Elizabeth Palmer's Team In Training Page
"Pain is nothing compared to what it feels like to quit."
Welcome to my Team In Training home page.
I am once AGAIN training to participate in an endurance event as a member of The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society's Team In Training. All of us on Team In Training are raising funds to help stop leukemia, lymphoma, Hodgkin lymphoma and myeloma from taking more lives. I'm completing this event in honor of two people specifically, but in honor of all those who are or who have battled blood cancers. These people are the real heroes on our team, and we need your support to cross the ultimate finish line - a cure!
Please consider making a donation to support my participation in Team In Training and help advance the Society's mission.
I hope you'll visit my web site often. Be sure to check back frequently to see my progress. Thanks for your support!
4.28.08 - Welcome to my second TNT webpage. Yes, I'm fundraising again. But I've increased the challenge for myself physically. I have signed up to run the in the same marathon as last year, The Nike Women's Marathon in San Francisco, California, but I have decided to train for a FULL marathon. That's right. 26.2 miles. I am officially addicted to running. :)
My ultimate goal is to see a cure found for blood cancers. But while researchers fight their battle, I, too, have a battle to fight. My battle is to raise $3,900. I'm already nearly half-way to that goal thanks to mentors from last Fall who had faith that I could be a mentor and help others reach their goals. I mentored during the Spring 08 season and often times ran in 30 degree weather. By completing mentor tasks (showing up to trainings, filling out mentor reports, organizing fundraising events, etc) I was able to earn $1,000 and I am choosing to put that money towards my $3,900 goal for Nike. I have also been able to raise money in various ways over the past few months and I've raised another $775. I am extremely excited to know that I am already this far along; this will help me focus on my training since I'll be doing double what I did a year ago. Because of injuries sustained over the past few months I am very nervous about training to run 26.2 miles. But what will get me through this is the constant reminder of those whose struggles are greater than mine. This season I run in honor AND in memory. Last season I ran in memory of Billie Horrell. She is Robyn Grime's mother and lost her battle with primary site lymphoma located in the brain at the young age of 60. Joining her name on my wristband this season is Jane Mosakowski. Jane is the grandmother of Emily Taylor. Jane is currently fighting her battle against Leukemia. I will be updating my webpage soon with more information about both ladies.
Like my webpage said last season, "pain is nothing compared to what it feels like to quit." Nike Women's FULL, HERE I COME! :)
5.2.08 - training is off to a...slow start. can i say slow if i haven't started training yet? i got a sinus infection that has worn me down this week so i decided to rest instead of stay sick longer. tomorrow is our first saturday training. the only one that starts at 7am. :) after running 2 miles we'll do our stretching and fundraising clinic. clearly i have my webpage up and going, but i have yet to write my fundraising letter. will do that tomorrow! :) i'm already signed up to volunteer at the north trails half marathon on the 18th of this month which will earn me $10/hr. i've also signed up to work four sonic hops in the dead of summer...3 at the end of june and one in july. i'm a glutton for punishment. :) we have a dinner/silent auction at cantina laredo already scheduled for wednesday, may 21st. mark your calendars. if i get 10 people there i'll be able to partake in 10% of the profits the managers will give us if we get 100 people there. help us get that check! :) and dont forget about the silent auction items we'll have to bid on. i'll keep you posted on how these events go as well as more events coming up!
I thought I'd take a moment to share what being a mentor was like since that is what has earned me a quarter of my fundraising goal so far. It was fun. And hard. And challenging. And time-consuming. And above all else REWARDING. I was able to motivate others to reach their fundraising goals as well as their training goals. I really enjoyed running with my mentees (or my peeps as I affectionately called them) and hearing their stories...how fundraising was going (or not going for some) and how training was proving to be a challenge. It was neat to be able tell people the same things I was told but never really believed until I crossed my first finish line. And seeing our runners crossing the finish line at multiple races was SUCH a blast. Throughout the season the mentors organized fundraisers and the participants came through to make them the huge successes they ALL were. THOUSANDS of dollars were raised. MANY miles were run and walked. lives were changed forever. It really is impossible to understand how training for and running/walking a full or half marathon changes you. It takes months of committment and the willingness to see this adventure through, but all along the way you continue to remember WHY you are doing what you're doing and it makes it ALL worthwhile. Would I be a mentor again? Absolutely. :) Why am I not doing it again this season? Because I want to focus on my current fundraising goal and my current training schedule. This time around is going to be veeeeery interesting. For example, I have a "toobing" trip planned in July and I asked the person coordinating it, "is there any place i can run 14 miles?" Ha! Yes, even on vacation I'll be getting my miles in. If you think you CAN'T run or walk a full or half marathon, THINK AGAIN. It's not a matter of can or can't, It's a matter of will or won't. :) I used to think 13 miles was a heck of a long distance. And it is. But now that I have a couple of halves under my belt a full seems like a worthy challenge. If participating yourself isn't an option, please consider donating your time and/or finances to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. Soon I'll have information about the people I'm running in honor and memory of to add to my webpage. Honored heroes are our inspiration. :)
If you would like to see pictures from the Spring 08 season that I mentored please go here: http://deyoung.net/philip/tnt/album159
If you would like to see pictures from THIS season (Fall 08) go here: http://deyoung.net/philip/tnt/album177
If you would like to see pictures from Nike last October, or other races I've run, please email me at teechurmath04@yahoo and I will "share" my Kodak Gallery albums with you. I LOVE sharing my albums!!! :)
Tuesday - 5.6.08 - I have recently discovered the joy that is html code which allows me to change color, fonts, and even add the scrolling marquee you see below. Normally on Tuesday's we run in Valley Ranch (Irving) but tonight we had off. Instead, tomorrow night we'll be meeting at RunOn in Coppell for shoe fittings. Despite the terror that is finding the right shoe for me, I already have running shoes so I'll just be showing up there to run a few miles with my peeps. :)
Thursday - 5.8.08 - I went to my first buddy run here in Denton tonight. It's funny how my body has gotten out of the habit of running since I had to take time off for injuries. It's back to being a mental game. I ran 10.5 minute miles tonight. I'm still not sure how. I know I was breathing hard, but my watch must have slowed down or something. :) I still don't think I ran that fast. Two miles was all I did. Right now my hope is that I can complete the full 26.2 miles in October. I have to push the hope aside that I'll get my 11.5 min/mile pace back. Finishing is my goal, not finishing within a certain time.
I'll have a list soon of what fundraising events will be coming up and when in case you are interested in coming out. On the list so far this season are MANY Sonic hops, a couple of dinner/silent auctions, and a golf tournament. More info to come.
Monday - 5.12.08 - I did the unthinkable. I sold a Dallas Stars PLAYOFF ticket for tonight's game so that I wouldn't miss my run. Wow. I still can't believe it. I also skipped it because I gained back 8 lbs I lost while running that I'd like to get rid of and I always eat such junk when I go to the AAC to for games. So, tonight I ran. 2 miles but I had to have done more than that based on my watch. I KNOW I was running faster than a 15min/mile even with all the wind and hills. There is a path near my apartment that has some nice hills and I love a challenge. This just in, I'll be volunteering at the Colonial Golf Tournament in a couple of weeks. I'm excited. I've never been to a professional golf tournament!
Tuesday - 5.14.08 - I'm so confused. I thought I knew in miles how far I ran Monday and today. This means either my pace is way off or that I'm wrong about the distance. What I know for sure, though, is that I am a complete maniac for wanting to not only TRAIN for a full marathon, but also RUN a full marathon. :)
Saturday - 5.17?.08 - Who knows what day it is. Saturday. Date? Dunno. Getting up at 5am wasn't too difficult this morning, but now I'm veeery sleepy. It's 11:36am and I need a nap. :) But, I need to update. This is my second time around to train and fundraise with TNT. The novelty factor is gone and the price of everything has gone up lately. This makes fundraising way more difficult. I don't necessarily expect people to be able to donate at the same level they did last year, but when someone matches a previous donation it is helpful and appreciated more than they could ever know. Dr. Rodney Chowning and his staff at Timberlake Dental did just that. Have you ever cried tears of joy at a dentist's office? I have. :) Check out above how much they donated. :) And thank you Ashley for "calling me out" about not updating my page as often as I did last season. :) I'll try to do better. Oh, and I love the mouthwash stuff they suggested. Ha! :)
This week was pretty rough as far as training. It was my first week to really get going and try to be consistent. Monday I did 2+ miles (major hills) with about a 13 min/mile pace. Tuesday I skipped group run (won't go into why but ask me if you want to know :) and ran here in Denton. I did 2.5 miles (major hills) at about a 13 min/mile pace again. This time I was in so much pain I don't know how I finished. I wasn't worried too much about the location of the pains bc they haven't stuck around. I know it's bc I didn't stretch well and when I did stretch I did it too hard. Duh. Thursday I ran 2 miles (hills once again) and kicked some boo-tay. I did it with an 11min/mile pace. woohoo! Today I did 4 miles at a 12min/mile pace. So, the only thing consistent about training is that I'm training. Getting a consistent pace back will take time. I'm in no hurry! :) Still focusing on staying injury-free. My shin splints are back and now my left knee pain that bugged me at the beginning of last Fall is back, but I'm not worrying yet. I think with more stretching, icing, and more time to adjust to my new shoes I'll be ok. I'll give it a month. No change = another trip to el doctor. Tomorrow I'll be in the White Rock area from 630am until around 2pm volunteering at the North Trails Half Marathon to earn credit towards my fundraising goal. Anyone want to come cheer with me and earn me double the credit? :) In closing, I have a very touching story. It's kleenex worthy so I'm forewarning you. My friend, Robyn, whose mother I run in memory of emailed me this a couple of days ago:
"Oh, by the way, today was [Billie's] birthday. She would have been 62. Jonathon (Robyn's oldest son who is 5 years old) asked last night if we were going to send ballons to heaven like we did last year. So, I bought balloons today and we filled them with helium and wrote on them and let them go to Grams in heaven. We watched them for as long as we could see them. A friend of mine gave me that idea last year and apparently it made an impression on Jonathon. I was surprised when he mentioned it last night."
