run melissa run

New blog name! New home blog...

2011-05-06T11:01:00.001-06:00

So I've decided to ditch "run melissa run" and move my blog here:

Ak Girl on the Run

I feel as though this name has some meaning to me as "run melissa run" was a little generic.

PLEASE PLEASE follow me at my new spot!

Hope to see you there :)

My Shoe Dilemma (like whoa)

2011-05-03T22:12:00.000-06:00

Alright. It’s about time I get down to business when it comes to my running shoes. Since running in Paris, I have experienced pretty severe pain in my right leg while running. I thought if I rested and gave my legs a break it would go away, but everytime I run, it comes back. I have self-diagnosed this pain (with the help from my exercise science major husband) as my IT band being really mad at me. That is as legitimate as any diagnosis I would receive from a sports medicine doc, right? Angry IT band? come on.

Anyway. I’ve decided to ~~spend hundreds and buy tons of shoes~~ try a few different kinds of shoes to see what works for me.
Here’s what I’ve bought over the past couple of days:

Shoe #1 - After the 5K last Saturday, I went to a local running store and was “fitted” for a new running shoe. I told the sales associate I was experiencing pain in mainly my right knee that spread up into my hip. She put me on the treadmill and recorded my feet as I ran and said I was mos def a pronator. I tried on several pairs of shoes and decided on these:

The Mizuno Wave Inspire 7

I also got some nifty insoles that cradle my heel and provide firm arch support. I ALSO got some SWEET pink knee high compression socks and a sports bra on clearance that has little birds on it.
SCORE.
So I got home later and walked around a little in the Mizunos. They felt big… really big. Probably because I normally wear a 6 and I bought a 7.5? Yeah. Whoops. I looked around online a little and saw that they carried the same shoe at REI, but in a nice aqua color. I also happened to have a pretty nice dividend at REI so I decided I’d go pick them up there and return the larger, yellower version of the shoe to the running store.
Shoe #2 - Mizuno in the blue color in a smaller, size 7

I was getting ready to leave REI but before doing so I decided to try on a pair of Nike’s I had been eyeballing. Shoe #3 - The Nike Lunarglide +2

I did a little reading about the Lunarglide when I got home and it seems like it’s a good “minimalist” shoe with a little added support for pronation. Perhaps just the right balance I need?
I’m having a really hard time going with a REAL running shoe, like the Mizuno, with its padding and support. I went from short distances in Vibram Five Fingers to longer distances in the Saucony Kinvara. The Kinvara is a great, lightweight minimalist shoe, but I think it’s a little too minimalist for my degree of pronation.

So now I find myself in a strange spot. I have my extremely minimalist “barefoot” style Vibram Five Fingers, the minimalist style Saucony Kinvara which aggravates my IT band after long distances, the still minimalist but with a little added support Nike Lunarglide, and the very supportive more like a real running shoe Mizuno Wave Inspire. I believe that extra padding and support could potentially lead to running injuries because I don't think it's necessarily a good thing to heal strike with a giant pillow/chunk of plastic under your foot. But I also don't feel, at this point, like I could run 10+ miles in FiveFingers either. I'm torn. Ohh geeee....Let the testing begin! On a side note, I got my shirt and bib in the mail today for the Susan G Komen "Race for the Cure" 5K this coming Saturday. I selected the smallest size shirt, a small, and later regretted it thinking that it may run small since they didn't offer an XS.

Yeah no. It's HUGE.

This weeks mission: Getting my shirt to shrink and hopefully finding a shoe that doesn't kill my knee.

Thanksgiving Point 5K Recap

2011-04-30T21:58:00.001-06:00

Here’s what went down on 5K Saturday. The night before, I was cramming to get homework done and ended up staying up until 12:30. Reluctantly, I took a 2 hour nap after I got off work that same night so I figured I’d be okay the next morning to get up early for the race. I was supposed to meet my friend at her house at 7 so we could drive down to Lehi together and have plenty of time to deal with traffic since it didn’t start until 8. My plan was to wake up at 5 so I could shower, eat, and be ready to go by 6:45 without having to rush and risk forgetting anything.

At about 6:25, I wake up to Nick shaking me. He asks me what time I was supposed to get up, to which I reply “5:00” knowing it was way past that. And then the madness ensued. No time to shower or eat, I threw my running gear on, made a PB&J for the road, grabbed my bib and time chip, and jumped in the car.

Throughout the night, the weather decided to be AWESOME and it snowed. A lot. And it was cold. This is what it looked like in my neighborhood as I was driving to Christeen’s house:

And a shot of the Wasatch

So I made my way towards Christeen’s house, but I had only been there once before and I was coming in from the opposite direction. Needless to say I got lost. My iPhone has not been working as for some reason it can’t determine my current location at all and since all the street signs were covered with snow, I had no idea where I was. Finally around 7:30 I made it to Christeen’s and we raced down to Lehi.

Much to my surprise, we made it on time and minutes before the race start. It was cold, but the sun was out and had melted most of the snow on the course so it could have been a lot worse. We were soon on our way. I felt really good for the first mile despite getting a side cramp and having right shoulder pain (I cracked something in my shoulder a few years ago while snowboarding and I get pain in it from time to time). I made my way along the course and had my iPod blaring as per usual.

There was a tulip festival going on at Thanksgiving Point and I’m sure that had they not been covered with snow, it would have been a really pretty run. We went through a few of the gardens and along the road. It wasn’t a great course but there was a few inclines that made my legs burn.
Coming to the finish, there was a large crowd gathered but NO ONE was cheering. It was a little disappointing. I finished ~~just barely~~ under 30 minutes though, which was my goal so I was pretty happy.

Here’s what my Garmin recorded:

Map

Summary

Splits

The splits are kind of hard to read. My first mile was 8:22, which I think may possibly be my fastest mile ever, second was 10:12, third was 9:26, and then .19 was 1:55. I didn’t hit stop on my Garmin right away so the time differs from my actual chip time, which was 29:25.1. I finished 100th overall out of 521 people AND 5th in my age group, out of 78 people.

FRIGGIN PROUD OF MYSELF. 5th in my age group!! I think that’s a big deal. I know the competition wasn’t steep and it was just a normal little 5K, but it makes me feel pretty good about myself.

Here’s a picture of Christeen and I after the race

She ~~puked a few times shortly after the start~~ had some complications with her breakfast and finished a few minutes after me.

Here’s a picture of the medal and the shirt.

I have two medals now!! I friggin love these things. I can’t wait to collect more.

Marathon de Paris and Thanksgiving Point 5K

So my pain came back in my right leg so something must be done about this. It’s pretty frustrating to experience excruciating pain after only 3 miles. I honestly don’t know how I was able to finish 26.2. I’m going to try to go get fitted for new shoes and see if that helps or not.

I signed up for another 5K next Saturday. The Susan G. Komen “Race for a Cure” series is going to be in Salt Lake so I’ll get decked out in pink and be running for a good cause. My friend Stephanie will be in town because she’s graduating (LUCKY) so it should be a good time!

I’m hoping for sun this time. And warmth. And no pain.

Friday! 5K eve. fist pump

2011-04-29T21:38:00.000-06:00

So, I clicked the Outlook icon on my desktop, scrolled through the new messages indicated in bold, and I came across this little gem:
“Dear Melissa Strautins,

The Winged Goddess of Victory has spoken. From the 30,000+ registration entries we received, we’ve drawn the names of the lucky women who will get the chance to run in the 2011 Nike Women’s Marathon.

Unfortunately, your name was not one of them.”

LE SIGH.

So I didn’t get selected in the random drawing for the NWM. There is always next year, right?! I would sign up for it via Team in Training, but I honestly don’t have it in me right now to fund raise ~~ever~~ again.

So now what? What AM I going to do?

I still have the Thanksgiving Point 5K tomorrow! Yay! However, the weather looks like it’s not going to play nice and it’s probably going to rain or snow, which it’s currently doing right now. Good thing it’s just a 5K though and I can get out of there asap and back home to ~~my bed~~ do productive things.

Because I was not selected for the Nike Women’s Marathon, I embarked on a frantic internet search to find a new race to train for.

I must have something to train for. Otherwise it will not be done.

I found several local events that I may consider signing up for. I’ve decided that since my husband is in the military and we move around so often, it would be wise for me to try to participate in events in my area. When am I going to be in Utah again to run an event in Moab or Zion? Yep. Local races it is.

I drove to Lehi this morning before work to pick up my bib for the 5K tomorrow. This shirt is super cute. The neck is weird though…it’s kind of tall and baggy. So, that’s no bueno. But the shirt is cute so whatever.

I had previously considered running the half marathon instead but I’m a little relieved I chose the 5K not only because I’m still babying my legs, but because the shirt for the half was a really ugly orange color. Cute shirt? I feel as though I’m already a winner. After all, it’s all about the shirt. Right?

I also signed up for the Susan G. Komen 5K next weekend that I will be running with my friend Stephanie. I’m not sure if I will keep signing up for 5K’s or what at this point since I’d really like to find a longer distance event to do.

But before I do that, perhaps I should actually start training?

Maybe that’s a good idea?

