Sunday, October 21, 2007

11 miles! Longest run before the big race!

11 miles was tough. Back in August, I thought my worst challenge for the long mileage would be my lung capacity. Since, I now am in pretty good aerobic shape, I have had no problems with that in about a month. My problems now are in my knees and the arches of my feet. It has been really tough these last couple of long runs to stay positive about how I will do in 3 weeks. My knees are super sore. I guess I am just going to have to take it a bit easier these next couple of weeks than even the training schedule suggests. There is plenty of rest, ice, compression, and elevation in my future! Oh, and probably plenty of ibuprofen.

Thursday, October 18, 2007

Wednesday night track practice.....

I once again have decided that I HAVE NO GEARS!!! We ran 8 x 200m last night and boy are my legs sore! I wasn't even running at full capacity by the 3rd or 4th time, because I was so out of breath. It was a great workout, but definitely meant for a day when you're doing shorter mileage.

I have two recovery/stretch/strengthening days before the 11 mile run on Saturday. I'm so nervous! The one great thing about this run is that I know there are NO real hills. Hopefully that restores a bit of my confidence after last weeks run. My body is sore and tired, but I know that after these next 2 weeks, that I'll have 2 weeks of semi-recovery before race day. November 11th is right around the corner!!!!

Sunday, October 14, 2007

Why am I running for the TRMH, here is why!


My Story

In 1986 I was like any other 6 year old girl. I loved Barbies, dancing around the house, and would beg my mom for play dates with other kids in the neighborhood. The first time my mom let me spend the night at a new friend’s house, I was incredibly excited. It was the first time I was allowed to spend the night at someone’s house that wasn’t a family member.
I went over to their house fairly early and somewhere in the first hour of me being over there I was offered some avocado to eat. Being the polite kid that I was I accepted the offer, although I was not a huge fan of avocado. A few minutes later I asked for something to drink. The girl’s Stepdad offered me punch. I took the cup and swallowed just a little sip to taste the flavor of the punch. That one little sip would change the rest of my life.
The punch that I had taken a sip of turned out to be industrial dish soap that was 14% lye. My body automatically reacted to the poison invading my system. I was taken to 2 different hospitals before I finally ended up at Los Angeles Children’s Hospital. My stay there lasted three long months. During my stay at L.A. Children’s I had a gastrostomy tube put in my stomach, so I could “eat”. For a good majority of my stay I had a suction tube in my mouth so that I wouldn’t swallow any saliva and irritate my esophagus. At 6 years old, I couldn’t eat, had doctors poking and prodding me constantly, and was never more thankful to have my family at my side.
My mom was a single parent at this time and The Ronald McDonald House made it feasible for her to be with me during my stay at Los Angeles Children’s Hospital. At this time the house charged the occupants $5.00 a day, but would not turn away those that could not pay. The only trick was that there actually had to be a vacancy. After a week there was finally a vacancy and my mother was able to stay at The Ronald McDonald House for the rest of the time that I was at L.A. Children’s. When other family members would come to visit they would also have a place to stay at RMH.
As I get further and further into my training for the half marathon, I realize that I probably wouldn’t have made such a quick recovery if I hadn’t have had my family by my side. Many children that spend months, or even years in hospitals are not able to have their families with them. RMH makes it possible for children to have their families close in a time where they need them the most.

10 miles! Only 4 weeks till race day!

Yesterday was pretty brutal for me. Mile 3-5 was uphill. Hills are STILL not my friends. Miles 7-10 tend to lean toward the right. I was keeping myself moving forward by compensating more with my right knee. It is quite sore today. Next week is 11 miles and then we start phasing down for our last couple weeks before the race. I am still $700 from my fundraising goal.

Saturday, October 6, 2007

9.5 miles at RMH and THE DISH!!!

Today we ran a total of 9.56.... miles. I'm not quite sure what the rest of the numbers were. I do know that it was 9 1/2 :) Part of our run was at The Dish. The Dish is 3.4 miles of hills. I don't mean little, rolling, dipping hills, but instead big, steep hills that are meant to be climbed....almost. My time was not great, but because I stopped for a great stretch and had to walk up the first 2 hills at the dish, I'm really not going to count this time as one to see how well I'll do next month.
Next week is 10 miles at Sawyer Camp. That run should be a much better trail to figure out my race pace. Sadly, my running buddy won't be there, but I'm sure that I'll be fine. Good thing I got a new shuffle to keep me entertained! Now, I just need to go to REI and pick up some of the Sport Jelly Beans. They're the best!
Only 5 weeks till race day!