Wednesday - 5.21.08 - I went to my first Tuesday night practice. Hill repeats were on the menu. It was over 90 degrees out and most people aren't used to running in that. Actually, I'm not either. My body got used to running in the cold and I'm having to adjust just like everyone else. So, coach decided to have us run the hill course but not repeat the hill part. It was a tough run. I've done that hill so many times but last night it kicked MY rear. I managed to do an 11 min/mile pace again which makes me happy. This is what I need to be doing on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Saturdays I'll continue to take it nice and slow on my long runs. After Tuesday night practice we usually go out to eat. It was so funny to me to hear the new people comment about what our options were for dinner. Mexican food sounded just as horrible to them after running half an hour in the blazing heat the same way it did to me a year ago. :) Funny how things change. They'll probably feel differently in a month or so.
I'm signed up to work at the Colonial this Saturday. Fingers crossed the rain holds off and we can get in there and make some serious dough for "the society."
Saturday - 5.24.08 - I should be in bed but I am choosing to update my webpage. I skipped group run this morning to volunteer at the Colonial Golf Tournament in FTW today. Tomorrow I'll get my miles in. Today was an experience I'll never forget!!! I was up at 5am to (long story short) be in FTW at the golf course by 8am. A few of us rode the shuttle bus together and arrived at the 13th/14th hole "Veranda" at the same time. We had a lot of time before we got busy with...customers? Fans? Spectators? What do you call these people? Anyhow, we had work to do from the beginning. Lots of counting of inventory and settings things up for the day. Cut to customers wanting food and beverages...I somehow (reluctantly) ended up as bartender for the day. I was REALLY nervous about dealing with alcoholic beverages AND money but, as always, I love a challenge. I just asked people how to make certain drinks and by the end of the day I was getting a lot of compliments on my drinks (guess why) and people requesting me tomorrow. :) Unfortunately I am not signed up to work Sunday, but I had a fabulous time there today. I learned more about golf than I ever knew. When you know NOTHING about something ANYTHING is a lot. :) I LOVED fake betting on the caddies stepping on to the green first. I won most of my fake bets. :) While we weren't raking in the big bucks like TNT has at the Byron, we did ok. Next year we hope to have an area that has much more traffic to increase tips and sales. Also, I just wanted to give props to Rick, Ken, KC, and everyone else I worked with today and everyone who worked in putting this fundraising event together. THANKS! (I wish I had the energy to write more but my brain is fried.)
Tuesday - 5.27.08 - Interesting day so far. A mentor and I went this morning to ask for silent auction donations for the Denton silent auction and the sky opened up on us. Luckily we were on the square (downtown Denton) so we were able to run from block to block and store to store asking for donations. But then it just got to be too much to deal with. Too much rain. By the last place I was pretty well soaked to the bone. Good times. :) In just two hours we came away with donations from Rudy's, Holiday Inn, Hannah's, Bath Junkie, Beth Marie's, The Abbey, La Di Da, J&J's Pizza, and Jupiter House. We did well!!! We left letters at 7 other places. I can't wait to get back out there and get more stuff. We haven't yet set the date for the Denton silent auction, but I'll be sure to update here so you can all come check out the awesome items we'll have to bid on! :) The rain has stopped so hopefully training tonight (yasso 800s) won't hold any surprises. :)
Rewind back to Sunday morning. Since I worked the Colonial Saturday I had to run my miles alone and sans course support. I only had 5 miles to so no big deal, but I still HATE running with a water bottle in my hand. So I don't! I shove that thing in the back of my shorts! Ha! It is nearly impossible for me to run and try to add miles in my head. I kept trying and kept failing. By the time I got home I realized instead of doing 5 miles by cutting out a section of my route that I had only done 4.5 miles. The only bright side was how I felt while running. It's been a while since I've felt those crazy endorphins, but they sure kicked in around mile 3. I realized I need to start using body glide again and while I was feeling goofy (endorphins) I made up a song in my head (while running) about body glide to the tune of MC Hammer's "You Can't Touch This." Too bad I can't remember the words anymore. Maybe it's better that I don't. :) Also, it is now time for sunscreen and bug spray. Throw all those things on before a long run and add sweat to the mix and it makes for quite a pleasant smell afterwards! :) Gross, eh. Ah, the life of a runner.
"I run because I can. When I get tired, I remember those who can't run, what they'd give to have this simple gift I take for granted, and I run harder for them. I know they would do the same for me." - Anonymous
Wednesday - 5.28.08 - I love motivational quotes, especially those related to running. Sometimes I wonder why I do what I do. I usually say "I'm addicted," but there's more to it. The sense of accomplishment everytime I get out there and run makes it fun. Those mornings when it's 30 degrees outside or the afternoons when the heat index makes it feel like it's over 100 degrees or the mornings when you're drenched in 10 minutes because of the humidity make it even more satisfying. But, I constantly remind myself that I run because I CAN. There are so many things each one of us take for granted and we don't even realize it. I don't want to take running for granted. I hope I don't. My body reminds me often enough that one day I won't be able to do this. Maybe I shouldn't be doing it now, but I am. And I love it. Most of the time. :) Last night was fun. The rains cooled things off nicely and we did track work. Yasso 800s. They are named after some runner dude who says doing yassos can help predict an overall marathon time. Very cool. You run twice around the track at a hard pace (not killing yourself!) and then run easy or walk fast a third lap. You time yourself while running hard on the two laps. You do 2-1s three times so that you have run a total of 9 laps. You then take the average of the three times. I averaged a 5 min, 12 second pace for two laps. This means I could conceiveably (sp?) run a full marathon (26.2 miles) in 5 hours and 12 minutes. Oh what a thrill that would be. My first marathon in not only under six hours but under five and a half hours! Who ya kiddin'?! All I'm hoping for is under 6 hours. Hoping. Not expecting. All I want to do is cross the finish line walking/running as opposed to crawling or rolling. :) Have you heard about the guy who crossed the finish line rolling? Seriously. This happened. Anyhow. I run because I can. I run because I enjoy it. I run for others. What do you do because you can? What do you do that you enjoy? What do you do for others?
Tuesday - 6.3.08 - I wish I could run. It would help my mental state tremendously right now. I've been house-hunting off and on for quite some time. I've been hitting it hard the past few months and Sunday night I found a home that blew me away. I asked my dad and stepmom to come out to see it Monday night and I put in an offer a few hours later. Today it was accepted. Good news, right? Kind of. Long story short, I didn't budget enough for elec/water/etc and I had to redo my budget as best I could on a set amount of money. Hopefully tomorrow I'll hear back about the financing options I'm debating between (FHA or Conventional) and I can move forward. Because ofhouse-hunting, last night I didnt do my three miles, and because my back has been totally screwed up today I had to skip "strides" on the track tonight. I was looking forward to it, but when you can't walk sans pain running seems like a bad idea. Oh, and as for why my back is messed up...I was in Krogers this morning buying candy for one of my classes that did something AWESOME and other teachers were there buying candy as well. Ha! One lady couldn't reach a certain bag on the top shelf so I jumped up and grabbed it and pulled something. Grr. No good deed goes unpunished! :) jk That's not really how I live life. My yoga ball and leftover pain meds are going to get me through the night.
