Alright folks! Time to get down to brass tacks (as my 10th grade French teacher used to say, much to the class' amazement and delight)...
Last weekend was a 12 mile run, though I think I only went a little over 11 'cause I screwed up the course. I still feel pretty good about it because I was running on my own and always feel like its a win when I can make myself do a long run by myself (what with water stops, etc.) Tonight, I need to make myself run 6 miles at the gym and then on Saturday I will be doing the monster training run. 20 miles. Holy crap. I am, quite frankly, sort of nervous. I've been trying to practice the marathon thing this week, you know: sleep, carbo load, drink lots of water, etc. I just need to keep pumping up, up, up.
Also, much to my never-ending relief, the fund raising minimum has been reached! I've had a number of contributors who have not yet been properly thanked, and I'm going to work on that, but I'd just like to say right here "Heartfelt thanks to all of you who have helped me out." Truly, this effort is about fighting leukemia and honoring a precious life. For those of you who have reached out to help, you are amazing! I feel honored to have all of you in my life.
The fight goes on though. If some of you are still looking for ways to help take action, consider a Leukemia and Lymphoma Society event. Honor Sean or honor someone else. Who hasn't been touched by cancer? Remember McKenna? Her family and friends do and always will, having signed up to do a marathon event in June and I'm 100% behind them. I've raised my money and now you can help the Johnson family work for McKenna here atMiles for McKenna.
Or go find a TNT event that you want to do. Let me know and we'll keep running! Let's keep fighting, people!
Thursday, January 24, 2008
Thursday, January 17, 2008
STupid Mountain Cedar
Today's post is an informational one on the allergans of Northeast Texas, which have now taken the blame entirely for the previously attributed cold. Yes, I think that I was suffering an allergic reaction from what I hear is a common allergan down here - Mountain Cedar. Mostly, I'm self diagnosing the sudden onset and retreat (during the cold rain yesterday) of all these symptoms. After a good nap yesterday and the rain, I was able to do a 5 mile run - major mental relief. Tonight I'm going to attempt 7 miles as I work to "catch up" with my weekly training. All is well, and I have some very, very nice friends out there who have been more than generous. You know who you are, and thanks!
Tuesday, January 15, 2008
Feeling lousy
Well, I feel horrible today. That long run on Saturday has turned into an achy, icky cold. I skipped running yesterday because I felt horrible. I tried to go today, went about a mile-and-a-half and felt horrible. This was compounded by the enormous, boatload of guilt and fear that come from now the third day with little or no mileage. I may try to go to the gym tonight and do something even if I don't run. Because seriously, I am totally freaking out about this. Otherwise, nothing new to report today (but surprise - less than 2 weeks between posts!)
Monday, January 14, 2008
Almost there - one month to go.
So, last week in Minnesota amounted to some rather paltry training time. I was able to get some passes from a friend of Ellen's (thanks Kirsten! - sp?), but the training was horrid, horrid! I tried to run on Friday night, but I only did a 3 mile run. I must have been fatigued, dehydrated, improperly carbohydrated, etc. This was a bad, bad night for running. I tried again on Monday (after spending the weekend sleeping and drinking gallons of water) and did much better on a 5 mile run. But...a big but...that was it. No long run. Yup, I'm bad. I got back to Tyler on Tuesday and ran another 3 and 5 mile run before the long run on Saturday, which was - wait for it - 17 miles!
I swear, this nearly did me in. Seriously, around mile 14 or so, I just got all floppy and was seriously losing the will to go on. Fortunately, I HAD to return to the trail head, and that was 2 - 1/2 miles away, so the 17 miles was completed. I got a lot of my energy back around mile 16 where I must admit, I got sort of emotional. All of a sudden, I was just imagining how it was going to feel to finish this race, and all this training, for Sean. Sometimes, I just can't believe he's gone. I mean, really. Some days the loss is just so...acute. It's been 10 months, but on somedays it feels like it may have just been 10 minutes, and I just miss him so much. Everything he was, everything he wanted to be (I was imagining him beating on the drums for me). Anyways, sometimes when I need a little boost I remember that day that I raced him, the summer before he was diagnosed (probably already sick). I told him that he might be faster, but I could run longer and I would eventually win. Boy, did he prove me wrong. He ran, and ran. Told me that it was something that he was really good at, that few would catch him if they tried. So anyway, there I was needing my boost, thinking of Sean, and I imagined the finish line of this Austin marathon, and how it would feel. I'm here to say right now, that I am going to be a PUDDLE! I know it. I'm going to fall apart and that's okay. Hopefully it won't happen until the very end, because - as I learned on Saturday - crying and running both compete for oxygen. Fortunately, I managed to reign things in before I got hysterical on Saturday - mostly afraid that people would think I had hurt myself and not really wanting to explain the truth, or any part of it.
