June 10th - Major Haircut!

As you can see, I got a haircut!! I donated 8 inches of my hair to Pantene's Beautiful Lengths. I had tried to prepare myself for it, but it was hard!! But I'm so glad I did it!

So the real reason for the blog: trip #2 to Queeny Park! Lee and I adventured into this crazy hilly trail again. We managed to make one minor wrong turn, but it didn't really change much. We went about 2.6 miles which felt like 4 miles. It was crazy. Lee says I did much better than last week which was great to hear! Maybe it's due to the 5 pounds I lost from cutting off my hair! Anyway, I felt pretty good through most of it until the last hill that just seems to ascend forever! It really took it out of me and I struggled to get back to the car. But it was a great workout; I was drenched as usual.

Thanks for reading! Leave a comment! What do you think of my running or anything?

June 9th

I just ran 2 miles in 28:39!

Here's the breakdown:

10 min - 4.3 mph
2 min - 3.5 mph
10 min - 4.3 mph
2 min - 3.5 mph
4:39 - 4.3 mph

It went pretty well overall. I was watching a movie while running which kept me occupied. I'm dripping sweat though. I'm going to have to start bringing a towel because this is just ridiculous. I guess most people get used to sweat when they are in athletics in their youth. Well, I skipped over all that. Anyway, that's about it for today's training. Nothing too surprising. (Although the new ache I discovered today was along my plantar fascia. Nothing drastic but I can tell I need to start stretching it. Also, I used my other black athletic socks and they are cotton. I ordered 3 pairs of real running socks from Sock Geek but they aren't here yet. No blisters today but I felt like if had gone any farther, I would have been in trouble.)

Adios amigos!

June 7th

Wow...I'm hurtin'. I just got back from going 3 miles on the treadmill. Overall, I think the time I was on the treadmill went well, but once I stopped, whoa did the pain start! And I've officially learned that I need "running" socks and not cotton ones. Looks like my feet sweat this time with all the exertion and I've got blisters developing on my arches on each foot. Strange place for blisters, but that's where I've got 'em. Anyway, so here's the breakdown of tonight's run:

5 min - 4.5 mph @ 0.5 incline
2 min - 3.5 mph
5 min - 4.4 mph
2 min - 3.5 mph
5 min - 4.3 mph 14:28 = 1 mile
2 min - 3.5 mph
5 min - 4.3 mph @ 0 incline
2 min - 3.5 mph
5 min - 4.3 mph 29:14 = 2 miles
2 min - 3.5 mph
5 min - 4.3 mph
2 min - 3.5 mph
1:57 - 4.3 mph 43:57 = 3 miles

It really just went great (minus the blisters)! No side pains or real problems with breathing. Even the first 20 minutes didn't totally suck.

Today, I also went downtown to a Cardinal's game 2 hours before it started. I managed to collect $91 towards my fundraising goal! It was a lot of fun (as fun as asking for donations can really be) so I'm going to try to head down there more often and for some weekday games too.

That's all for today's post. (My awesome Oklahoma friends were here over the weekend, so I skipped a training session, but I'll have it all made up and back on schedule soon. That is, until I go out of town again this weekend and miss group training.) But I think it's fairly obvious how much I've progressed for just a month ago! This is awesome!

June 3rd

Today, I went for a run with my pal, Lee, at Queeny Park. It's known for it's hills so Coach Rick suggested we all try to run it sometimes since San Francisco is very hilly. Lee and I went for the 2.56 mile loop. Hills were an understatement. I thought I was on more of a hiking trail than a running path! There were some steep inclines. But I managed to do pretty well, I think. The first 20 minutes of every run is always the absolute hardest. But once we got to more flat areas, I was able to jog for quite a bit. I started out with a jog 5 min walk 2 min pace and built up to about 8 min and walked up hills. I jogged probably most of the 2nd half of the whole trip. It was crazy and I was grateful to have a buddy keeping me motivated.