OHMYGOSH!!! So it's been a while since I've upated and I completely forgot to tell everyone why I'm going to be missing group run this Saturday. I'll be skipping my 6 miles to walk the Komen 5K (3.1miles) in Plano this weekend. :) Penney, one of my closest friends, and I are going to be walking in honor of our AMAZING MOTHERS who are breast cancer SURVIVORS!!! We will be joined by Penney's daughter, husband, father, mother and hundreds of other people. I am SO excited to be walking in honor of the woman I admire and respect the most and from whom I've learned SO much. I wouldn't be the person I am today without her. :) I'll be taking tons of photos and posting them in my Kodakgallery. I can't wait to share!!! GO KOMEN!!
ps - I earned $111 towards my fundraising goal by working at Sonic this past Sunday from 830a-6p. :)
Wednesday - 6.4.08 - Back to back updates. Woohoo! What's up with that?! :) I skipped running last night bc my back hurt. Was it better today? Nope. Strange but I'm not going to worry about it. I have a feeling it's related to house-hunting stress. :\ Right now the house thing is on hold. WAY too long of a story to go into and not interesting anyhow. Instead of cross training today I had a doctor's appointment with the physical therapist (PT) I saw a couple of months ago. It was more or less a follow-up appt to show her the shoes I've been using (which she more than approves of) but it turned into a my-knee-is-giving-me-fits appt and she gave me TONS of stretches I need to be doing EVERYday. If the stretches don't help my knee then I would basically need surgery. Am I worried about that? Nope! :) No need to put the cart before the horse. I had issues training for a half and I overcame those. I'm going to stay positive and have the same mindset and then we'll see what the universe has in store for me. On a fundraising note, I earned $38 this week selling "Flip Flop Day" tickets at work. The kids could buy a ticket for $1 to be able to wear flip flops (which are a dress code violation) to school. Two other people I work with, who are also doing TNT, raised the same amount each. We combined efforts and split the money. Thank you Charissa and Katie for your help!!! :) We rock! Thank you to the kids who bought the tickets! You rock!
Wednesday - 6.11.08 - Today is the 11th? Seriously? So weird. Anyone want it to be the 9th? That's what I just tried to make it. So I skipped Saturday group run to do the Komen 5k in Plano in honor of my mom. It was a good time. :) If you haven't seen the pictures in my kodak gallery yet, email me and I'll send you the link. Also, check out the new pictures here from our pancake breakfast two Saturdays ago: http://deyoung.net/philip/tnt/album182.
I ran Monday morning in the park near my apartment. Good run but I only did 2 miles. After taking a week off I didn't want to push things. I tried to do yoga last night but I didn't allow myself enough time to realize the dvd I put in was a joke and be able to do a different dvd before I needed to shower and head to Irving for the nutrition clinic. Ugh. Oh well. Today...bike ride! Honk at me if you see me around town! :) This Friday I'm going to start going back to the Denton Natatorium for deep water aerobics to loosen my entire body up since our long runs are getting longer: 8 miles this weekend. It's funny to me how I used to think anything less than 6 was a waste of time and sweat. :) Now I'm back to being nervous about 8 miles. I watched a Nova documentary last night about 13 random everyday people who were picked to train for 9 months for the Boston Marathon and watched very closely. One was out because of stress fractures very early on. The rest ALL CROSSED THE FINISH LINE! It was inspiring to watch that. Running is so much more of a mental game than people realize. I just have to keep reminding myself not to psych myself out. If I can do a half, I can do a full. :)
Come see me Sunday in Lewisville at the Sonic by Vista Ridge. I'll be there hopping all day.
Sunday - 6.15.08 - Happy Father's Day to all the fathers out there! :) I spent the day working at Sonic in Lewisville from 830am-6pm. LONG day. I'd say I spent the day hopping but actually I spent most of the day inside doing trays. It's just as brutal to your feet as hopping. :)
Rewind to Friday. I went to deep water aerobics Friday night to loosen up all my muscles and get a total body workout to try to help make Saturday's 8mile run a good one. Did it help? You betcha! I was tired after 30 minutes in the pool, but that was because I hadn't done deep water since last summer. My body had forgotten what it felt like to do that class. I slept well Friday night. :) Saturday we did the south course for the first time this season. As usual this season I was nervous about the run. I had MAJOR knee pain two weeks ago doing 5 miles and didn't do 6 miles last weekend because I was out doing the Komen 5k. I expected to *maybe* be able to do 6 miles yesterday because I figured my knee would prevent me from doing all 8. I was WRONG. WOOHOO!! I did still have knee pain and for quite a while, but it eventually subsided like it usually does when it kicks in around mile 8 and goes till mile 10 in a half marathon. Whatever. Point being, I did all 8 miles and it was a GREAT run! It was hot out and the sun was beating down on us most of the time, but it was an amazing run. I don't care that my pace was 12.75min/miles either! :) I ran with my mentor, Vanessa, for a while and around mile 4 I mentioned I'd love to have a camera to take a picture of how red my face gets. She looked at me, paused, then said, "Oh it's not that red. I've seen it redder." :) Too funny.
We had a few surprises when we got back to the parking lot. The best surprise was baby wading pools filled with ice cold water!!!! If I had the time you better believe I would have been sitting in there. I needed to get home so I was only able to soak my feet for a few minutes. It felt AMAZING. Thank you to whoever came up with that idea!!! One more thing about yesterday's training. Vanessa and I ran in together and the video guy was there. He videos trainings and will make a personalized video of the entire season for you. (for a price) Anyhow, as Vanessa and I ran in we pretended to be grabbing at each other to prevent the other from crossing the invisible finish line first. Pretty silly stuff. Then we held hands and threw our arms in the air and crossed the invisible finish line as friends. I hope I get to see the footage some day. :) Let me know if you want to see a reinactment.
Fundraising Event - Cantina Laredo in Lewisville - Wednesday, June 25th - 530pm - 9pm - Silent Auction bidding concludes at 8pm. Come see us in non-running attire, eat some tasty mexican food, enjoy some refreshing margaritas, and bid on fabulous auction items! (We need at least 100 people to come out for dinner to get 10% of that night's sales.)
Monday - 6.16.08 - Happy Birthday, Robyn! :) I just wanted to tell a quick story about tonight. I invited Emily, whose grandmother I am running in honor of, to join me at water aerobics tonight. (Yes, I skipped running. On purpose.) She happily agreed and this is what she said after being in the pool only a few minutes: "The life guards look pretty bored. You wanna give them a little scare?" I laughed so hard. :) How many calories does laughing burn? I might have burned more laughing than actually swimming!
Saturday - 6.21.08 - Rewind back to Tuesday. We did hill repeats. I made it up once without stopping, then two more times up but had to walk from time to time. Good workout. On the way to the hill I got to play a little mental game. Not by choice. :) One of my coaches walks as fast as I run. No. Correction. FASTER than I run. Try running and having someone briskly WALK past you! :) That's ok. I just do my own thing. It's not about time. It's about staying healthy, being out there, and remembering why I'm out there.
Yesterday was Friday and I prefer to do deep water only to loosen up. I had too much to eat Thursday night (but it was SOO good) so I decided to go for a bike ride before water class. An awesome mentor/triathlete friend of mine invited me to bike with her near the natatorium. It was a great 8 mile ride! There were just enough hills to be challenged. Whew. Plus I learned a lot on the ride thanks to Yvette and all her knowledge! "Where you look is where you'll go." Ie, if you look at a tree you're going to ride into the tree. I nearly rode into a car. :) Oh, and putting on a bathing suit post hour-long bike ride....not easy. :) I got into the pool area to find out our instructor was m-i-a. No big deal. I've done that class enough times to be able to do my own workout. The lovely chlorine factor was outrageous once again so I didn't stay an hour. Someone needs to find a happy balance. Chlorine headaches and burning eyes aren't fun. But, it was worth it after the 95+ degree ride! Woo Hoo!
Today's run was 9 miles for Nike Full runners. I did 8. It was the same course as last week but my pace was slower today. Knee pain? Yup. As bad as last week? Nope. My knee and I need to have a talk. It needs to understand I'm going to keep running and it needs to suck it up and quit giving me grief! :) Post run I felt very pampered. We had mentors who stayed back "at camp" and filled up baby wadding pools again (to soak our feet) and brought me water while I iced. Plus there were ice cold rags to help you cool down. They even did a drawing for a TNT technical visor at the end. They are going to do a drawing each week. Man I want a visor. Hats in the summer just keep the heat in. I need a visor so my head can breathe! Anyhow, I managed a whopping 3 hours of sleep last night and then did 8 miles. Brain and body shut down time. After a fabulous 3 hour nap I'm still sluggish. At least I had a good run. :)
This Wednesday is our Cantina Laredo dinner and silent auction in Lewisville. If you come for dinner please tell the host/ess you are with TNT and make sure to find me to say hi! :)
Friday - 6.27.08 - Cantina Laredo was a huge success. We raised well over $2300 and that was from the silent auction alone! We'll have to wait a few weeks to find out what we made off the 10% of the food/drink sales from the night. Moving along, I ran last night. All this time I thought the loop in the park that I've been running for so long was 2 miles. Well, from where I've been starting that is. I ran with someone last night who has a garmin watch to track your distance and it was only 1.55 miles. Grrr. No wonder my times had been so fast in the past! :) Now I know. Man, I really want a garmin. I can't wait for my Economic Stimulus Payment to get here so I can go get one! :) Tomorrow we're doing DFW Metro's version of the Amazing Race during training. I'm psyched! I've never seen the show for more than 2 minutes so I only have a slight idea of what to expect. I'm pumped! Will let you know how it goes. 10 miles AND the race.