Okay, so I just send out a plea for funds. Only something like $300 left for this venture and here's hoping that people come through. So hard, and yet so exhilarating. Right. I gotta go - need to go run 3 miles before I do another 8 tomorrow. Stay tuned for more dirty details, this weekend is a 12 miler, than 20, then the taper begins! Down, down, down to the zero hour!
I swear, this nearly did me in. Seriously, around mile 14 or so, I just got all floppy and was seriously losing the will to go on. Fortunately, I HAD to return to the trail head, and that was 2 - 1/2 miles away, so the 17 miles was completed. I got a lot of my energy back around mile 16 where I must admit, I got sort of emotional. All of a sudden, I was just imagining how it was going to feel to finish this race, and all this training, for Sean. Sometimes, I just can't believe he's gone. I mean, really. Some days the loss is just so...acute. It's been 10 months, but on somedays it feels like it may have just been 10 minutes, and I just miss him so much. Everything he was, everything he wanted to be (I was imagining him beating on the drums for me). Anyways, sometimes when I need a little boost I remember that day that I raced him, the summer before he was diagnosed (probably already sick). I told him that he might be faster, but I could run longer and I would eventually win. Boy, did he prove me wrong. He ran, and ran. Told me that it was something that he was really good at, that few would catch him if they tried. So anyway, there I was needing my boost, thinking of Sean, and I imagined the finish line of this Austin marathon, and how it would feel. I'm here to say right now, that I am going to be a PUDDLE! I know it. I'm going to fall apart and that's okay. Hopefully it won't happen until the very end, because - as I learned on Saturday - crying and running both compete for oxygen. Fortunately, I managed to reign things in before I got hysterical on Saturday - mostly afraid that people would think I had hurt myself and not really wanting to explain the truth, or any part of it.
Okay, so I just send out a plea for funds. Only something like $300 left for this venture and here's hoping that people come through. So hard, and yet so exhilarating. Right. I gotta go - need to go run 3 miles before I do another 8 tomorrow. Stay tuned for more dirty details, this weekend is a 12 miler, than 20, then the taper begins! Down, down, down to the zero hour!
Sunday, December 30, 2007
Happy Holidays
My only excuse for not writing so long has been the craziness of the holidays: shopping, end of semester madness, partner in town, and - oh yes - training for a marathon.
Never fear, the training does indeed go on and I'm on track. On the day after Christmas, I ran 15.25 miles (let me pause for a "!" here)...
The training has improved since last time and I've been enjoying it again; I mostly needed to try something different because it was really feeling like a bunch of the same old same old, what can I say? So now I've been using the iPod Nano a bit (listening to inspiring music and a little Jane Austen) and working out at the gym at school on the treadmill. Another thing I've started to do is use the warm-up - that is: I've been warming up before running (as opposed to just starting out running). I suspect some of my problem was rooted in starting out too strong and burning out too fast. I'm also working on balancing out my hamstrings and quads, doing more on the exercise bike to address that. Overall, then, I would say that things have gone quite well.
What else? Well, I still need about $400 to make my fund-raising minimum, which is a major drag. But there it is. If anyone knows someone who hasn't gone broke here during the holiday season and looking for a good cause in which to invest, I'm available. Ugh...not much to say. Heading to Minneapolis next week, which is so cooooooold that it should be a major challenge to get proper training time in. Maybe I can go beg Lifetime fitness to give me a deal for a good cause. Otherwise, I think they charge $30 for a guest pass (which I may need to pay off my fund-raising goal). Argh!
So, to sum up. Running = good; fund-raising = bad. No surprises there. Happy New Year!
Never fear, the training does indeed go on and I'm on track. On the day after Christmas, I ran 15.25 miles (let me pause for a "!" here)...
The training has improved since last time and I've been enjoying it again; I mostly needed to try something different because it was really feeling like a bunch of the same old same old, what can I say? So now I've been using the iPod Nano a bit (listening to inspiring music and a little Jane Austen) and working out at the gym at school on the treadmill. Another thing I've started to do is use the warm-up - that is: I've been warming up before running (as opposed to just starting out running). I suspect some of my problem was rooted in starting out too strong and burning out too fast. I'm also working on balancing out my hamstrings and quads, doing more on the exercise bike to address that. Overall, then, I would say that things have gone quite well.
What else? Well, I still need about $400 to make my fund-raising minimum, which is a major drag. But there it is. If anyone knows someone who hasn't gone broke here during the holiday season and looking for a good cause in which to invest, I'm available. Ugh...not much to say. Heading to Minneapolis next week, which is so cooooooold that it should be a major challenge to get proper training time in. Maybe I can go beg Lifetime fitness to give me a deal for a good cause. Otherwise, I think they charge $30 for a guest pass (which I may need to pay off my fund-raising goal). Argh!