Or perhaps I should figure out my schedule and incorporate some running somewhere?

YEAH, GOOD PLAN.

I’m having serious time issues with juggling work, school, my non-existent social life, and downtime with my husband. I just can’t figure out how to squeeze running into my daily routine. I work from 8:30-5, Mon-Fri and when I get off I normally have an assignment due because I procrastinate or I have to make dinner or do laundry or something along those lines. I’m taking online classes at Hawaii Pacific University to finish up my degree in Business Management, so most of my assignments are due midnight Hawaii time (3 AM Utah time). So I put them off until the last minute and frequently find myself staying up late.

Maybe I need to dedicate one whole weekend to try to get ahead in my classes so that way I have free time throughout the week and can do something physical?? I’m really starting to get frustrated with myself.

Not much of a running blog if I don’t do any running.

Wish me luck tomorrow! First 5K will soon be in the books.

On the horizon - My first 5K

2011-04-26T22:42:00.001-06:00

I ran 2 miles today. With no pain! My first pain free run since the marathon. Even though I’ve only ran twice and a total of 5.5 miles since my 26.2 through the streets of Paris two weeks ago, I'm just proud I'm sticking with it. My run tonight was on my treadmill and I didn’t warm up or stretch, which is pretty normal for me. I wore my VFF Bikilas though, so that’s probably why I’m pain free. I have a funky strike with my right foot, so wearing normal shoes usually means pain. I'm planning on going and having another shoe fitting soon that will hopefully help and allow me to wear "real" running shoes. If I ran more in my VFF's, I'd probably be able to wear them for longer distances, but that is something I may experiment with in the future.

I’ll do a run on the street probably Thursday, cause tomorrow I have to get my hair did after work (priorities, duh).

ANYWAY.

I have a big event coming up on Saturday.

My first 5K.

How in the world did I sign up for/train/complete a FULL marathon before even doing a 5k?

I guess I just wanted my first race to be a big ‘un

My first race was pretty epic. I’ll probably never be able to top it. But to stay active and kind of start from the beginning, I signed up for a local 5K event and registered for the random draw for the Nike Women’s (half) Marathon in San Francisco in October.

I’m also kind of feeling weird about signing up for a half marathon when I’ve already done a full… BUT, since I did not perform so great during my first marathon, I figure I need to partake in some shorter distance events to really get addicted to running and get my butt in gear (literally). I’m such a sucky runner, I think I got ahead of myself by doing a full marathon as my first race. (I don't like using the term "race". It was hardly a race to me at all. My goal was to ~~survive~~ finish.)

I just want that darn Tiffany necklace.

I should be finding out within the next couple of days whether or not I was selected for the random draw. I would love love to escape to San Francisco for a weekend and for a super fun event like this!

I mean, you get chocolate AND a Tiffany necklace given to you by firemen in tuxedos??? Awesome.

I hope I get in.

pretty please?

Permanent Race Commemoration Idea

2011-04-24T19:22:00.005-06:00

To celebrate the fact that I completed my first marathon and to officially and appropriately commemorate the experience, I’m getting a tattoo. duh. It appears as though I am not alone in doing such a thing as several Google searches have lead me to various forum threads, pictures, and magazine articles celebrating running tattoos.

I’ve pretty much narrowed it down to the following design:

I KID. ~~My arms are nowhere near being muscular enough to pull something like that off~~. Not my style.

Here is what I’m thinking:
However I’m having some problems deciding on placement.

Do I want it here, like Katy Perry? I’m leaning more towards no; however, someday I’d like to put a tattoo here. I just don’t think this particular design would work in that area.

I’m thinking something more so along these lines:

But on the outside of my left foot. I'm almost 99% set on this spot.
I also really love this idea:

However, I’d get much cuter, smaller, girlier wings. They’d make me supa fast.
I’m thinking next Sunday (May 1st) is D-day. Or T-day. (T being for tattoo).
snicker snicker.
I'm doing my first 5K next weekend so maybe I'll just go after that.

I currently have a rather nice collection of tattoos. Here they are in order of oldest to newest.

1. Snowflake. Drawn by yours truly. Shop: Anchorage Tattoo Studio (aka Larry Allen) - Anchorage, AKArtist: Mason (aka THE MAN)Date: Winter 2005

2. Heart wrist tattoo. Also drawn by me. Shop: Ink Slingers - Jacksonville, NC Artist: Can't rememberDate: Winter 2006

3. Big dipper. The Alaska state flag. Shop: 808 Tattoo - Kaneohe, HIArtist: RonnieDate: Spring 2007 (it's been touched up since)

4. I like to call this one my "garden". It took about 6.5 hours to complete ~~and cost a million dollars.~~Shop: Hart and Huntington - Waikiki, HIArtist: CoreyDate: Summer, 2009

5. Forget-me-not, the Alaska state flower. This little gem was $45! It's on my stomach (lower left side)Shop: 808 Tattoo - Kaneohe, HIArtist: RonnieDate: Summer 2009

6. Anchor, located on the inside of my left ankle. It has numerous meanings to me, but it’s a design off of a harmonica my grandpa gave me when I was little. Shop: Anchor Ink - Salt Lake City, UTArtist: DomDate: October, 2010.

More to come...plus some actual running this week I hope!!

MARATHON DE PARIS RECAP

2011-04-23T17:15:00.005-06:00

I'm done neglecting my blog. I'm honestly going to do my best to keep this thing up to date ~~even though I have no readers~~. My last post was regarding my fundraising goal (which I friggin met. winning.) so that means I have soooo much to tell about my trip to Paris and the actual race! So, brace yourselves. This is going to be a long one.

A few days prior to departing for Paris, I received my race gear after my last TNT group run. This was kind of a sad experience for me as I actually felt like part of the team on my last run. I didn't really feel so connected to anyone throughout this whole experience so when I received a lot of hugs and support on the last day, I felt a little sad to go. The Paris group was to run 6 miles this day which was the shortest distance out of all the groups. I finished.... FIRST. YESSSS!! That is probably the only time that will ever happen but hey, I'll take it. Anyway, I received my race packet and my purple TNT running jersey! I got home and tried it on and, sadly, it was giant. I also decided that the t-shirt may not have been the way to go as I thought I might experience some chaffing in the underarm area where the sleeves hit. So I made a trip down to the local LLS office and swapped out for a singlet. The small looked like something a toddler would wear, and the medium was a little big on me. No happy medium here...so I took the medium and figured it was better than wearing a tiny shirt that would accentuate my ~~amazing body~~ love handles. This meant I only had one day to decorate my singlet prior to departing to Paris. My TNT/running friend Christeen came over and we got to work.

I put my Aunt Terry's name on the back. I think she would have liked that...

So we departed from Salt Lake City Wednesday afternoon, stopped briefly in Chicago, and arrived in PARIS (omg) on Thursday morning. I slept the whole flight to Paris so I was actually fairly adjusted to Paris time when we landed. It caught up with me later, but for the first two days I felt pretty good.

DAY 1

We took the train to our hotel (Marriot Rive Gauche) and ran into some other fellow TNTer's in the lobby. The hotel was pretty busy since people were coming in from all over for the marathon. Our room wasn't ready so we left our bags behind and set out to find breakfast. We stopped at a cafe just down the street and had some delicious toast topped with ham and cheese which was paired with a salad with dressing that didn't taste so great.

After refueling my body with ~~a healthy, balanced breakfast~~ an abundance of carbs, we spotted a sign that said "CATACOMBS" and had an arrow pointing to the left. I figured they must be nearby so we decided that would kill some time while our room was being prepared.

The Catacombs. Were. Awesome. I was not allowed to use my camera flash to take pictures, so I had to try to use the available lighting to make due.

I wasn't sure whether to smile or what in this picture?? What are you supposed to do when you are standing in front of a bunch of human remains that have been intricately stacked underground and are now a tourist attraction?

After exploring the Catacombs, we emerged from the dark and hopped on the metro to go see the Eiffel Tower. Christeen had previously been to Paris so she had already seen the tower, but this was my first time (Paris virg). Needless to say I was ~~peeing my pants with excitement~~ super excited. We hopped off the metro, walked a ways down the street, turned the corner... and there it was...

I know it's not the greatest picture, but this was my first time seeing the tower so I think it was appropriate to forever capture this moment on digital SD memory.

We walked around the base of the tower for a little while and I tried to just take it all in. Seeing the Eiffel Tower in person really made it real for me. PARIS. It was epic. Or epic-mazing, as my brother would say.

We crossed the street to check out the Seine River and figure out where to go next.

The sun was out, it was warm, and we just started walking. Christeen knew of a quaint little street called Rue Cler and we decided we would have lunch there. After walking a mile or two in the opposite direction, we figured out where we were going and finally found Rue Cler.

Christeen and I shared a ~~jambon et fromage~~ ham and cheese crepe (holy crap, so good), got some ~~patisseries~~ pastries, did a little shopping, got ice cream from an adorable girl who spoke decent English, and then made our way back to the hotel. My feet hurt so incredibly bad by the end of day one...apparently my must have "cute new shoes for Paris" were mos def not "walk all over the place on the first day" friendly. What gives? We were pretty tired and felt pretty nasty after flying all day/night and then walking around Paris in the sun for a few hours.