Saturday - 6.28.08 - Lots of excitement in the air at this mornings announcements! After the mentors and coaches talked a bit we had a "mission moment." We had a guest speaker (whose name escapes me) who talked about her brother (?) being diagnosed with Leukemia. Ten years earlier she had breast cancer (and beat it) and when her brother was diagnosed a year and a half ago she and her family signed up with TNT as a tribute to him. Ultimately her brother lost his battle and left behind a wife and child; then her cancer came back, this time in a rib and her spine. She had radiation and other treatments that damaged her heart. But now, today, she's clear and STILL training for marathons, now in memory of her brother. It was neat having someone IN PERSON visit our training and speak to our group.
After our guest spoke our coaches gave us maps for the amazing race. We did the 4.5 mile north course but if at a "question stop" you answered a question incorrectly you might have had to go "off course" and do extra mileage. No fear. It wasnt anything major. My partner and I answered all of our questions correctly. We were a perfect team! When one didn't know an answer the other did. :) WOOHOO! What is referred to as liquid crack? Soda. How many people have ever run a marathon? Less than 1% of the world's population. Those are the only two questions I can remember. Thank you to the mentors who made up the questions, dressed up and cheered us on, gave us medals as we crossed the make-shift finish line, and had to show up WELL before 6am to get their miles in. Thanks to everyone who brought the food for today's training. I'm still feeling like a 3 yr old because I didn't get any cake. :)
On the menu today was 10 miles. I did 9, but not without some of the worst knee pain imaginable. If anyone knows an AMAZING doctor who can fix me while I continue to train I'd love a reference. Reality bites and today was the first time I realized that I really might be having to drop back to the half whether I want to or not. And, I might have to drop altogether. I have to remember only part of the reason I'm in this is to run, but it KILLS me to think I might not be able to accomplish my goal. Now? Ever? The unknown bugs me. Favor, I prefer to write about this issue here but not discuss it. I'm going to keep training and hope that my current injury is just a blip like it was last year. My body will let me know if I can keep ignoring this (like I've done in the past) or if I need to stop. Like my page says at the top, "pain is nothing compared to what it feels like to quit."
With regards to fundraising, though all the money isn't in yet and my little runner/swimmer/biker person at the top doesn't reflect it, I basically have about $500 left to raise! So exciting!! I will be working at Sonic one more time, working a garage sale, collecting items to put in one of TWO Denton dinner/silent auctions, and I'll be co-coordinating a happy hour wristband fundraiser. It's crazy to think I'm almost DONE meeting my goal. I still want to keep raising money even after I hit $3900. I keep thinking about MY honored heroes and how I wish treatments could have saved Robyn's mom and how they can continue to help Emily's grandmother. The ultimate finish line is still a CURE.
Saturday - 7.5.08 - FINALLY. I finally had a good long run. It wasn't great, but it wasn't bad so I'll take it! :) We did 8 miles today. OOOOO!! And we did the switchback hill...our version of Lombard St in San Fran!!! Did it twice even. Each Saturday is like a party after training. Baby pools are filled with ice cold water, folding camp chairs are set up, ice cold rags are available to help cool down, and tons of (mostly) healthy food is out for us to refuel after our miles. We're pampered out there! :) Today we had pancakes cooked fresh on a gridle. I'm telling you, this running thing ain't half bad. :)
I figured out where that random $9 came from. Each Saturday at training we have frozen pops for sale. The money made from selling those goes into a bucket and a name is drawn from those who were present at training that day. Apparently my name was drawn from last week's sales. Very cool. Oh, unintentional bad pun. Anyhow, thanks, Theresa!!!
Rewind to training this past week. I did deep water Monday. Tuesday we did the canal run. It's been a while since I've done that course. Ah, the memories. :) The only thing I now dread about Tuesday night training is where we go for dinner after. If someone chooses the nasty seven salsas for a third time in a row I think my head might spin around and smoke might come out of my ears. I think it's up to me to find an alternate location that has outdoor seating and margaritas. Oh. Wait. How about DOWN THE WAY FROM SEVEN SALSAS TO BOOMERJACKS?! Can you tell I hate sevennastysalsas?! Come on people, have a palate. ANY palate. ;) Moving on, Wednesday and Friday I rested (bc I was feeling lazy I suppose) and Thursday I did 4 miles...down to the movie theater and back to the park. I had a much faster pace than usual because I was forcing myself to run harder. If I'm going to have to drop because of a knee injury, I'm at least going to go out fighting trying to get my pace back. Humph.
More fundraising news. I talked to the manager, Jimmy Meredith, at Sweetwater, a local bar/restaurant here in Denton and nailed down a date for the happy hour wristband fundraiser. Thursday, July 17th. For a minimum donation of $5 you can get a wristband to get happy hour prices until....drum roll please....2am! Whoa! I made up a flyer and it's time to start spreading the word and get people out there! Mark your calendars and come see Katie and me. :)
Wednesday - 7.9.08 - WE DIDN'T GO TO SEVEN SALSAS LAST NIGHT AFTER PRACTICE! :) ha! I crack myself up. Very few people showed for training last night. No clue why. It's probably better that they didn't because after running a mile and a half on the track the clouds moved in enough to bring lightening and rain. Rain we run in. Lightening, not so much. We did time trials to predict pacing during different parts of training: base-building, race prep, etc. I know. All that means nothing to you. That's ok. I only understand it a bit myself. :) Shh. Don't tell my coaches I said that! :) I had every intention of running a 5k last night to get a better idea of pace predictions, but because of the lightening and my shin I only did a mile. I decided last night that enough was enough. I talked to my PT this morning and my shoes are not causing my pains. I made an appointment with my orthopedist for next week. I'm done hurting. I don't foresee myself doing the full this year. I'll be lucky if I can do the half. I'm hoping if I take some time off and switch to the half marathon schedule I can jump back in and make it to Cali and still run Nike. I'm absolutely going to flip out if I can't go at all. Horse - Cart. Must stop. :)
I am SUPER excited about next Thursday. It's our happy hour wristband fundraiser at Sweetwater!!! On the 26th we'll have a team garage sale INDOORS in Denton. On the 30th we'll have the first of TWO Denton silent auction/dinners at The PourHouse Sports Grill. The second will be in September at El Guapo's.
This weekend I'm taking a belly dancing class Saturday. A fellow runner has set this up and it should be tons of fun! Sunday I'll be at Ray Roberts Lake at 530am volunteering at the Disco Tri and then hopping at Sonic in Lewisville in the afternoon. Ooooo my friend is letting me borrow her HUGE 70s wigs so we can show support for the athletes at the tri. I can't wait to get dressed up again and body mark!!! Turns out my cousin is actually going to be competing in this tri also! GOOD LUCK, LACEY! :)
Come see me at Sonic, or Sweetwater, or at the garage sale, or at the dinner/silent auction. Heck. Come see me at all of them! :)
Mission Moment - Please watch this 3 minute video. This is just a reminder that you are truly making a difference with each donation and changing the lives of so many. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_gZCPABAe1Y&NR=1. (highlight and copy this link to view)
Disco Tri was almost as much fun this year as it was last year! I missed the continuous 70s music playing this year. I'm not sure why they didn't have it. The set-up was definitely different. Maybe that's why. This year I was able to do body marking again. I had a fabulous 70s style outfit going on thanks to a friend who let me borrow her stuff. I kept saying, "peace," "love," and "groovy" over and over. :) I got a lot of compliments on my outfit. Good times. After body marking for a while some of the volunteers hung out at the volunteer tent waiting for our next assignment. The participants were lined up on the beach to do their swim. Next assignment: "crowd control" at the beach exit. We spread ourselves out along the beach to make a line for the swimmers to run thru as they made their way toward the bikes to transition the bike portion of the tri. We cheered for everyone for quite a while. After all swimmers were in a few of us then went to work the finish line chute. After biking the athletes had to run a 5k. We cheered runners across the finish line and then took their timing chips from around their ankles. When you run your chip is attached to your shoe. When you do a tri you don't wear shoes in the water so you have to attach your chip another way. Everyone wears a velcro strap around their ankle with their chip attached to it. Those things were smelly and wet by the time the athletes crossed the finish line! :) Whew! We also gave out vitamin water and finisher hats at the finish line chute. Not much else to tell about the tri. I earned another $50 in volunteer credit towards my fundraising goal. Woo Hoo!