So, to sum up. Running = good; fund-raising = bad. No surprises there. Happy New Year!
Tuesday, December 11, 2007
Back in the saddle again.
So, I guess you could say that I'm back in the saddle again, running regularly and long (when I have to). Nevertheless, this last week has been hard. I don't know if my problem is coming back from illness, or just the unseasonably warm weather (sorry Minnesotans - but 73 degrees is not ideal running weather), but things are pretty tough these days.
Last Saturday I drove out to Longview to run the nice trail there. It was under construction and pretty torn up, but I could see why it's a trail that appeals to my coach. For one thing, it is asphalt rather than concrete as is the case with the Rose Rudman trail in Tyler - inexplicable! Anyway, I went 10 miles. The beginning was wicked, each passing moment/mile going by in slow motion as I wheezed along. Then, after some 3 miles or so, I chilled out to about mile 5 (things went by kind of smoothly and I must have hit some kind of groove or something). As I approached the water stop (at approximately mile 5-3/4), I started to feel things again and it all became work. Why is it always so hard? I feel like I must be doing something wrong, bad form, too fat, something. Thank goodness I have Sean and McKenna looking down on me and Ann to think of here. Otherwise, I would be seriously in the mood to quit...
Perhaps I am entering that time in marathon training where quitting becomes really enchanting, but I still have money to raise and a race to run. Might I add for any aspiring marathoners that fundraising provides tremendous incentive to get your training runs in - you simply do not want to be shamed out of the end product. So I have to run, but I'm not really liking it right now. This kind of stinks because I really, really want to be a runner. I long to glide along, fleet-footed and graceful, like a powerful gazelle in a Nike commercial. Instead, I feel like a lumbering cow, heavy footed, pounding, pounding, pounding along in the most ungainly, unnatural lope. I may try to start working in some speed training here and there, because I am seriously sick of this.
Oh, here's something mildly interesting. I've changed my Monday run to a Sunday run/cross-train. I'm going to try to work in more cross-training (low impact) because I am just convinced that I'm not strong enough. I really feel like I should be much stronger than I am, so that's my solution. One thing I've started is rowing. I've read that rowing is one of the best cardio workouts that you can do (I believe it - my old roommate was a rower and was she ever fit!) Only problem is, I'm not strong enough to get any serious workout. My arms and back seem to give out long before I've become anything close to winded. Perhaps this will help me burn some of my fat off, though. Then I could be lighter, leaner, and (see above).
Wow, this is a snarky post as they go. I guess I'm cranky today, not in the mood for much. Anyway, I'll let you all know if things seem to improve with my new plan. Until then...
Last Saturday I drove out to Longview to run the nice trail there. It was under construction and pretty torn up, but I could see why it's a trail that appeals to my coach. For one thing, it is asphalt rather than concrete as is the case with the Rose Rudman trail in Tyler - inexplicable! Anyway, I went 10 miles. The beginning was wicked, each passing moment/mile going by in slow motion as I wheezed along. Then, after some 3 miles or so, I chilled out to about mile 5 (things went by kind of smoothly and I must have hit some kind of groove or something). As I approached the water stop (at approximately mile 5-3/4), I started to feel things again and it all became work. Why is it always so hard? I feel like I must be doing something wrong, bad form, too fat, something. Thank goodness I have Sean and McKenna looking down on me and Ann to think of here. Otherwise, I would be seriously in the mood to quit...
Perhaps I am entering that time in marathon training where quitting becomes really enchanting, but I still have money to raise and a race to run. Might I add for any aspiring marathoners that fundraising provides tremendous incentive to get your training runs in - you simply do not want to be shamed out of the end product. So I have to run, but I'm not really liking it right now. This kind of stinks because I really, really want to be a runner. I long to glide along, fleet-footed and graceful, like a powerful gazelle in a Nike commercial. Instead, I feel like a lumbering cow, heavy footed, pounding, pounding, pounding along in the most ungainly, unnatural lope. I may try to start working in some speed training here and there, because I am seriously sick of this.
Oh, here's something mildly interesting. I've changed my Monday run to a Sunday run/cross-train. I'm going to try to work in more cross-training (low impact) because I am just convinced that I'm not strong enough. I really feel like I should be much stronger than I am, so that's my solution. One thing I've started is rowing. I've read that rowing is one of the best cardio workouts that you can do (I believe it - my old roommate was a rower and was she ever fit!) Only problem is, I'm not strong enough to get any serious workout. My arms and back seem to give out long before I've become anything close to winded. Perhaps this will help me burn some of my fat off, though. Then I could be lighter, leaner, and (see above).
Wow, this is a snarky post as they go. I guess I'm cranky today, not in the mood for much. Anyway, I'll let you all know if things seem to improve with my new plan. Until then...
