. I think we'll make some fun t-shirts or something like that. This race isn't until the first weekend of June, so there's time to train again. And I have some friends to train with. yay!


I have been keeping up with exercising since TC's Las Vegas Half. Not everyday, but close. Though I have been trying to fit in some strength training. I got a Jillian Michael's video from Netflix and copied it so I could use it on a regular basis. This video totally kicks my ass!! Wow! Though I feel really great after working out. And it's only a 45 minute workout which is perfect. I do it in the morning when I wake up and then I'm starving by the time I'm finished so breakfast is sooo tasty. And I'm hungry more often but it's okay. I'm getting fit. I need to lose 30 lbs. I think I'd be happier 30 lbs lighter. I know I can do it cause I've done it once before on Weight Watchers. But I'm doing things different. I'm watching what I eat AND exercising. I didn't do that before when I had lost the 30lbs. So yay. I can do this. So far I'm 5lbs lighter. I'm prepared for it to be a long process before I get to my goal weight. I gain muscle faster than I lose weight. So here goes...

Results

Ok, so I'm a dork. I totally forgot to update my blog like 2 months ago to give you all the results from the race. I think the excitement of it all, totally just made me space out, though you wouldn't think it would. Duh.

Anyways, so let me tell you:
Saturday Morning, December 5, 2009
5:45am - Meet at the airport - UGH! Sooo early!!
8:30am - Arrived in VEGAS!!


December in Las Vegas is COLD!! Seriously. It was like 30* out and it totally rained, but luckily not on race day.
So we stayed at the MGM Grand, but check in took FOREVER. Ugh. I think we waited for our room for like 3 hours. The coaches wanted to do a group run to the race expo after everyone checked in. I totally didn't do that run. I walked. While most people changed into their running gear, I and a few others, just changed into our running shoes and we walked over with the group. I found some neat stuff over there. I bought a thermal long sleeve shirt with the Las Vegas RnR logo on it. Got a bag full of samples and free stuff. Can't go wrong with that, right?! :)
Once we got back to the hotel, we hoped our room would be ready. But we were wrong. It took probably another hour or so before that happened. But in the meantime, I was able to meet up with my friend, Sara, and her mom. Sara was gonna share the room with me and Caitlyn and Jessica.
We had our TC Pasta/Inspiration dinner. All of us mentors went down early to line up so that when our mentees came down to the ballroom, they'd have to walk through a pathway full of mentors, coaches, and endurance managers from all over the US. It was so neat. My parents met up with me for the dinner. That was nice. They stayed across the way at their time share place. I was excited to have my mom there as she's the reason that I was running this race.
After dinner, we had a group meeting with all the last minute details before the race. Everyone was anxious about the race. Even after already completing one half marathon, I was still anxious about this one. But excited.


Sunday, December 6, 2009
3:30am - Wake Up for Race!! - sooo early, I don't even know how I functioned.
We met our team down in the lobby of the hotel. There were HUNDREDS of people dressed in their orange Team Challenge jerseys. We were like a blob of orange. It was awesome. We all walked over to the Mandalay Bay together. It was freezing out! Next time, I might actually wear long pants instead of capris. Or at least search earlier for leg warmers. I checked in my "after race" bag at the bag drop and peed and then met up with the group for a warm up. We took pre-race pictures and before we knew it, we heard the gun shots for the start of the race. It seemed a little unorganized as to where to go. Everyone was pushing each other to try and get into the corrals. 
I paired up with Tiffany since we were in the same corral, #28 out of 29. HA! But last year my race time was over 3:30, so the slowest are always in the back. I went searching for my parents because I knew they were looking for me. Found them - they took pictures and Tiffany and I took off. It took about 45min before we even reached the start line. 
They were filming the race and had it playing on the jumbo screens outside some of the hotels. It was crazy. Just as we were finally getting out there on the race course, a few of the racers were almost done!! OMG. It was nuts. Those were some serious racers. I think the first person to finish, crossed that finish line in just over 1 hour! To be able to run that fast would be AMAZING!! 
Tiffany and I kept a slow, steady pace. I wasn't sure how long I was going to be able to keep her pace since I was trying to keep my breathing under control. I was determined to NOT have any asthma attacks this year. I decided to do any early bathroom break in the course. I found some bathrooms that didn't have a long line (like the ones I ended up at last year). And that was a good decision. The ones further down, had the line, which totally made the early break justifiable. *And I didn't need one for the rest of the race!!*
We past Tiffany's boyfriend first. Then I found my parents, who took some motion shots. And then I got into super focus mode. I worked on my breathing, kept a good pace and was able to stay with Tiffany for about 1 hour and 45 minutes until I started to feel my asthma kicking in. I slowed down, she kept going. But I'm really proud of myself. I was able to run for 6.5 miles without stopping!! That's a record for me! I've NEVER done that before. Though my body wanted me to slow down and walk, my legs didn't. I tried walking but they wanted to run. It was wierd. Finally I overpowered them and made them walk. 
I saw some guy working at a bar pass out beer to some of the runners/walkers. That was funny. I passed some of the brides and grooms who got married at the Paris Hotel. That's a neat idea. Get married while running a marathon. Who would have thought?
I passed some local HS cheerleaders, Team Challenge supporters/cheerleaders, and some random people on the sidelines in their lounge chairs watching all of us crazy people run or walk in the 30* weather. 
The weather was insane. I never truly felt like I warmed up. I got warm enough to toss my jacket on the side somewhere along the course, and eventually my gloves, but even with my long sleeve shirt and TC jersey, I was still cold. Yes, definitely long pants next time.


Finally about mile 10, Michelle Layton, one of the TC honorees, found me and ran the last 3.1 miles with me. She kept me motivated and inspired. Jess Johnson found me too, and her words of inspiration always get to me, and I could feel that emotional asthma attack coming, but luckily I kept it in check. Yay me!
Those last three miles were the worst. Actually, no. Scratch that. The worst was the last mile. It's like I knew I was almost done but my energy level was on empty. I kept telling myself, "you're almost there!" and then I saw my parents. And I pushed it harder. Not walking, but not running either. Somewhere in between. Michelle was there by my side. And once I saw that finish line, I pushed it hard! And crossed it. And almost collapsed. I got all teary-eyed. But I did it! All 13.1 miles. AND, I beat last year's time by 20 minutes. I finished in 3:21. How awesome is that?!! 20 minutes! Amazing!


Now I have a goal to shave off another 20 minutes. If I could do a half in 3 hours or less, I would be soooo happy! So it's something to work at.


The rest of my trip was great. After the race, I hung out with my parents and my boyfriend. We ate, I got a massage, and waited for Sara to finish her marathon. Yes, she did the marathon. And did it in about 5 hours or so. I don't remember her time. But that's awesome. Go Sara!


We partied that night with friend and teammates. Monday morning I walked to the buses with everyone and said bye. Then went to meet up with Arnon at Excalibur and spend the rest of my time in Vegas with him. We had a great time. 


Thanks to everyone who donated. I raised a total or $3,873.60! I couldn't have done it without your support.


So, now I have completed my 2nd half marathon. Still not brave enough to do a full, though Sara really wants me to do one with her. Maybe later. 

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.

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?!

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.

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.

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!

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.

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.

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!!