Today I went to the orthopedist to see about my left knee and right shin. Here's how things have played out over the past few months:
Doctor 1 (Formerly in Sports Medicine) – get new shoes, prescribed orthotics, do stretches, suggested bone scan for right leg.
Doctor 2 (Physical Therapist) – suggested orthotics or motion control/stability shoes, do stretches.
Pain – doctor 2 says shoes not the problem, it’s the knee, suggests surgery.
Doctor 3 (Orthopedist) – wont discuss shin splints/possible stress fracture, says I need to lose weight, recommends $575 mri for knee, says shoes could be the problem.
WHAT. I am SO tired of going to doctors and getting so many different suggestions and diagnoses. *I* still think the new shoes are the problem. So, I could buy yet another $100 pair of shoes and hope they work. Or, I could spend hundreds for an mri and possibly spend more if surgery is needed. In my current frame of mind I am done with running. I’m done spending hundreds of dollars on shoes and doctors and gas going to practices. I’m sure tomorrow, after having slept on it, I’ll still love running but still won’t be willing to spend anymore money trying to figure out what is wrong and how to fix my injuries. Suggestions? Thoughts? Comments? Bring them on. I'm at a loss.
Thursday – 7.17.08 – I want to apologize for not giving more information in my last update or mass email I sent out. Given the frame of mind I was in when I updated and based on the emails I received I obviously left some information out. Also, I’ve had time to process and think and consider my options. I’m still not running and am only able to do *some* cross training right now. It’s going to be a long recovery for this shin thing. I had four options and right now I’m contemplating one specifically. Without going into a lot of detail about my 4 options (if you want to know them you can email me), as of right now I’m going to sign up to walk the half at Nike but not actually do it. I’ll still be able to go to California, but I’ll be cheering instead of racing. This might actually be more of a challenge than training for a marathon. To go out there and see everyone doing what I so badly want to do. I received an email today from a guy who has been at training and videotaping our practices to make a documentary type video for purchase. He sent a 30 minute “taste” of what he has to offer. In watching just 15 minutes of this video it was bittersweet. I laughed. I cried. I had to stop it to finish getting ready to get to the bar by 6pm! ? (If you want to see the video please email me.) I made a commitment to train for a full and raise $3900. While I am not going to be able to reach my goal of running my first full, I AM still going to reach my fundraising goal. Heck, after tonight I’ll easily be in the 110% club. AGAIN! ? Very exciting. Many of you have asked what else I can do instead, if I’ll run again, etc. Yes, I want to run again. When that will be is completely up in the air. I want to do a sprint tri next summer. I can swim, stretch, and do weights right now, but as of today I still can’t bike or do the elliptical. Not being able to do various cardio workouts is going to get boring, but I need to focus on what I *can* do and not what I can’t do. I am having to focus on being grateful for the abilities I *do* have. Life sure is funny…what you learn along the way. For whatever reason, the universe is telling me to wait to do my first full marathon. Yes, I WILL do a full marathon some day. Some how. Whether it be running or race walking I WILL do a full. “When?” is the question and I’m not in a hurry to answer it.
Moving on, I am still fundraising. I can’t wait to tell you about TONIGHT! My partner in crime, Katie, is still at the bar. It’s after 11pm and I’m home. I’m tired! ? Before I left we counted and we raised over $600. CRAZY! First of all I want to thank Katie for helping me organize and promote this event. You rock! Second I want to thank Mr. Jimmy Meredith, co-owner/manager of Sweetwater in Denton for allowing us to host this event at his establishment. His daughter, Stephanie, has completed events with TNT in previous years so he is well aware of what an amazing organization LLS is and was behind us 100% in our efforts. (Thank you for helping us raise even more money than we would have. *wink* *wink*) Third, thank you to my TNT peeps, Vanessa and D’Ann, and Emily Taylor for coming out and for all the people she invited who also came out. Tonight was for her grandmother. I really appreciate your support! Last, thank you to everyone tonight who donated and either got a wristband or who just flat out gave money and waved off the wristband. Thank you to all the strangers (and new friends!) who trusted Jimmy and Katie and myself to give to us and trust their money was going to the right place. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. To everyone! GO TEAM!!
Wednesday - 7.23.08 - Our team garage sale is going to be this Saturday in Denton at St Paul Lutheran Church just off the square. It will be indoors and we will selling hot dogs and sodas. The sale will be from 8m until 4pm. Come on out and buy some stuff! :)
Also, check out the team photo album. New photos abound! Copy and paste the link below. It should be of a specific picture: honored hero photos including Billie and Jane! Oh, and if you look through all the pictures from that particular album you might see me wearing.........PINK! ew. :) It was "Nike Day" at training and my purple race shirt smelled like BO so I wore my Nike Finisher shirt instead.
http://deyoung.net/philip/tnt/album189/4_G_001
Tuesday - 7.29.08 - The garage sale was a huge success!! We raised over $1250! Thank you to everyone who donated items to go in the sale!!! Thank you to those of you who stopped by to do a little shopping. :)
Tomorrow night (Wednesday) is our next team fundraiser. It will be another dinner/silent auction. This time it will be in DENTON!! Woohoo! Join us at The PourHouse Sports Grill from 5pm-9pm. (It's by Cinemark.) Come have some brick oven pizza and bid on fabulous auction items. If we get 100+ people there PourHouse will donate 10% of the night's food and beverage sales to LLS. Be sure to tell the host/ess you are with TNT! I hope to see some familiar faces. :)
Thursday - 7.31.08 - Well, yet another dinner and silent auction fundraiser has come and gone. We raised over $3,500 from the auction alone!!! We're waiting on the 10% check from the PourHouse from the night's food and beverage sales. One of the employees commented that they have never had people have to wait for a table before, muchless have to wait an HOUR! :) And what a fun location to hold event. The room we had the auction items set up in was like a home theater... on steroids. :) Huge tvs mounted on the wall, "leather" recliners, stadium seating/booths. Despite the rain we had an amazing turn-out and a lot of fun. I can't wait to see how much we raise at the silent auction/dinner at El Guapo's in September!
Saturday - 8.9.08 - When did I last update?! Fundraising update. Have I mentioned I'm officially done fundraising? :) I've been "giving" money away to others who are still working hard to reach their goal. I volunteered to work Sonic today from 4-10pm at a Flower Mound location I hadn't worked before. Things were so different at this place compared to the Sonic in Lewisville that I'm used to working. Little things that would bore you so I won't share. :) I ended up leaving at 8pm because it was soooo slooooow. I got Vanessa (my fabulous mentor) 4 hours worth of fundraising, though. If we break $10/hr we'll be lucky.
Training update. Hm. What to say. I'm still not running. I'm out for 6 months. The first of the year is *maybe* when I'll start running again. I've been stuck with swimming as my only cross training. My shin still hurts everyday. Working Sonic was a good test to see where I'm at physically since I was on my feet for 4 hours straight. It hurt. Not bad, but enough to let me know that I still can't put cardio back in to my workouts. THIS IS FRUSTRATING ME TO NO END. I have gained 15 pounds and none of my clothes fit and I MISS THE ENDORPHINS!!! ugh. I miss the variety in my workouts. Be careful what you take for granted, people. Anyhow, eventually I'm going to incorporate cardio back into my life. Just not yet. The last thing I want to do is have a flare up and have to be out even longer. So, should I share this next bit or keep it under wraps even longer. I'll share. I've told several people already - mostly coaches and fellow runners just to see what they think. I turned in my recomittment paperwork this week and I'm officially signed up to walk the full with an early start. I know, I know. How the heck can I do a full if I can't even train. I'm not. At least that's not my plan. I needed an early start time and the only way to get that is to be a walker and sign up for the full. I can enter the race as full but then at the half-way mark take the turn and just do the half. This way I have HOURS and HOURS to walk 13.1 miles but I am still able to do the race. I'm hoping to start training in September. Walking. That's it. No running. Fear ye not. If I can walk a 20 min/mile pace then I can do the half in under 4.5 hours. The mental challenge of walking a half in that amount of time is going to be harder than running a full. If i hadn't gotten injured and I were still able to run I could do a full in another 60 minutes. But, this is not about time. Or distance. It's about crossing the finish line and about the people we're helping by fundraising. We got an email this week telling us we've raised over $100,000 in 4 months. How's that for awesome?! So, I'm signed up to walk the full but I'm merely hoping to do the half. I'll know more in September and then again at the beginning of October what will actually happen. I refuse to give up. I might have mental break downs every now and then, but ultimately I'm a fighter and I hate throwing in the towel. I find ways to make things happen. :)
Monday - 8.1..08 - New quote:
"Run when you can, walk when you have to, crawl if you must; just never give up."