After getting checked into our room (around 5 pm), showering, and feeling much better, we decided to go check out the Eiffel Tower at night and get some dinner somewhere along the way. We took the elevator to the top of the tower and kept our bags close since we were continuously warned about pick-pockets.

The view from the top was amazing. Seeing the city lit up at night was breathtaking. It was crowded at the top of the tower and people were pretty rude and pushy, so we took the elevator down to the lower level and then took the stairs to the ground. We crossed the street and got another delicious crepe and ~~some~~ the best vanilla ice cream I've ever had and settled in to watch the tower sparkle. 11 o'clock rolled around the tower began to emit bursts of light from all over. It was one of the coolest/prettiest/awesomest things I've ever seen. The epic vanilla ice cream made it that much better.

Here's a short video I took

After that we headed back to the hotel to SLEEP! (End of day 1)

DAY 2

We got up relatively early and headed to the TNT breakfast hosted at the hotel. The food was pretty good if you don't mind eating cold eggs, bacon, and potatoes. We met up with some fellow Desert Mountain States TNT members at breakfast and decided to go to the Running Expo together to pick up our bibs.

We I did a little shopping at the expo and then we decided to do some further exploring. We went to Montmarte to check out the Sacre Coeur, which I still can't properly pronounce, and get some lunch. This was probably my favorite area of Paris that I actually got to see. The streets had so much character and the shops were unique and lively.

After exploring this area for a little while and getting some lunch, we decided to go check out Champs Elysees and the Arc de Triomphe. We made our way to the metro station, later arrived at the Arc, took a few photos, walked down Champs Elysees, went into a few stores, then decided we were plum tuckered and decided to head back to the hotel for some rest. Both Christeen and I were complaining of sore feet and legs, which somewhat worried me since we were running a marathon in a day or so.

Drinking Evian in France. I'm such a tourist.

After taking a nap, we decided to check out a pizza place near the hotel. The atmosphere was nice and the waitstaff seemed friendly. There came a point in the evening where the waitstaff became a little too friendly and it was time to go. Outside the restaurant, we met some local Parisians and they invited us to go get a drink with them and hang out for a little while.

It got late really fast and we made our way back to the hotel to get some much needed sleep.

DAY 3 (race day eve)

We were pretty tired on day 3 after doing so much walking the first two days and still trying to recover from the flight/time change. We took it easy for most of the day and slept pretty much all morning. We were planning on taking the train to Versailles in the afternoon but then remembered we had the TNT inspiration dinner to attend around 5. Bummer, cause we didn't end up making it to Versailles. (Oh well, there's always next time). To kill some time before dinner, we walked around near the hotel and bought some fruit from a little shop. We sat on a bench in the sunshine and did some people watching (GREAT people watching in Paris). The strawberries I bought were hands down the best strawberries I've ever had, and that's saying something because I'm a big strawberry eater.

They were so good, I even took a picture of them.

We also bought some after race snacks at a nearby grocery store because we figured we'd be ridiculously tired after running ~~6 million miles~~ 26 miles and would probably not want to ~~continue to live~~ go anywhere.

At the TNT inspiration dinner, we learned that the Paris TNT event alone raised $756,000 for the Leukemia-Lymphoma Society. How effing amazing is that???

After dinner, we had a meeting with the rest of the DMS TNT team and Christeen and I realized we were missing one crucial piece of equipment: a fuel belt. We decided to quickly run to the running expo to buy some so we could have something to hold our gu for the race. After that we were going to try to make it to the Notre Dame, but decided it was too late and called it a night since we had to be up early for the ~~race~~ MARATHON!!!!

So really day three was pretty boring and consisted of lots of sleep, grocery shopping, epic strawberries, TNT inspiration dinner, frantic fuel belt purchases at the running expo, and a nice glass of water at the hotel bar with fellow TNTers just before bed.

Holy crap. This was it. The day before race day. To say I was nervous would be the understatement of the ~~year~~ CENTURY. Christeen and I laid everything out, pinned our bibs on, attached our time chips to our shoes, and were as ready as we could be.

I laid down in bed and was able to actually drift off pretty quickly...

DAY 4 - RACE DAY!!!

We were up bright and early as we had to meet the rest of the team at 6:30 in the hotel lobby. We went and picked up our breakfast bags and were ready to go. We snapped a few photos in the lobby just before heading out.

On the metro, heading to the race start.

Team Utah!

We eventually found our places in the race start and I was feeling PUMPED. There was music playing, people all around...the whole scene was just incredible.

There were 60,000 some odd runners lined up along Champs Elysees getting ready to run their butts off.

The first few miles were amazing. People were cheering, percussion bands were playing, the sights were incredible. We came to the first aid station and there were no more fresh bottles of water, but big tubs filled with half empty ones that had been used by runners ahead of us. Gross, I know, but water is important and it was hot out so I chugged one down. We kept going. I felt amazing and was just trying to take it all in. There were a few times where the experience was kind of overwhelming and I couldn't believe what I was actually doing...so I got a little choked up. Naturally. I was running my first marathon. In Paris. That's kind of a big deal.

Here are my splits from the race

By looking at these, I think it's clear that there were some issues. I don't want to make excuses or point any fingers, but this is what happened. My running pal Christeen got sick pretty much the day we arrived in Paris. She got worse and worse as the days progressed and come race day, she just wasn't feeling good, at all. I told her we would finish the race together no matter what as everyone told us that for our first marathon, the goal was to finish ~~and not beat any world records as we had previously intended~~. We ran the first few miles together with no problems. She started to get tired and we walked for short periods here and there. Obviously, mile 17 was where we had some problems, considering this was a 27 minute mile for me. We were falling back pretty far at this point and started talking to some other TNT people we came across. One girl had heat stroke and was going to take the metro to the finish when she got to the next station. Christeen looked at me and said that there was no way we were going to finish in time (we were told there was a cut off time of 5 hours and 40 minutes) and hinted that she wanted to take the metro as well. I told her that it was more important to me to finish the distance than to ride the metro to the finish just to get a medal. She didn't seem to agree with me and I know she was feeling pretty badly. I had a decision to make, so I made it. And took off.

Mile 18 was definitely my favorite mile of the race. We were running along the Seine River at this point of the course and looking over and seeing the Eiffel Tower was just surreal and amazing. This is another one of those moments where I got choked up. It was just such an amazing experience.

Here are a few pictures from about mile 18-19

At this point, I had my iPod blasting and I was just jamming along. At the aid stations, I would grab orange wedges, water, and raisins. I was taking a gu every 45 mins to an hour at the beginning and then spaced it out more at the end. It was hot and I was sweating a lot, so I had a few salt packets as well.

I don't know if I was distracted by the sights or if I was just on some kind of first time marathon high, but I was feeling pretty good. I kept thinking about the 5 hour, 40 minute time cut off and kept moving as best I could. I definitely stopped and took walking breaks. It was hot, I was getting really sore, and I had to try to get my mind back into it after having to leave my friend behind (sad).

When I saw the marker for mile 20, I was relieved. Little did I know that the next 6 miles were going to be what seemed like the longest six miles of MY LIFE. The last part of the course wrapped through a park and holy mother, that park seemed never ending.

I was run/walking at this point and was experiencing some sharp pains in my right hip and knee. My IT band was pretty mad at me and running on concrete and cobblestone for miles on end did not make my body happy at all.

Finally I saw the mile 26 marker and I dug deep to sprint to the finish. I was fighting back tears and getting emotional, so my heavy breathing turned into wheezing.

I knew it would be over the faster I made it to the finish line. And I kept telling myself that as I approached it...

And that's that. I finished. I did it. My chip time was 5:49:46, just minutes after the 5:40 cut off time which, come to find out, didn't actually exist. I'm not sure when they actually stopped giving out medals, but there was a ton of people that finished behind me that were still getting them. I hobbled along and went and collected my finishers t-shirt AND my ****MEDAL****. I looked around for a familiar face. I couldn't find any (surprise). I did spot some purple TNT jerseys so I went and hung out with them for a while and was going to walk to the metro station with them since they were in the same hotel. They were waiting for some other teammates to arrive so I took a seat on the curb. It was painful to sit down, but felt so nice at the same time. After sitting on the curb for a little while, I saw Christeen!! She did it! She finished!! I was so happy for her, but also felt so bad because I knew she didn't feel good at all. We limped to the metro together and made our way to the hotel. We each took an ice bath, showered, changed, and ordered room service. Bacon cheeseburgers. Yum. I was able to pack my bag that night since we were leaving the next day. I also tried to stretch some since my legs were insanely sore and extremely mad at me.

I did it. I finished. So incredibly proud of myself.

Day 5 - Time to go home

To finish up our time in Paris, we had our last TNT hotel breakfast, packed, checked out, and headed to the Eiffel Tower to take victory pictures with our finisher shirts and medals!

And that's it. We then made our way back to Salt Lake City. Christeen went to the doctor upon returning and found out she had pneumonia. Seriously?!?!