And thanks to all the folks who have made donations this week! I can't believe how much I've received and I'm so thankful! It's finally looking like I might actually reach my fundraising goal! I also got my bake sale at school set up for June 30th. A lot of my friends will be making the baked goods to sell. That's going to be a lot of fun!

June 1st

Here's to another 2 miles! And to new pains that I seem to discover every time I run!

The breakdown:

8 min - 4.5 mph
2 min - 3.5 mph
8 min - 4.3 mph
2 min - 3.5 mph
9:08 - 4.0 mph

So that's a grand total of 4 min walking and 25:08 jogging. Not too shabby... but I also put the incline on 0.5 this time which is wondering if that is where my new ankle pain came from. Around 16 minutes in, I started getting kinda sharp pain just posterior to my left medial malleolus (just behind the inside ankle bone). I had a doc mention once that I may be having some posterior tibial tendon problems so I'm thinking this may be attributed to that. Does anyone know if I'm getting it today because I put the incline up? Anyway, sorry for the bad grammar. I just finished and I wanted to get this posted right away.

One thing to add about my fundraising: My sister Jenny and I went to the Taste of Maplewood on Saturday after the Shop "N" Save thing. The people were very generous there too, and I was giving away purple and white beads for the donations. Seemed to work well and received nearly $100 in a little less than 2 hours.

Future things on my agenda: Bake Sale on June 30th (Let me know if you haven't already if you can make something for me or help me out from 11-1 at Logan). Also, Cardinal's games starting on Sunday where I'll be handing out red and white beads for donations. Now that I've got a little experience begging folks for money, I think it will go well. I'd like to get out there during some of the weekday games too but unfortunately school is starting to pick up and there's just so free time.

So that's about it for today! Send me your thoughts!!

May 30th - Big day!

Wow, I've done a lot today and it's only 5pm.

First, we had group training at 7am at Forest Park. Let me just say that it was nasty outside...thunder, lightning, and a downpour. I didn't think there was any way that they would have us run in this mess. Boy was I wrong. I remember someone asking last time if they ever canceled group training, and they would only cancel if the lightning didn't stop but they wouldn't tell us until we were down there. So, I went ahead and headed to Forest Park with all intention of hoping it was cancel. But it wasn't. I was scheduled to go 3 miles today! It was crazy! It started out with the rain but the lightning and thunder had diminished. By the time that Gail (staff sponsor that stayed with me through my whole route today) and I had got to the half mile mark, the rain had mostly stopped and water was mainly just falling from the trees. The sun even came out around the 1.5 mile mark. Even my coach, Rick, kept up with us through most of the second half of my journey today. I have to admit that I mainly walked at a brisk pace today. Running is just so much harder outside, and that's something that I really need to work on. But it was good to accomplish that distance!

Then I had chosen to help out another teammate with a canister drive outside a Shop 'N' Save in Maplewood. The people were so generous. There for 4 of us standing around the entrance and I still managed to get $150! I was so excited to see that amount. I'm much closer to reaching my goal. (A word to those conducting canister drives themselves, people prefer to donate to a larger container than a coffee or slim jim-sized canister. Wal-mart has the perfect sized ones that I'll post a picture of soon!)

Tonight, my sister Jenny and I are heading down to the Taste of Maplewood that is in the same area so ask for donations and hand out beads if anyone wants them. I'm very sunburned from standing out in the sun for a good 6 hours today but I've loaded up on the sunscreen and hope that protects me from the sun tonight. I'm sure we will have a great time!

Presents for Donations!!

Here is the list of incentives for donations:

Donations over $50 are welcome to submit a name in honor of someone with cancer. This name will be placed on a purple ribbon and attached to my jersey for the day of the race! Here is an example:








For $100, you will receive a Team in Training Tote Bag.






For $250, you will receive a Team in Training Duffel Bag.





For $500 or greater, it can be considered a corporate sponsorship. This can get your business's logo on my jersey, the whole team's jerseys, or the entire Team in Training member's jerseys across the whole nation.