Tuesday - 8.12.08 - If you thought $100,000 was a lot to have raised in just a few months, try over $160,000!!! HOLY COW!!!! You should feel proud to be a part of that number. Thank you for helping us get there....but we're not done! We have a movie ticket (studio movie grill) fundraiser going on. If you'd like more info please call or email me. There will be another silent auction/dinner in September in Denton. Details to come.
Our coaches sent out their weekly email. Coach Kathy talked about "hitting a wall" during training and how to deal with it if it happens and also how to avoid it. Nike Full participants have 16 miles to do this weekend. I wish I could train with them. I WANT to hit a wall. I want to feel that feeling. I emailed my mentor and told her my wish. She's run a full. She knows all about the wall. She replied, "I pray for you to hit a wall everyday." HA! That's why I love my mentor! :) She always makes me laugh. Some day I'll have my own wall to hit. I can't WAIT!!! :)
Monday - 8.25.08 - I've been back at work for a week now. I still have daily shin pain but that's no surprise. The shock so far is that it hasn't been as bad as I anticipated. I'm doing tons more walking compared to the past couple of months while I've been off work. The rest of this week is going to be a huge indicator of when I can start walking to get back into training. The other day I hit my shin on a milk crate and I completely lost it. My leg was throbbing the rest of the day with random intense sharp pains thrown in just to make sure I remembered what I did. What struck me as odd was the very next day I woke up with zero pain. How cool is that?! :) I emailed our nurse at work and the person she consulted about stress fractures had the same recovery time frame as I gave myself: 6 months off. See, I KNEW that orthopedist I went to wasn't worth a flip. Two to three months. Please. I went to Saturday training this past weekend. I missed everyone so much!!! Vanessa, my mentor, and I went to the mile 2 water stop and cheered for people. It was "Celebrate Texas" day at training for our San Antonio and Dallas Half participants. Good times. GREAT BURRITOS! :) Fingers crossed this week back at work and being on my feet all day doesn't hurt and I can go to training this weekend as a participant again! I'm even going to try to go to Tuesday/Thursday night trainings again. Woohoo!!! I'm psyched!!!
Saturday - 8.30.08 - Happy Labor Day Weekend. Guess what? It's on like Donkey Kong! Whatever that means. :) I only swam a couple of days this week and was on my feet a LOT bc of work (the kids are back!) so I was super nervous about this morning. I went back to training...TO TRAIN! Because my body has lost everything I had physically (muscle, the ability to be able to avoid el potti until after running my miles, etc) as soon as announcements were over I jetted on over to the local gas station. :) I got back in time to see our fearless Capt Carrie and another runner going on a different course than the rest of the team. After telling them I was only walking today and that I would be super slow they said they'd wait for me. So, off we went to Lifetime Fitness and then around some course I'd never done before. Love new routes. I remember last year I HATED new routes. :) Anyhow, we were back to an area I recognized and we were acting silly. At some point someone asked, "where are we?" and I replied "we're neither here nor there." That was just too funny to us (no, I don't expect anyone else to be laughing at this), so I decided I needed to call mentor-in-camp, Theresa, to play a goofy joke. We wanted her to 1) ask us where we were so we could say "neither here nor there," 2) offer to come get us so we didn't have to walk the rest of the way back, and 3) bring money to buy us doughnuts where we wanted to be picked up. :) We couldn't get ahold of her so we called one of our amazing coaches, Marshall, and he answered. He called us deadbeats for wanting HIM to buy US doughnuts and then asked us if we'd been drinking! :) Good times being back into training with silly stories that are ONLY funny to us! :) I did 4.22 miles which is equivalent to just under 17 laps on a track (full marathon = 106 laps!). Sounds so little considering what I used to be able to. Am I sore? You BETCHA! :) My (probably unrealistic) goal is to do 5 miles next week, then 6, and so on for the next 5 weeks. While I'm signed up to walk the full, I'm still only planning on walking the half. I have the early start option, but Mentor-through-the-ages, Ken, suggested instead that I start at the normal start time to take advantage of course support and those that will be out cheering on the course. I now have a whole new decision to make. I can either walk with pro-walker, Janet, and start at the normal time and have someone to hopefully be able to keep up with and talk to, or, I can take the early start alone in case my leg flips out and I need more than 4-5 hours to walk the half. *sigh* Tough decision. I'm going to have to think about this one. Really I just need to take the next few weeks to try to walk some to be minutely ready to walk 13.1 miles. How that goes will ultimately determine what time I start the race. I might not have to make a decision after all - it might be made for me.
Thank you to Carrie for sacrificing your training to walk with me this morning. And thank you everyone today that asked how I was doing. Your genuine concern for my being back at training really meant a lot. I...(can't say run)...train with some of the most amazing people on the planet. I am so lucky to have joined the DFW Metro group. :) I do need to throw in that...YOU'RE ALL NUTS! :) Oh yeah, Good Luck Coach Philip with your first full Iron Man tomorrow!!!!!!!!! Rock it out!
Thursday - 9.11.08 - Last Saturday I walked 5 miles. Nothing really spectacular about the walking except the things I noticed on the course. I've been running that route for over a year and walking it gives you an entirely different perspective. Someone has weird faces on poles in their front yard. I do NOT know why. There are a lot of messed up mailboxes on that route as well. I saw a fabulous orange cat in the bushes that did not like the idea of my petting it. :) Anyhow, walking is SO much more difficult mentally, esp when I see runners in front of me and runners passing me. :\ This Saturday I'm going to try for 6 miles. I considered doing the Tour des Fleurs Race on the 21st but really I don't see the point. I don't need another race shirt and two hats. I already have tons of both. Plus, I want to be able to RUN a race, not walk it. All in good time I hope.
I've been swimming more lately. This is the first time in my life I've ever been able to swim with my face in the water. EVER. Really. I've had to force myself to do it. I tend to suck water up through my nose. :) Well, I still do that but I'm more focused now and try to avoid that when possible. :) I've been "tri swimming." The other night at the pool some lady who was quite full of herself tried to give me pointers. I welcomed them until I kept shooting them down. She might be training for nationals, but that is not the same thing as training to swim in a triathlon. You don't use your legs in a tri swim. You are supposed to save them for the bike and run portions of the race. Also, you turn your body over more and kind of roll while swimming. Something else the nationalswannabe learned. :) I found out recently that a lap is actually down AND BACK in a pool. And here I thought I was doing all kinds of laps when I was only doing half. :) I'm forcing myself to count actual laps (down and back) and do more of them if swimming and weights are the only things that I can do, esp to get the weight off. I've lost 5 lbs so far but I need to keep it up. I'll be doing 6 miles this Saturday. Too bad I can't walk on my hands at Nike. I bet with all the arms-only swimming I'm doing my arms would be strong enough! jk Could you imagine?! :)
This Sunday I'll be volunteering at Lake Ray Roberts again at another tri. My cousin will be participating in this one as well! GO LACEY!! This Monday, the 15th, our team is having another dinner and silent auction at El Guapo's IN DENTON!! So all you D-town people come support us. :) Dinner and bidding start at 5pm. The auction closes around 8pm. Hope to see you there!!
Wednesday - 9.17.08 - Hello party people! I have changes to announce. Nothing major. No need to hold no to you seat for fear of falling out. The tri last weekend was postponed till this weekend. This Sunday. After going to training last weekend and listening to everyone talk about how THEY are going to do Tour des Fleurs I decided *I* wanted to do it after all! :) I walked 6 miles last Saturday. Everything went well until the last mile or so. MAJOR pain... in... my... uh... my right butt cheek? Oh yeah. Major. I know what stretches I need to be doing now to help prevent that from happening again. Whew. So this weekend I won't be sleeping in at all. I'll be up by 430am both mornings - Saturday to be at White Rock to do a 10k, Sunday to be at Lake Ray Roberts to volunteer.
In swimming news, training is going... swimmingly. :) This is the first time in my life that I've been able to swim with my face in the water. When faced with necessity, it's mind over matter. I forced myself to learn to swim all by myself. :) With pointers from tri participants I've tried to mimick their form and breathing. I'm proud to say that last night at the pool, for the first time, I was able to take three stokes before I took another breath. This is HUGE for me. REALLY huge. Long story short, I have contact information for someone who has been swimming/coaching for 38 years. She said she would be able to give me a couple of private lessons to check out my form and technique. I'm psyched! :) Long story long, she's one of the wellness class instructors for DentonISD. I invited a fellow TNTr to do the wellness classes and she knows the instructor. Small world we live in. :) While I can't do the step and turbo kick classes till next year, I tried out the circuit class tonight and loved it. I plan on trying out pilates next week. Not sure about the yoga. We'll see.