Anyway, Paris was incredible. My first marathon was amazing. I met a bunch of really great people. I am completely hooked on running and I can't wait to run another race. I have been experiencing some sharp pain in my right knee, however, so hopefully it's nothing serious. I signed up for my first 5K which is coming up on April 30th. I also registered for the random drawing for the Nike Women's Half Marathon in San Francisco in October. I don't have any plans on doing another full anytime soon, but I am thinking about possibly doing the Rock n' Roll Las Vegas Full Marathon in December.

I will definitely do another full marathon. I will definitely be returning to Paris in the future. I will definitely make sure my next trip to Paris is longer than 4 days.

I know I can get a better time if I do another full because I didn't train very hard for Paris. I did my best to juggle work/school/life, but I should have ran way more than I did. I was also really sore from walking so much the first few days in Paris, I was hungry from not having access to familiar foods, and I tried to finish 26 miles with someone who had a different pace/stride than me and who was also sick.

I definitely learned a lot from my first race and I know that next time, I can get a better time and perform better all around. My goal this time around was to finish.

And I did.

FUNDRAISING GOAL = 100%

2011-03-13T21:45:00.000-06:00

When I first signed up for Team in Training, I was really inspired. I went to the informational meeting, I watched the promotional video, and I was sold. I figured this would probably be the only time I would ever do something like this and out of my three options for races, I chose the one that required the highest amount of money to raise but also was the most "exotic" destination. I chose to raise money for the Leukemia-Lymphoma society and to run a marathon in Paris, France in honor of everyone out there whose life may have somehow been touched by cancer. And for me, this isn't just about blood cancer... this is for any kind of cancer. Whatever. I know I'm raising money for an organization that deals with blood cancers, but I've been training and running for everyone really.

My Aunt just lost her battle with lung cancer and she has been a huge motivating factor for me...

Thanks to my friends, family, co-workers, and even a few strangers, today I reached my goal of $4900. I feel such an amazing sense of accomplishment and I am so truly thankful to all of those that opened their hearts (and wallets) and contributed to my undertaking. Everyone has been incredibly supportive and this whole experience has been amazing.

On April 10th, I will run 26.2 miles with motivating thoughts running through my head of my friends, family, and those people I will have helped with the money I was able to raise.

I'm pretty excited right now. I can finally buckle down and focus on TRAINING for the next couple of weeks!!

So so excited. Paris, here I come!!

Wow. My blog has been neglected.

2011-03-11T16:39:00.000-07:00

SO, to say I have been incredibly insanely overwhelmingly busy would be an understatement. It's been sometime since I last updated my "training" blog and I feel pretty bad about it.

I've been running pretty regularly but this past weekend I hit a new milestone!! 16 miles! AND I did pretty much zero walking. My last lengthy run was 13 miles but I took many, many walking breaks. After that I did 8 miles straight, no walking. AND THEN, the following weekend I doubled my non-walk break run and was able to do 16!!

I'm pretty darn proud of myself...

Because I have been so terrible at keeping my blog updated, I think that to save time I will just post the info from my longer runs.

13 MILE RUN - I did NOT feel like running this day and I had a plan to run from my house to a nice park and do a few laps and then come back home, but I changed my mind half way through. I think it definitely makes a big difference when you have a planned course before you start and you stick with it. I ran to that park and then decided that if I was going to do my longest run to date, I should probably do it near my house, so I ran back to the high school down the street from my house and did 26 laps (6.5 miles). It was a good choice because I was seriously hurting. I was fairly uneducated about how and when to use gels so now that I have a better grasp on that I have been able to run longer distances and feel great.

Date: 2/12/11
Time: 2:39
Distance: 13.15 miles
Calories: 969 C

Avg Pace: 12:18 min/mi
Avg moving pace: 12:05 min/mi
Best Pace: 6:29 min/mi
Avg heart rate: 168 bpm
Max heart rate: 196 bpm

Splits-

Mile 1: 11:14
Mile 2: 11:20
Mile 3: 11:28
Mile 4: 12:40
Mile 5: 12:19
Mile 6: 11:47
Mile 7: 11:41
Mile 8: 11:22
Mile 9: 12:19
Mile 10: 12:02
Mile 11: 12:31
Mile 12: 13:53
Mile 13: 13:42

Gradually slowed down. But I did it!! Half marathon!!

8 MILE RUN - This run was a big deal for me because I felt REALLY GOOD while running and was able to maintain a good pace without having to walk or take a break. Good pace meaning, I'm not going to break any records, but I'm also not going to die from attempting to run like a Kenyan. I was going to try for 16 miles this day but decided to call it a day when I hit 8 because I was starting to get pretty sore.

Date: 2/27/11
Time: 1:33
Distance: 8.42 miles
Calories: 707 C

Avg Pace: 11:08 min/mi
Avg moving pace: 11:04 min/mi
Best Pace: 8:10 min/mi
Avg heart rate: 173 bpm
Max heart rate: 185 bpm

Splits-

Mile 1: 9:49
Mile 2: 10:15
Mile 3: 10:25
Mile 4: 10:43
Mile 5: 11:17
Mile 6: 11:01
Mile 7: 11:05
Mile 8: 11:33

16 MILE RUN - I was so scared to run this day because I was joining a friend of mine who is also training for a marathon and doing TNT, but she has run over 20 miles several times now in her training. This was going to be my longest run to date and I warned her that I may need to stop and walk some. She was AWESOME! And so was her running buddy Tom. The two of them gave me great pointers and pushed me to run the whole distance! The wind was blowing incredibly hard this day and the last 4 or so miles it was blowing at us. It was so hard to finish those last few miles but I did it!

Date: 3/5/11
Time: 2:57
Distance: 16.01 miles
Calories: 1341 C

Avg Pace: 11:38 min/mi
Avg moving pace: 11:07 min/mi
Best Pace: 5:32 min/mi
Avg heart rate: 168 bpm
Max heart rate: 181 bpm

Splits-

Mile 1: 11:48
Mile 2: 10:56
Mile 3: 10:20
Mile 4: 12:57
Mile 5: 10:16
Mile 6: 12:37
Mile 7: 10:47
Mile 8: 10:49
Mile 9: 13:11
Mile 10: 11:26
Mile 11: 11:18
Mile 12: 11:41
Mile 13: 12:32
Mile 14: 11:55
Mile 15: 11:53
Mile 16: 11:43

SUCH a huge accomplishment for me.

My aunt whom was battling lung cancer passed away on March 3rd. I have been thinking about her a lot and when I get tired during a run I think about her... It helps me push through the pain and keep going. She was 60 years old and her life was cut short because of her late diagnosis. My family is heart broken over this loss... It's been hard. I'm trying to do the positive thing and use the situation as motivation to try to raise more money for the Leukemia Lymphoma Society to help people battling blood cancer. I guess it's my way of giving back and trying to help.

Sigh.

29 days until Paris!! I have $415 more dollars to raise until I reach my goal of $4900!! I'm thinking about doing 10 miles tomorrow. Wish me luck!

End of Week 10

2011-02-05T17:27:00.000-07:00

Today is only Saturday so technically I have one more day to train. I'm feeling as though the Super Bowl and my homework will dominate most of tomorrow, so more than likely I won't be running or training.

This week was kind of crazy for me. Although I have been extremely busy and have had little time to do much of anything besides work and homework, I seemed to be even busier this week and didn't run ONCE throughout the entire week. UGH!!! How did I let that happen!? What is my deal!

Today was the group TEAM run and I was supposed to do 13 miles. For the first 2-3 miles, I felt terrible and could definitely tell I hadn't ran all week. I felt as though my airway was restricted and my legs were extremely heavy. It was strange, and it sucked. The area of town we ran in was rather hilly and I found myself wanting to walk. A lot.

Someone actually stole the team water bin so there were NO water stations on this run either. My friend and I also managed to find ourselves off course since the directions given at the beginning of the run were not so clear. All in all it was a crappy run but we managed to do 9.15 miles. Better than nothing!

Here's what my Garmin Forerunner recorded:

Time: 1:55:21
Distance: 9.15 mi
Elevation Gain: 1063 ft.
Calories: 841 C
Avg Pace: 12:36 min/mi
Best Pace: 8:24 min/mi
Avg HR: 175 bpm
Max HR: 192 bpm

Mile 1 - 10:17
Mile 2 - 13:56
Mile 3 - 12:57
Mile 4 - 12:11
Mile 5 - 13:33
Mile 6 - 16:54 (break for water at the U, giant hill climb)
Mile 7 - 11:11
Mile 8 - 10:50
Mile 9 - 11:46

I feel as though my times aren't that bad considering I didn't run at all during the week and I felt like garbage for the first half of this run. Thank goodness my friend Stephanie (experienced runner and marathoner!) was visiting and pushed me a little. I'm feeling pretty good about how far I have come and I'm starting to realize more and more how much of a mental game running is...

I had some pain in my right hip again and on the balls of each of my feet. The store I purchased my shoes at told me that I should go a size up because people's feet swell while running. I felt that while running downhill today, I could definitely tell my shoes were too big as my feet kept sliding forward. It was weird... and I'm thinking I may get my normal size before I run my actual race.