In fundraising news, El Guapo's went... ok. I haven't yet heard what the cut was based on receipts. I do know that someone from work went and was seated at ten after 9 and they wouldn't accept their receipt towards the fundraising goal. UGH. COME on. Whatever. On the flip side, I think the waitstaff was giving out free queso coupons on the next visit. Very cool. :) There is another Sweetwater Wristband Happy Hour Fundraiser coming up next Wednesday night here in Denton. Come get your drink on. $5 will get you a wristband that will get you happy hour prices all night! *cheers*
Friday - 9.26.08 - Work has me stressed so much that I have zero desire to even turn my computer on when I get home in the evening. Still, I should have updated last weekend. Saturday I walked the Tour des Fleurs 10k. O. M. G. I was so BORED. I spent the first two miles walking at a 17min/mile pace which turned out to be too fast. My knee and shin started hurting. I slowed down and the pain went away. Overall my pace was just over 18 min/miles. I could have sworn I was the last 10k person to cross the finish line. I kept looking behind me and didn't see ANYONE for the last mile. Then cop cars passed me. I thought those were the ones who drove in to say "that's the last 10k'r." Guess not. I checked my results online the next day and I wasn't the last one after all. Place didn't matter to me, though. I just wanted to hang out with friends afterwards. Around mile 4 my stomach started growling a LOT. I started thinking about all the things I wanted to eat for breakfast. I listed them. Out loud. I was seriously talking to myself. Out loud. I'm telling you, walking is not my thing. I really was bored. Walking fast makes you focus on posture, etc. I couldn't do that. I mistakenly thought I wouldn't want/need my ipod. New mantra: always bring your ipod. always bring your ipod. :) After nearly two hours I finally crossed the finish line. Last year I ran the 20k and took so long that all the food was gone by the time I got back. This year I got back in time not only for the free food and ice cream but also for das beer! :) Who doesn't love free beer. :) I chilled out on the arboretum lawn to listen to the band and relaxed and then headed back down the hill to the 20k finish line to see my friends cross. Good times. After everyone in our run group that was there that day crossed a couple of us went to have greek food for lunch. Yum!
Saturday morning I was up by 415am to meet people to carpool to White Rock. Sunday I was up by 430am to be at Lake Ray Roberts to volunteer at a triathlon. Body marking once again. Man that never gets old writing on buff, good looking guys. :) After body marking I ws shipped off to no man's land on the bike/run course. Thankfully I was near an aid station and some friends so I had people to talk to before I had to direct cyclists/runners on the course. Easy job. Another free tshirt, too. Monday was interesting. I could barely walk. I've done body marking before. You basically do squats for an hour or two writing on people. Well, I've never been this sore before. I felt like I had just run a full marathon and was doing the "marathon shuffle" Monday AND Tuesday. I haven't been running and I am WAY out of shape. Doing squats/body marking Sunday KILLED me. Not being able to walk those two days was worth the volunteering to help a couple of people get some volunteer credit hours in as well as being able to see my cousin compete in the tri. She came in 2nd in her age group. Not only that but she is fully sponsored! :) Way to go, Lacey! :)
Thursday - 10.2.08 - Two major things have happened since last weekend. 1.) I woke up Saturday morning at 5am, got out of bed, started thinking about getting ready to go to training, then went back to bed. That is the FIRST time I have ever done that. I felt bad about doing it, but I know it was for the best. I had weekend plans that were going to require walking a LOT on Sunday. If I walked the 8 miles I planned on walking AND walked around a lot on Sunday I wouldn't be doing my leg any good. I'm not happy with my needing to not walk, but I know it was the best thing to do. :\ 2.) I've basically taught myself over the past few months how to swim with my face in the water...for the first time in my LIFE. I have worked my way up to, as of last night, being able to take 4 strokes and then a breath. This is HUGE. I even did a few "5 strokes" but not many. I still don't think my form is the best, but I know I've come a long way. It's going to make doing my first tri more fun and much easier. :)
I want to take a moment and do a plug for Komen. They are the breast cancer people. Don Herring Mitsubishi (three area locations) are doing a "bra drive" Oct 6 thru 25th. Take new and/or gently used bras to them to help breast cancer patients/survivors. Check out the Mix 102.9 website for more details. They are giving away TONS of prizes on the 6th at the DHM Irving location.
Everyone doing Nike in three weeks is now in taper mode. Reading the coaches weekly update was harder than usual. Not only am I not running I am not in taper mode. I'm not even sure I'll be able to s-l-o-w-l-y walk the half. :) Am going to crawl trying if I have to! :) If you've never considered yourself a runner, these quotes won't mean as much; here they are anyway:
"Pain is temporary; finishing is forever."
"There will be days when I don't know if I can run a marathon. There will be a lifetime knowing that I have."
"I run because I can. When I get tired, I remember those who can't run, what they'd give to have this simple gift I take for granted, and I run harder for them. I know they would do the same for me."
"Your body will argue that there is no justifiable reason to continue. Your only recourse is to call on your spirit, which fortunately functions independently of logic."
"Courage is being afraid but going on anyhow." ~Dan Rather
Saturday - 10.4.08 - Sing this song I your head: “who let the dogs out?!” Now use the same tune but change the words to “who moved the water stop?!” Man. Today was full of interesting things. Goals: 8 miles. 20min/mile pace. Find new things along the course to entertain you to avoid relying on ipod. Before I tell you whether I achieved my goals I’ll tell you my stories.
I strapped on my new “water belt” and took off walking. My belt holds a large water bottle and I was hoping it wouldn’t be too heavy to give me a back ache. So far no lower back pain even though I was carrying the extra weight. I’ll let ya know tomorrow if I have delayed onset pain. :) Ya know, kind of like being more sore the day *after* a race than the afternoon of? Anyhow, it was dark, as usual, when we started out. Lots of “blinkies” in front of me that soon disappeared. I got to the first water stop with no problems. I kept walking and passed a “fishing trail number 3” sign. Uh, what? I’ve heard of a fishing HOLE and a walking TRAIL but never a fishing trail. Walking is still very boring for me so of course I had to make up goofy jokes about this sign. “Hey Homer, whacha gonna fish for on the trail?” “Rocks! I’m gonna catch me some big rocks, and some small rocks, and some pretty rocks, and some ugly rocks.” Seriously people, walking is just not my thing. :) Maybe I should be thankful I’ve been walking alone so no one can hear all the utter nonsense that goes thru my brain (and out my mouth)!!! :) Later, after walking around 3 miles, I saw a building I had NEVER seen before. In nearly two years on this course, walking makes me see things I had never known were there! This building was large and not very hidden, but it was new to me. Also I saw a vulture in a tree. You know, like those cartoons with the leafless tree and the two vultures sitting there talking to each other? Only this time there was only one vulture. Later I thought I saw another vulture in another tree. Then he made a sound. Vulture? Not so much. Crow? Yep, a little bit. :) I also would SWEAR I saw the word “six” written in the sky by a plane. REALLY! The i and x were unmistakable. The s was a little smeared by the time the i and x were done. Fine, don’t believe me. I wish I had my camera!
More time passes. A fellow runner was going in the opposite direction and we stopped to chat for a minute. She had a Jolly Rancher and said there were Twizzlers at the water stop. I was excited! Woohoo!!! I mentioned really needing to go to the bathroom and she said the men’s side of the brick building was cleaner. I made a mental note, we wrapped up the conversation, and then I set about getting to the next water stop. I turned the corner at the stop sign and go farther and the closer I got to the water stop the more I realized 1.) there was no bathroom (like there used to be???) and 2.) there was no water set up. Uh, what? Whatever. I kept going towards the marina to use Little Pete’s potty and that’s where the extra .5 mile came in. That was the 4 mile turn around. On the way back, before I took the left at the same stop sign to go back I saw……ken’s truck, the brick building referred to earlier, and….the water stop…THAT HAD BEEN MOVED!!! UGH. I was ticked. I refused to add another extra half mile just for Twizzlers so I turned and went back. I almost got back to the parking lot without having to use my ipod, but I was wanting to sing and I couldn’t think of any songs so I used it. I freaked out not having it at the race recently but didn’t really need it this morning. Weird. I think because I *didn’t* have the choice that’s what made me wig.
Turning the corner to get to the parking lot where we “set up” I heard someone running behind me. Dude. This guy did the 4 mile course TWICE in the time it took me to do it once. DANG. That puts him at a 10min/mile pace. Schnikies that’s fast. Overall I had a great walk this morning. My left knee gave me fits the last mile or so. Nothing I wasn’t expecting. However, I had zero pain in my right shin. This is a GOOD thing. Woohoo!! Boy were my feet sore by the time I got back. Actually, they hurt more from mile 5 to mile 7 and then kind of went numb the last mile. :) Not numb in the true sense of the word. Too hard to explain so I won’t.
Oh! I didn’t talk about my fancy new water bottle that I couldn’t figure out how to use!! Duh. The “spout” was different from any I’d ever seen before. You just have to see it to understand. It wasn’t until I got back to “camp” and asked one of my coaches how to use it that I was actually able to drink out of it the way it was designed to be used! :) I was sloshing water all over myself on the course drinking out of it with the top off. :) New fangled water bottle. Additional function – powerful sprayer! Bonus! :) I love my new toy!