Thanks all for now!

End of Week 9

2011-01-30T18:02:00.000-07:00

I've decided that I'm going to try to post every Sunday night to recap how things went throughout the week. This week I didn't run as much as I would have liked to and experienced some deep muscle pain that I believe hindered my running after the 12 mile run last Saturday.

Here's how the week went:

Monday - Nothin'
Tuesday - Nothin'

Wednesday - 3 miles

Met up with my TNT friend Christeen and we did a 3 miles run at the track near my house. It was pretty cold and a large portion of the track was covered with ice. I think that we could have finished faster had we not exercised caution, but I wasn't about to busy my butt so we took it relatively slow.

Here's what my Garmin Forerunner recorded:

1st mile: 10:26
2nd mile: 11:00
3rd mile: 10:49

Avg. pace: 10:45

Not too bad considering I was still pretty sore from the 12 mile run 4 days prior and it was pretty cold and icy.

Thursday - attempted run...fail

I hopped on my treadmill Thursday night hoping to crank out a quick 3 miles. It was impossible for me to run for some reason and I got off after 1.5 excruciating miles. I need to stretch better or something because I experienced really bad pain in my calves. :( Normally I can fight through any pain I may have but for some reason I could not do it this time. Eh, oh well. I'm assuming that my muscles needed a little more recovery time so I gave them a break.

Friday - Nothin'

Saturday -

Alright so every Saturday we are supposed to do the TNT group run but it was a good 45 min drive from my house and I, nor my running partner, wanted to get up that early on a Saturday so we decided to do our own thing. I went and picked her up at about 8:45 and the inversion was super bad in town that day (Nasty air gets trapped in the Salt Lake valley causing smog and crappy air quality). My husband is a trainer at a local CrossFit gym so we decided to go there instead and work on building our endurance. We did a row/run workout that was pretty good. 2000 meter row, rest 4 minutes, 1 mile run, rest 4 minutes, 1000 meter row, rest 3 minutes, 800 meter run, rest 3 minutes, 500 meter row, rest 2 minutes, 400 meter run, done! Then we did 3 rounds of push presses, burpies, situps, and lunges (kinda sorta, we were pretty tired after the row/run). So my Garmin told me I burned 511 calories that day which isn't too shabby. I felt good during the row/run and hope to be recovered for the 13 mile run that will be happening next Saturday. (gulp)

Sunday - Nothin'!!! Recover...

SOOOO really I only ran once this week. I attempted to run another day but experienced bad pain in my calves and had to stop. I skipped the 8 mile group run and went to the gym for 2.5 hours instead. I think this week was good though as I did some good crossrtraining and feel as though I've come a long way from where I started. Next weekend the group run is 13 miles and that will be the longest i have ever ran! I'm nervous all over again... but I feel like if I do some shorter runs throughout the week and stretch really good, I should be good to go!

Donations are few and far between these days and I'm going to have to figure out what to do... I'm at $2751 right now with $75 in checks on the way to the LLS. So that's $2826. I also have $110 in candy sales that I have to donate, which is $2936. AND my beautiful and amazing Grandmother gave me $200 today for a donation!! Which puts me at $3136. I have another friend that said she was going to donate $100 on the 31st and another friend that said she was going to buy $60 worth of pendants at the end of next week, which if they come through would put me at $3296. Meaning I would only need $1600 more dollars. hmmmm....

12 mile run?? In the bag!

2011-01-25T20:12:00.000-07:00

SO last week I did a few runs here and there and tried to stick to the training schedule best I could. Juggling my full time job, part time school (2 classes), family, and training... well... it's been interesting to say the least.

Since I finally have a GOOD pair of running shoes (Saucony Kinvara <3) I figured I could no longer make excuses to keep missing the Saturday group runs. I have only missed 2 out of 3 at this point and I told myself I had to go. I recently sent out a message (or call for help, if you will) to my fellow Team in Training teammates attempting to find a running buddy or someone else that was training for the Paris race so I could have a companion through all of this. I was able to connect with a super cute girl who is only a few years younger than me (I'm 26) and we have been emailing and texting for about a week or so now. We are both new runners and intimidated by the idea of running a marathon, so we immediately clicked and figured we could help each other build confidence throughout this whole ordeal.

Anyway. We meet up Saturday morning to head to the group run. 12 miles.... the longest of the long runs so far... and both of us were pretty freaked out by the thought of running that far/long. So we met up with the team, did our little chant (go team) and headed out! I had my Garmin with me but I was unable to get the GPS to sync (SO MAD ABOUT THAT) so the only thing I recorded was my heart rate, time, and calories burned.

Ugh.

I felt surprisingly good throughout the entire run. Me and my running mate (her name is Christeen) ran straight through to about mile 6 and began taking short (30 seconds or so) walking breaks every so often, just enough to keep us going. We were the last of the team to finish as they broke everyone up into distances according to whatever race they are training for, Paris having the longest distance, but I don't care. I feel amazing about how I did and how I felt and I'm actually mentally starting to feel like I can do this thing.

It's a great feeling...

12 miles!! Such a huge accomplishment for me. It is my longest run to date in my LIFE.

So I've decided to commit to Paris. That means I will be running 26.2 mile in 74 days....I've got a lot of work to do.

Here are the stats from my Garmin that actually were recorded:

You can see where we took the what we thought was a halfway break and then our tiny walking breaks there after. We walked the last mile as a cool down which was perfect.

I'm so excited I've decided on a race and I found a friend to explore Paris with! It will be so nice to cross the finish line with a friend... I know there will be many Team in Training people there, but I'm just glad that I'm getting to know someone now and can get to know them over the next few weeks before we leave the country together. Haha! It will be much better having an actual friend there rather than a bunch of acquaintances.

I'm also going to try to start getting pretty hardcore about my fundraising. Right now I have $2701 and I have another $300 or so promised to me. I figure I should have about $3100-$3200 by mid February. It's looking like I will meet my goal of $4900 by March 25th :) WOo hoo!!

On my way!!!

2011-01-18T21:23:00.001-07:00

Lots has happened since my last post. Well, I feel as though lots has happened anyway. I found amazing new shoes! I love love them and they do not make me hurt so I'm pretty fureakin excited about that.

I should probably post the runs I haven't posted yet so let me do that.

Wednesday January 12th -

After running 3 miles in my first pair of running shoes and experiencing a ton of pain, I took a day off, and then went back to my trusted Bikilas and ran 45 minutes to see how I felt. No pain. Except for in my calves which is normal for running in Fivefingers since they are a minimalist shoe and you isolate those muscles with the forefoot strike. SO that told me that it was my new running shoes that were making my leg hurt so bad.

Info from my 45 minute run:

Time: 45:03 mins
Distance: 3.69 miles (according to treadmill display)
Calories: 411 C
Avg HR: 157 BPM
Max HR: 193 BPM

Good run. I felt good and as though I could keep on going. I feel as though once the first 3 miles are over, I'm good and warmed up and ready to go!!!

next run...

Sunday January 17th -

Yeah so I took a few days off...I had a TON of homework. BUT I was able to return the shoes I previously purchased for new ones! Yay! I feel as though the salesman that helped me the second time around listened moreso to what I was looking for than the first guy did. I told him I had been running in FiveFingers for the past 2 years and have really enjoyed them. So he put me in a minimalist shoe, the Saucony Kinvara.

I love. Love. Loveeee these shoes.

This was my first run in them -

Time: 33:55 mins
Distance: 3.002 miles (according to treadmill)
Calories: 355 C
Avg HR: 162 BPM
Max HR: 190 BPM

These shoes felt GREAT and I'm super happy with them.

k next run.

WEEK 8 - January 18th

Time: 30:05 mins
Distance: 3.057 miles
Calories: 326 C
Avg HR: 173 BPM
Max HR: 193 BPM

I wore my new CW-X compression pants on this run and I felt so good. Those pants + my new shoes and I was feeling amazing. No pain at all. AND a new PR for me...3 miles under 30 minutes. I know that's not a big deal or super fast or anything, but I have been trying to get and stay under 30 minutes for a while now :) I'm so proud of myself and super excited with my (slow) progress! I'm starting to feel like I can really do this. This was my last run on my treadmill with my new shoes as I wanted to make sure I liked them before I took them out in the dirt and made them non refundable, so hopefully my next run will be outside in the fresh air.

I've received a lot of support lately and I'm pretty excited about it. A lot of my friends have really come through for me and I'm so apprecative of them.

I need to get to bed though as tomorrow is another bust day. I recently started classes again so I have that plus my training plus my full time work. It's been tough lately...

"Easy run, three miles"

2011-01-10T21:46:00.001-07:00

- is what my training schedule had listed for today. So I got off work, ran errands, got home, and hoped on my treadmill with my new running shoes I was recently "fitted" with. I felt good starting out, took it slow and easy as my training schedule recommended. Half way through the second mile, I started getting pain in my left leg. It started in my knee and then spread into my hip. Never have I experienced hip pain while running. I'm not sure what the problem is...I'm blaming my shoes though. Hopefully I can take them back to the store and get fitted to a new pair, because I am NOT OKAY with pain occurring only after 2 miles!?!

Anyway, slow and steady. This was my first day back so I didn't push myself at all since I'm planning on running pretty much every day this week.

Info from my Garmin Forerunner:

Time: 37:07
Calories: 341 C
Avg HR: 160 BPM
Max HR: 196 BPM

Info from my (unreliable) treadmill:

3.046 miles
37:06 mins
334.3 calories

Not too shabby for my first run of the new year! Now I just need to figure out my whole shoe situation.

And raise about $2600 more!! I've got a long way to go! But I'm confident I'll at least be finishing a marathon this year :)

A new week starts tomorrow

2011-01-09T21:52:00.000-07:00

It's official. I hate winter.

I hate winter. I hate cold weather. I hate it.

I didn't do anything active while in Alaska and nothing has changed since I've been home. Tomorrow will mark a week since I've been back and, by golly, there are going to be some changes!! I think my main problem (as of lately, anyway) has been that I'm starting to have second thoughts about Paris. I have to raise $4900 and I currently have $2605 left to go. I'm not feeling to optimistic about my chances of raising enough money to get there. ALSO it's the first race out of the three I have to choose from which also means that the training is increasing more than the other two races. I feel like I'm not an advanced enough runner to keep up with the training for this race. What to do...what to do...

Since I have started to change my mind, I've gotten lazy, lost, and unmotivated. I need to decide what I'm doing and what I'm capable of doing and start fresh. The other two races I have to choose from are Vancouver and Ogden. I have a friend running Ogden and would have a blast running with her and I would have only had to have raise $1000 for that race. Which means I could call it quits on my fundraising and just focus on my training, which I would very much like to do!! But I also feel like if I did that, I'd be selling myself short. I would LOVE to go to Paris. LOVE!!! So I don't want to give up yet.

Also, last month I mailed out about 100 letters to businesses and friends and family and I have gotten 1 response. ONE. I need to get creative to get some money coming in...

Regardless of what I decide, I seriously need to get my butt in gear. It's COLD outside and it's seriously draining me and leaving me wanting to nothing else than sit on the couch under a blanket with my dogs nearby. UGH. I have to break out of this slump. And I'm hoping tomorrow I can treat Monday like a NEW day and NEW week and get a good routine going!!!

I am also starting classes tomorrow and my grandma is coming to stay with me for 6 weeks on Tuesday. I think I'm just overly tired from my trip to Alaska and stressed about school starting. I need to calm down, get my head straight, and get back in the game.

Time for bed.

Trip to Alaska

2011-01-03T01:33:00.000-07:00

I have been in Alaska since December 21st, visiting friends and family for the holiday season. I leave tomorrow to head back to Salt Lake...and boy am I ready to get home.

The last time I was in Alaska was in July. I had an AMAZING time as I was able to see family I hadn't seen in years, I fished on the Kenai River, I road tripped to Homer with my Mom, I took pictures of grizzly bear and moose and had an all around great time. This time around was different. It's been cold, dark (only a few hours of daylight), and everyone is in a lethargic winter routine that is hard to break.

I haven't ran AT ALL since I got here. I have been feeding my face with delicious holiday treats and sleeping the hours away. I was able to make it out of town for a few days and do some snow machining, but it was negative 10 degrees and was a little brisk for me considering I didn't pack appropriate gear for cold temps. It was fun and beautiful even though it was cold...but now it has warmed up to 40+ degrees and everything is melting, dirty, and ugggllyyy.

I'm just over being away from home. I miss my dogs and my routine.

Alaska will always be HOME to me, but I no longer have my own HOME in Alaska so it's tough staying with family the whole time. There were things I wanted to do while I was up here that I didn't get to do because I was so friggin lazy the whole time. I also didn't have a car to use and the roads were pretty bad so I am also using that as an excuse.

On a positive note, I was able to throw a fundraising party a few days ago and raised a couple hundred dollars! I also saw some friends I haven't seen in YEARS and it was so great that they were there to show their support. I'm just anxious to get home and start training for real for real since I have a 10 mile run looming in the near future that I am nowhere near ready for.

Good news is that my Dad flew in yesterday and I was able to see him at least while I was here. He was in Kansas visiting my aunt (his sister) who was recently diagnosed with lung cancer (see previous post). She is not doing well... it bums me out big time... but also reminds me why I am joined Team in Training and why I am doing this.

Trying to stay positive.

That's it for now. <3

First group run - 5 miles

2010-12-18T13:50:00.000-07:00

This morning was the first group run! I was pretty anxious to see how things were going to go.

We all met at a local running shop and headed out at 8 AM. It had snowed some overnight and was windy and raining during the run. Everyone who wasn't doing the Paris marathon did 3 miles where us Paris people did 5. When I reached the turnaround point for the 3 mile group, there were very few people left for Paris. I felt pretty good during the run, I only walked when crossing streets and maintained a steady pace, which was my goal. I finished last out of everyone that did the 5 miles, but that's okay. I feel good about the run and my progress so I'll get to where I need to be.

Here's what my Garmin recorded:

Time: 58:49
Distance: 4.86 mi
Elevation gain: 172 ft
Calories: 438 C

Time: 58.49
Moving time: 55:20
Avg Pace: 12:05 min/mi
Avg moving pace: 11:22 min/mi
Best pace: 8:26 min/mi

Mile Break Down:

Lap 1 - 13:41
Lap 2 - 10:43
Lap 3 - 11:16
Lap 4 - 12:50
Lap 5 - 11:55

So it looks like my slowest mile was my first one. I think this may be because I was caught up in the pack of people running 3 miles and once I was able to get around some of them, my pace improved. I know these aren't OMG amazing times, but they are pretty good considering how little running I have been doing lately. I just want to make sure I can get my pace up to ensure I can finish in the alloted time for the Paris race.

Fundraising has been going pretty good. I'm at $1660 right now and I'm hoping to raise some money while I am in Alaska for the next two weeks. I think friends and family will be supportive and open to giving donations. I'm hoping for that anyway...

Well that's my update for now! I'm hoping to fly out to Alaska tomorrow night. We are flying standby so I'm not 100% confidient we will get there tomorrow or not. I guess we'll see.

My Aunt has received a draining tube for her one working lung and is going to be sent home either today or tomorrow. There really isn't much anyone can do for her. Her cancer has spread from her lungs to her lymphnodes and liver.

That's all for now.

Sometimes it hits close to home

2010-12-16T14:18:00.000-07:00

Cancer.

It seems like even the healthiest of individuals still get diagnosed. It’s rare to find someone who doesn’t at least know someone who has or has had cancer. Friends, family members, colleagues... it doesn’t matter who gets it, there is always the same reaction when you hear the news. Your heart feels as though it has somehow made its way into your digestive tract and has relocated somewhere either at the bottom of your stomach or in your large intestine. Your chest feels empty and numb. Your pulse jumps. And then usually the tears flow.

My Aunt Terry (my Dad’s sister) recently went to the doctor complaining of pneumonia like symptoms. A chest scan revealed something that did not look right. She had a biopsy done and the doctor said the sample looked “angry”. Test results came back Monday (12/13/10).

Cancer. Stage 3.

They told her she had 3 months to live without treatment and maybe 18 with chemo. They said that it is inoperable. Today is now Thursday (12/16/10) and my aunt has been put on oxygen, put in a wheelchair, and then last night had to be rushed to the hospital because of chest pain. She has been hospitalized as her right lung is full of fluid which they were planning on draining today, but upon further inspection, her lungs are too delicate to mess with.

My cousin, whom of which I am very close to, is frantically trying to get a flight out of Anchorage, AK to make it to Kansas to see her mom, maybe for the last time. Since it’s the holidays, all of the flights are BOOKED SOLID. I am beside myself. I can’t believe this is all happening and so quickly. I am so sad and heartsick over all of this and I am so sad for my family and everyone that my aunt is close to that is trying to come to terms with possibly losing her, and very soon. Although things don’t look good now, I’m hoping that they turn around. I have been receiving the news in somewhat of a delayed fashion since it’s going from Kansas to Gerogia to Alaska and then to me (not always in that order). I spoke with my dad a few hours ago with the latest update and things just don’t sounds good.

I’m trying to remain positive…but it’s just so hard.

This whole situation is just a refresher for me as to why I signed up for Team in Training. I feel good that I’m currently trying to raise money to help people battling blood cancer and I know there are people out there raising money to help those with other types of cancer too. I hope that my aunt is pain free and as comfortable as she can be. I hope she is strong and can pull through and survive as long as she can.

Needless to say, I haven’t done much training this week. I have finalized a fundraising letter and I’m attending a TNT letter stuffing party tonight to get them on their way. I hope that people can see the importance of these donations and that they really do make a difference in people’s lives. I hope my letters aren’t ignored and I receive a decent amount of donations.

I’m supposed to fly up to Alaska for the holidays next Tuesday but may try to get up there a little sooner since some people are possibly flying out to see my aunt if things get worse.

Man… this is such a crappy situation. Hopefully positive updates will come my way soon.