Hopefully you have figured out that I achieved my 8 mile goal. :) Having done 8.5 is just an added bonus. I’m looking forward to Nike even more now than a month ago because I’m not as nervous about the distance as I was. Whew. It’s still going to be a challenge, but I’m up for it. Maybe I’ll take advantage of the oxygen bar this year that’s around mile 7. :) I just wish I could go far enough on the full course to get my socks. :\ Oh well. I’ll settle for a Tiffany necklace instead.
Saturday - 10.11.08 - T-minus 6 days and counting till I'm on a plane to San Fran once again. If someone had told me this season was going to go the way it did I wouldn't have believed them. I'm still debating the early start versus the regular start. Everytime I think I have it figured out I second guess myself. I'll figure it out the night before and stop worrying for now. :) So this morning was Nike's last official training. I wanted to do 8 miles again just to see if I could, but since my leg has been acting up this week I thought 6 might be a better idea. I did 4. :) heh. I walked with Monica this morning which was a treat...to not walk alone. Thanks, Monica, for going slow and hanging out with me! :) At the 2 mile water stop she turned around and I kept going. I got to the 3 mile "guard shack" and that's when I heard a car crash. Long story short, I ended up calling 911 and lost my momentum. I found myself in Barbara's suv being given a ride to the 4 mile water stop and hung out with out fearless captain, Carrie, for the rest of the morning. No, I was not involved in the accident. Just a partial witness and it was all very sureal. I didn't feel like walking anymore and even though I really wanted to i lost my initial energy and just decided it might be a sign that I'm supposed to take it easy today and the rest of the week. Everything happens for a reason.
After training I drove to the Plano Don Herring Mitsubishi to drop off over 60 bras to benefit breast cancer. 43 of those bad boys were from my closet alone! Anyhow, DH is donating $5 for every new or gently used bra, up to $5000. Very cool.
As far as San Fran goes, the only thing touristy I have planned is going to Muir Woods Saturday morning. Other than that a lot of the time there is already occupied with race stuff. Not a lot of time to site see, but if you have any places you can suggest or things I should do please shoot me an email! :) I hear there's some chocolate place out there? Something about a bridge I need to check out? i'm kidding.
Well, I guess this is it. I'm not sure I'll be updating my page again before I go (I'll try!) so I'm going to take a moment to thank you all again...for everything. While this season has been more difficult physically and mentally than last year, I've once again learned a lot. Everything in life shapes us, makes us who we are. I STILL wish everyone I know could experience a full or half marathon, especially through Team in Training. The body and mind can handle more than we usually ever ask of it. Take a chance. You won't regret it. :) Thank you all for helping raise money to find a cure for blood cancers. Whether I make it across the finish line at Nike or have my first "DNF," the ultimate finish line will always be finding a cure for cancers. ALL cancers.
Go Team! Go Nike!
PS - Does anyone want to volunteer to take me to the airport Friday or pick me up Monday? :)
Wednesday - 10.15.08 - Well, it's getting closer! We had our send-off party at Black Finn in Addison Monday night. Same location as last year but we had a private room this time. We could hear each others conversations! We took a few minutes to go around and introduce ourselves this year and to say which group we're with and what we're most excited about. I said I was most excited for everyone who has never done Nike before. It really was an indescribable weekend for me. I hope it will be even more fabulous for the first-timers. :) My friend and fellow runner, Charissa, found a utube website. I hope you check it out. This is why I plan on rolling across the finish line this year. I did a litle math and I *think* that if I start at 530am and Charissa starts at 7am we'll get to the finish line around the same time. We can roll together!!!! :)
Check out the utube website about Jon Blais and why people roll.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Vrjp2P0GlE
Wednesday - 10.22.08 - We kicked hills at Nike! :) I'm back. I've been back actually. We got back semi late Monday evening. I've been trying to catch up on work, laundry, sleep, etc and I haven't had a chance to update here. Maybe this weekend? I'm going to create another Kodak gallery to share my photos from the trip. When asked by a friend how the trip was I replied, "same but different." I can't wait to tell you the differences! :)
Sunday - 10.26.08 - It's been a week and I'm finally starting to recover from sleep deprivation from last weekend. :) I'm uploading photos today to my Kodak gallery and it's taking for-EV-er. I'll be lucky if I can get them all uploaded AND get captions put in before midnight tonight. :)
We have three races this season: Nike, Dallas, and San Antonio. Yesterday was taper for Dallas in preparation for their race this coming weekend. It was also SA's long miles. 20 of them! A group of us are going to SA in a few weeks to cheer our people a long the course and across the finish line. Ha. Did you think we were going down to do another race a month after Nike?! Well, actually, we have a fwe people who are crazier than most runners and ARE doing another full that soon! Talk about hard core. :)
What's new with my running? Nothing. I'm still out till at least February. I'm not sure I'll be running by then but I can hope. I'm still swimming (even though I took this past week off because I was so tired and had a lot of work stuff to catch up on). I'm still volunteering with LLS/TNT and helping others meet their fundraising and training goals. I have no races coming up except the sprint tri next summer.
I'll have more to say about Nike but I do want to extend a special thank you to Leah and Megan. They know why. Nike this year kicked my rear mentally. The race itself was basically the same course. But DOING the race was NOT the same. All I can say is that I WILL return to Nike one day and I WILL...RUN...the FULL.
Thank you to everyone who helped me get to Nike again this year. Thank you for helping us get one step closer to finding a cure for blood cancers. New advances are being made all the time.
Saturday - 11.1.08 - Happy day-after-Halloween! :) I did NOT go to training today. I did NOT sleep in. I went garage saling. :) I think I got about 5 hours of sleep last night and a 30 minute pseudo nap this afternoon before needing to head to Lewisville to meet up with other car poolers to go downtown. Tonight was the Dallas Half participants pasta PAR-TAY!! WOOHOO!!! I FINALLY got to do something I've been wanting to do for over a year - be a part of a cheer line as people go into their pasta party. YAY! I had on my new purple wig (courtesy of CVS this morning) and we were all decked out with purple hats and gear and noisemakers galore. It was AWESOME! The athletes and their family members came down from their hotel rooms and as the elevator doors opened we were yelling and making a huge commotion to usher them into the banquet room. It was super nice in there. Thank you to the LLS staff for letting a few of us crash the dinner!!! We were not expecting that. We thought we'd just go down to cheer and then leave. Anyhow, we cheered, we ate, people spoke, and later participants decorated shirts. Good times. I found out a couple of fun facts this evening. I knew this was TNT's 20th year anniversary, but tomorrow is the NYC Marathon which marks the day of the inaugural race that began Team in Training. I hope I said that correctly. So cool. Twenty years ago people began raising money for LLS. Over $900 MILLION has been raised to find cures for blood cancers. When I said in my last update that new advances are being made all the time I wasn't just filling up space. A lady spoke tonight and gave us one specific example which makes receiving treatments much less painful. Also, TNT has trained over 380,000 people to cross the finish line of full and half marathons, century (100) bike rides, triathlons, and hiking events. TNT has changed my life. In little ways, in big ways. I wish everyone I knew could go through the same journey I've been going through since March of '07. ANYONE can do a half marathon. ANYONE. "Can't" is not an excuse. "Won't" is.
Because of my shock and disbelief I honestly had forgotten to even share my next piece of news. It's not good news either. I found out this past week that my honored hero, Jane Mosakowski, lost her battle with Leukemia. The loss of my friend's grandmother has been difficult. However, her family and loved ones are staying strong through this time. I was able to attend the visitation last night in Fort Worth and spend time with Emily and her family. There was a slideshow going on in the chapel and it was so fun to see Jane throughout the years. What really bothers me is that I once again have taken something for granted. I shake my head in frustration that I had so many opportunities to meet Jane but I never took advantage of them. Now she's gone. I guess I thought she'd be with us for much longer. I guess I like to live in some fantasy world and disregard reality instead of seizing each day as if it were going to be the last. I can regret my mistakes, but most importantly I need to learn from them.
Lastly, I have added TONS of photos to my kodak gallery but I have yet to finish adding captions. Give me another week? If you still read this blog and want photos now because you're tired of waiting for me to add words/stories please email me. I'll send you the link before I'm done. oooo sneak preview. :)
Tomorrow I'll be getting up at 5am to go to White Rock to cheer on our Dallas people. Go DRC HALF!!! GO TEAM!!
I run forever for others, forever for a cure.
In My Mind I Am a Kenyan - In The Mirror I Am An Albino Kenyan - In Reality I Am A Slow White Girl
"Brick walls are there for a reason; brick walls are not there to keep us out, but to give us a chance to show how badly we want something. They are there to stop the people who don't want it badly enough." ~Randy Pausch