3 miles for Sunday

2010-12-12T14:13:00.001-07:00

Sunday is usually my lazy day but the weather is great (45+ degrees and almost all the snow in the area has MELTED. YES.) and I decided it would be good to squeeze a short run into my morning.

I headed over to the track by my house and was pleased to see that no one was there when I pulled into the parking lot. I parked, got out of my car, and headed up to the track. I then saw two older males who were bent down digging in the grass in the middle of the field. I then saw that both of them had metal detectors and headsets. Awesome... ??

Anyway, I did a one lap warm up and then a solid mile. I have been trying to limit my "walking" breaks and tried to walk one corner every other lap to try to keep myself going. I don't want to push myself too hard as I know how I am and how easily I get burned out on things.

I wore my Asics again today and had pain on the ball of each foot. I'm not sure if these are the right shoes for me...but thankfully after our first team run this coming Saturday, there is a shoe fitting clinic so I'll probably pick up some new kicks then.

I had my Garmin Forerunner 110 with me for this run (as per usual) and this is what was recorded:

Time: 34:19 (included my one lap cool down after my 3 miles was complete)
Distance: 3.08 miles
Calories: 259 C
Avg Pace: 11:08 min/mi
Avg Moving Pace: 11:02 min/mi
Best Pace: 6:14 min/mi
Elevation: 4234 ft
Avg HR: 172 bpm
Max HR: 196 bpm

Lap Breakdown:

Lap 1 - 9:14
Lap 2 - 12:50
Lap 3 - 10:38
Lap 4 - 1:35 (cool down)

I feel as though I'm improving despite not really doing that much running. I think if I throw a few short walks in here and there I can definitely improve my times. I feel better and better each time I run. I think I may actually be able to do this after all.

The company I work for gave me a very generous donation of $425 on Friday which puts me at $1560 overall. I have to raise $4900 so I'm still a little apprehensive as to whether or not I should stick with the Marathon de Paris or choose another race that doesn't require such a large donation amount. I guess we'll see how I do with fundraising over the next couple of weeks.

That's all for now...

-fin-

First 4 miles

2010-12-09T18:13:00.000-07:00

I have been incredibly busy. Like whoa.

After my rant on Monday about how terribly unmotivated I have been, I slept, and had a better day on Tuesday. I had been participating in a 4-week "Biggest Loser challenge" at work and Tuesday was the final weigh in. I had originally weighed in at 121.6 (full clothing, plus boots) and my final weight was 113.8 (shorts and a tank top). I know that on the day of the initial weigh in I was definitely not wearing 7.8 lbs of clothing, so yay for me for losing some weight. My overall percentage of weight loss was -6.41 and I won overall for the girls and the cash prize of $100 (thankyouverymuch).

It was a good feeling to win because I did put effort into being more active and eating healthier...but I could have definitely been more strict when it came to food. HOWEVER, in my defense... it is the holiday season and that is pretty much the best (and only) excuse to eat until you feel as though your stomach may just tear ever so slightly. Which I did...and I'm not sorry for it.

Anyway. I also set a new training milestone on Tuesday and completed my first 4 mile run. I ran at the track by the shutdown high school near my house and felt pretty cold despite the fact that it was cold and extremely dark since the track is not lit at all. I ran the first solid mile then took a few walking breaks here and there. I wore a pair of Asics I bought a few years ago that were almost immediately replaced by a pair of Vibram FiveFingers, which I have been running in ever since. The only reason I decided to wear a different kind of shoe is because I'm not 100% sure I'd be able to complete a marathon in my Vibram's and I'd like to try some other shoes out in the meantime to find some I like. When I finished my run, I hate a little knee pain, but nothing serious. I was able to avoid heal striking and keep a pretty steady pace. My time is not great as I wasn't trying to do an extremely fast run...I just wanted to finish 4 miles and see how I felt at the end.

I wore my Forerunner 110 and here is what was recorded:

Time: 53:06 (including breaks for water/to mess with ipod)
Moving time: 49.57
Avg Pace: 12:55 min/mi
Avg Moving Pace: 12:09 min/mi
Best Pace: 6:38 min/mi
Avg HR: 166 bpm
Max HR: 196 bpm
Elevation: 4289 ft (yikes...) 0 elevation gain and loss. SLC is high.

Lap breakdown:

Mile 1: 9:51
Mile 2: 16:43 (my ipod died AGAIN so I had to get another one from the car)
Mile 3: 13:40
Mile 4: 11:49

Not too shabby! I felt really good during the first mile and then my ipod dying really threw me off. This is the third time my ipod has died mid run and it's really starting to get frustrating since I kind of rely on it during running/exercising. I've been looking around for a new ipod and hopefully can find one that won't die every 2 seconds.

According to the training schedule, the recommended run for this Saturday is 4 miles so I feel like I'm right where I need to be. I will start running more during the week and increasing my speed as I go. I know my times aren't anything to write home about, but I feel good so far and I'm proud about what I signed up for and am working towards.

Next Saturday is the first group run and I'm nervous and excited about it. I'm anxious to meet the people on my team and curious to see who is also trying to for the Paris Marathon and how much they have raised so far. I'd like to see where I am at compared to others...both with fund raising as well as running ability. It's a 5 mile run followed by a 20% discount shopping party at a local running shop, so it should be a fun day! I'm really looking forward to it.

Until next time... <3

so sooooo unmotivated

2010-12-06T19:18:00.001-07:00

Okay. What gives. I feel as though I started off with a good attitude and had a good grasp on all of this... yet I now find myself in a terrible slump of laziness. I did nothing over the weekend. Well I mean I cleaned my house and bought groceries and the normal acitivties I cram into my weekends...but I didn't run/train/exercise AT ALL!!!

This has got to stop. I need to seriously get off of my butt and start doing something.

Tomorrow is a new day and I'm hoping for some motivation.

Anyway, I weighed myself this AM and I was down to 114.7

Not bad for a weeks worth of eating badly and not exercising pretty much at all.

I'm frustrated at this point, but I will turn things around. I have to...

On a happier note, I started selling candy at my desk at work today and almost paid off the first box already. I'm not looking to make my money back from the candy...just try to double it if I can. People seem to be pretty supportive around my place of employment so I'm hoping they will keep buying my candy. :) I'm still only at 20% of my goal, but I have a fund raising party planned for when I'm up in Alaska AND already have some items promised from local businesses that I can hopefully auction off. If I can't at least get motivated to run, I'm trying to keep the wheels turning when it comes to fundraising as I still have a long way to go.

Tomorrow I think I'm going to hit the gym with Nick after work and do (for time) a 1 mile run, 2000 meter row and another 1 mile run. I think that will be good for me...IF I can actually GET to the gym and DO IT!!! Ugh. So frustrated with myself...

time for bed.

Middle of Week 2

2010-12-01T18:35:00.000-07:00

So even though it's week two for ME, I'm only on week one of the training calendar that was recently distributed. Today was supposed to be a rest day, but since I skipped Monday I'm not sure when I'll take a break. :p

Here's an update on this week:

Monday - I did nothing, but I did weigh myself in the morning as I previously mentioned I would try to do every Monday and was at 115.8. Thanksgiving week proved to be a success...not.

Tuesday - It's cold...and snowy...and icy... Tonight I decided to hop on my treadmill. I tripped the breaker 31 minutes into my walk/jog/run and thought at first that my treadmill had died. So I reacted accordingly and got all dramatic. Nick fixed it for me (of course) but I was already unmotivated and called it a night. Here's what my Garmin recorded:

Time: 31:12
Calories: 163 C
Average HR: 137 BPM
Max HR: 182 BPM
Distance: ?? GPS doesn't work on the treadmill...and the display turned off with the power loss. It was somewhere between 2 and 3 miles.

Wednesday - I just did another walk/jog/run on the treadmill and felt pretty good. I have noticed some slight pain in my right leg/foot so I'm not sure if I am striking weird or if it's just the treadmill that hates me (because I don't like it very much myself...)

Here's what was recorded:

Time: 51:34 (included a warm up and a period of time where I had to hunt down an ipod that wasn't dead...took a few minutes, and I also didn't hit stop when I was done... oops)
Calories: 249 C
Avg HR: 138 BPM
Max HR: 180 BPM
Distance: 3.2 miles (according to treadmill display)

I have a cheap treadmill and don't really trust any of the information displayed on it. So I'm really not sure what my distance was.

Despite the weird pain in my right leg, I felt pretty good. I tried to do the recommended walk/jog thing of 4 minutes on 4 minutes off, but extended the periods where I ran and shortened the periods where I walked. It wasn't too bad...I just want to make sure I don't get burned out too early or hurt myself by pushing too hard. I keep telling myself to take it nice and slow and do the recommended activity of the day.

That's it for now :)

End of Week 1

2010-11-28T20:16:00.000-07:00

To wrap up this week, I went to the gym and rowed a 5k, did some deadlifts, and a few back squats. I've been trying to think of ways to build my endurance and Nick (husband) thought it would be good for me to do a lengthy row. I finished in 33:21 after taking a few breaks due to issues with my shoes/foot straps. So yesterday I ran 5k and today I rowed 5k. Not too bad :)

It was snowing when I woke up this morning and it has not let up at all so I think tomorrow I'm going to have to get creative as running (outside) is not an option. Perhaps I'll do some sprint work on my treadmill or stick to what my training program says and do an "easy, 30 minute run." I guess we'll see how I feel tomorrow and what I decide to do. I'm going to start looking in the area for an indoor track because that would be ideal.

Today I wore my Garmin while I did my row and this is what was recorded:

Time: 35:01 (I actually finished the row in 33:21, this is just how long my Garmin was recording)
Calories: 251 C
Avg HR: 165 bpm
Max HR: 186 bpm

Also, I did a one rep max deadlift (PR) of 185 lbs and backsquatted 115 lbs (PR)

I think despite the fact that Thanksgiving cut my week in half, I did pretty good with trying to stay active and actually managed to workout on both Saturday AND Sunday, which is rare for me. Let's see how well I do this next week. :)

Saturday Run - 3 Miles?

2010-11-27T12:15:00.000-07:00

In my training program, our long group runs (with the coach) will be every Saturday starting in January (I believe) so I figured I had better try to get myself used to getting up early and running out in the cold.

I had planned on getting up early today to see how fast I could do 3 miles since that is, according to my training calendar, the prescribed distance for next Saturday. I woke up at 8 and ended up actually leaving my house around 11:30 as I figured it would warm up a little the later it got. It was 24 degrees when I headed out.

I just wasn't really feeling it today and walked more than I ran. I also haven't found a GOOD place to run yet and I've just been running down the street from my house. There is a high school nearby that is shut down, but has an outdoor track, so maybe I'll check that out here in the next couple of days.

I'm also having somewhat of a problem with figuring out what kind of shoes I want to run in as I've been wearing Vibram FiveFingers for the past 2 years. I have been wearing my Bikilas with socks and haven't had a problem, but today I had some serious traction issues on the ice and snow. I'm going to have to put some effort into finding a good minimalist shoe for the winter.

In case you don't know what Vibram FiveFingers are, check out their website: http://www.vibramfivefingers.com/

Here is a picture of my Bikilas (love them...)

Also, I wore my Garmin Forerunner 110 today while running and here is the data that was recorded:

Time: 38:53
Distance: 3.09 mi
Calories: 281 C
Avg. Pace: 12:34 min/mi
Best Pace: 6:43 min/mil
Avg HR: 169 bpm
Mile 1: 12:44
Mile 2: 12:06
Mile 3: 12:56

So it appears at though my average mile time is currently 12:35 (run/walk), meaning at this current pace it would take me 5.39 hours to finish 26.2 miles. The Paris Marathon has a strict 5.5 hour time limit. These numbers will definitely get better as I progress through my training and I am confident I will definitely be able to finish at least before the cut off time. :)

That's all for now. Don't forget to donate!! I won't reach my findraising goal without your help!! http://pages.teamintraining.org/dm/paris11/mstrautins

The last few days

2010-11-26T15:09:00.000-07:00

Well Thanksgiving has come and gone and like every other year, I fed my face. Fed my face waayyyyy too much.

Today is Black Friday...and I have not left my house. Everyone seems to get so crazed to go out and find epic deals on things. Personally, I think it's just as epic to find whatever it is you are looking for at a decent price on a normal day and NOT have to battle someone over it. I'd actually prefer to pay more for something if it meant I didn't have to fight a crowd for it or get up early to ensure there was still some in stock.

Anyway, as far as training goes, I haven't done much since Tuesday. Actually I haven't done much physical activity, period. I did go snowboarding almost all day yesterday for the first time this season, so I guess that's something. The "blizzard" has passed and the temperature is beginning to rise. I think I will plan on going for a nice morning run tomorrow. In the meantime, I'm trying to motivate myself to get out of my pajamas and get on my treadmill for at least 30 minutes.

I have been shopping online all day, looking for cold weather gear to make outdoor training somewhat enjoyable. I think I may pick up some Under Armour items and some Nike Pro stuff. Payday is only a few days away :)

Cross training (even though it's not wednesday...)

2010-11-23T20:50:00.000-07:00

According to the 4-week build up schedule for new runners, I was supposed to run/walk for 30 mins today, HOWEVER, I decided to move Wednesday's recommended activity...cross training...to today. Utah is currently being blasted by a severe winter storm/blizzard/cold front, so I decided to go to the gym. My husband Nick recently became a trainer at a local CrossFit gym and I was able to workout after hours and have free reign of the gym (nice) while he did some intros for new gym members.

While wearing a 25 lb weigh vest, I did 5 rounds of a 250 meter row and 50 step ups on a 12" box (I started with an 18.5" and opted for the smaller box). I wore my HRM while doing this exercise and the results are:

Time: 31:49
Distance: (gps was not enabled)
Calories: 212 C
Avg Heart Rate: 156 BPM
Max Heart Rate: 180 BPM

Hooray for me for burning 200+ calories two days in a row! That's like...half a cupcake.

Anyway... after those 5 rounds, I did 4 sets of 5 back squats at 85 lbs and then worked on my pull ups. I'm feeling pretty good about my activity today and I'm more than ready to snuggle in my warm bed while the snow continues to come down outside.

Me thinks work is out of the question tomorrow.

That's all for now. bye

Day 1

2010-11-22T22:20:00.000-07:00

So technically my training hasn't started yet, so I'm on my own to help increase/build my endurance.

In my TNT information folder, I was given a welcome packet that included a 4-week build up schedule for new runners.

Week 1 consists of the following:

Monday: EASY - Run/walk for 20 mins
Tuesday: MEDIUM - Run/walk for 30 mins
Wednesday: MEDIUM - Crosstrain
Thursday: EASY - Run/walk 30 mins.
Friday: OFF
Saturday: LONG - Run/walk 45 mins.
Sunday: OFF

Each week is basically the same, the duration just increases gradually until you are running/walking 75 mins on the last Saturday in the 4-week program.

For the first week, I am supposed to alternate 4 minutes of easy jogging with 4 minutes of walking. Repeat 4 or 5 times until done. By the time the third week rolls around, I should be running for 8 minutes, walking for 2.

I set off on my "run" (I use that term very loosely...) tonight bundled up fairly well since we recently got snow here in Salt Lake and the temperature has dropped significantly over the past few days. I really wasn't sure what to expect as I was wearing new gear and was curious to see how warm it would keep me. I figured I'd do a quick run around the neighborhood and see how I felt. I forgot the times I was supposed to run/walk so I winged it and ran until I was tired and walked until I caught my breath.

I wore my Garmin Forerunner 110 to track my heart rate, distance, speed, and course. When I was finished, I uploaded the data to my computer and found the following:

Time: 28.47 minutes
Distance: 2.31 miles
Calories: 205 C
Avg. Pace: 12.27 min/mil
Avg Heart Rate: 165 bpm
Max Heart Rate: 196 bpm

I walked/ran the first mile in 13:08 and the second in 11:50. My warm up was included in the first mile and I came across a very questionable, unchained dog during the second one. I definitely wasn't trying to win any races tonight or set any new personal records...It's going to be tough for me to get used to this cold weather. I'll get there though :) This is just the beginning.

I'd also like to keep track of my weight throughout my training as I'm curious to see how it will fluctuate and where I'll end up when it's all said and done. I plan on weighing myself every Monday morning, if I can remember anyway. I weighed myself first thing this morning (nakie) before getting in the shower and I was at 114.7 lbs.

I've also been dabbling with a paleo/zone diet combo over the past couple of weeks and it's been interesting to say the least. I'll make notes on how that is going as well.

Zzzzz time.

The beginning of the end

2010-11-22T21:41:00.000-07:00

Where to begin...

I'll take it from the top.

A few weeks ago I attended an informational meeting about the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society's Team in Training program. After hearing a few speakers and watching a short video, I was sold and signed up on the spot. I had three races to choose from: Ogden, Vancouver, or Paris (Paris requiring the highest donation minimum and Ogden requiring the least). I decided to shoot for Paris because hey...why not. I've never been to Paris/France/Europe and what better way to see the streets of Paris than running through them for ohhhh 26 or so miles (no big deal).

So I left the meeting with my packet, excited to get started with my fundraising. It's been just barely over 2 weeks now and I am currently at 16% of my goal of $4900.00. :) Progress!!

What is Team in Training you ask? Team in Training (TNT) is the leading endurance sports charity training program and provides participants with the fitness training and group support needed to succeed and complete an endurance sport. It is the perfect program for a rookie runner like me...

Why Team in Training? Because if I am going to do this, this the the kind of motivation I need. I am raising money for something important and doing my part to help find a cure for leukemia, lymphoma, Hodgkin's disease, and myeloma. I have people donating money to support this amazing cause and I do not want to let them down. I am going to run this race in honor of those battling blood cancer and for those who have lost their battle...

I am not a strong runner. I am not a runner, period. This is going to be an amazing/scary/greuling/emotional experience for me and I thought that I best record my progress somehow. Why not online? In a blog? So alas, here my story begins.

To make a donation, please go to my personal TNT page: http://pages.teamintraining.org/dm/paris11/mstrautins
I look forward to sharing my journey with you. :)