Tuesday, December 4, 2007
It's been too long...
Yes, yes...I know. I've neglected posts very badly now for nearly 2 weeks! So, I decided to get back in the saddle and renew my efforts here until the end. Truth is, I've been fighting a terrible cold for the last 10 days or so, so I've not run much either. I guess that made me feel like there wasn't much to say, but there are a few things to note, some news to share.
First, the saddest thing. McKenna Johnson - sweet McKenna - passed away a week ago tonight. Not only was she a personal inspiration for me, as I've been training for this race, but she was also the Team Hero for the Minnesota marathoners in Team-in-Training. I'll always remember how brave she was, standing there with her parents the night after Sean died and facing the return of her own cancer. I cannot say enough about Krista and Scott (her mom and dad) who were just so wonderful to us when we lost Sean - I HATE that they had to go through what we did, bringing it all right back again. And amazing Krista... here's what she posted on Sean's CaringBridge site the very night (actually those sleepless, numbing wee hours of the next day) that she lost her own little girl:
Okay. So anyway, back to running (is that possible?) Today was recommitment to the Austin Marathon. I - in my own imitable way - forgot the paperwork at home and will fax it in tomorrow. Good thing, otherwise the training run (first run after illness) would have had to wait another day and I was starting to get antsy. So, thanks for understanding Karmen! Just a slow 4 mile run today and I felt it in my sinuses the whole way. Can't wait for the dregs of this horrible cold to leave me at last. Before tonight, the last time I had run was the Saturday after T-Giving (a 12-1/2 miler around the lakes in Minneapolis).
That was not the greatest run and I don't know if it was the excessive mileage, insufficient stretching/warm-up, or the early onset of the cold. Probably a combination of the three. My legs turned to lead about 1/3 of the way in in and I was never able to run it out. At the end, it was just fatigue, fatigue, fatigue. And then, the cold came (a doozy, I might add), thanks to the man from New York who brought me those special East Coast germs that I hadn't yet experienced. Hopefully, there will be no sinus infection as a result.
Finally, the exciting news of the two week layoff. I ran my first 5k! Me and 10,000 Minnesotans early on Thanksgiving morning, just an early strike against the many thousands of calories to be consumed later in the day! Thanks to Kirsten and Jake for facilitating this (5ks are apparently a regular thing for them), it was really pretty exciting. And it snowed! That was a LOT of fun.
I think that is about all. I'll try to write again and let you all know how post-cold recovery is going. I'm hoping that I'll be able to shake it off and slide back into the program. In the meantime - THINK PINK!
First, the saddest thing. McKenna Johnson - sweet McKenna - passed away a week ago tonight. Not only was she a personal inspiration for me, as I've been training for this race, but she was also the Team Hero for the Minnesota marathoners in Team-in-Training. I'll always remember how brave she was, standing there with her parents the night after Sean died and facing the return of her own cancer. I cannot say enough about Krista and Scott (her mom and dad) who were just so wonderful to us when we lost Sean - I HATE that they had to go through what we did, bringing it all right back again. And amazing Krista... here's what she posted on Sean's CaringBridge site the very night (actually those sleepless, numbing wee hours of the next day) that she lost her own little girl:
Sean,Have fun playing with McKenna in Heaven. You're her "big" brother now...taking over where Kalen was forced to leave off. Kale will take care of your friends here on earth, and you need to take care of his little sister in Heaven. Pretty fair tradeoff, don't ya' think?
Until we meet again...we love you....
The Johnson's
Of course this made me cry and cry. Kalen was in Sean's fifth grade classroom last year, and many of Sean's friends posted on McKenna's site after they learned of her passing. [side note: I remember kids that age sometimes being unconsciously and unconscionably cruel, but these children - friends of Sean and Kalen - continue to astound me with their grace and kindess -- amazing!] Anyway, Krista painted hot pink toe nail polish on McKenna's toes (as well as her own and those of her other daughter). I went out and bought some for myself and will be pink-toeing it all the way to the finish line in Austin.
Okay. So anyway, back to running (is that possible?) Today was recommitment to the Austin Marathon. I - in my own imitable way - forgot the paperwork at home and will fax it in tomorrow. Good thing, otherwise the training run (first run after illness) would have had to wait another day and I was starting to get antsy. So, thanks for understanding Karmen! Just a slow 4 mile run today and I felt it in my sinuses the whole way. Can't wait for the dregs of this horrible cold to leave me at last. Before tonight, the last time I had run was the Saturday after T-Giving (a 12-1/2 miler around the lakes in Minneapolis).
That was not the greatest run and I don't know if it was the excessive mileage, insufficient stretching/warm-up, or the early onset of the cold. Probably a combination of the three. My legs turned to lead about 1/3 of the way in in and I was never able to run it out. At the end, it was just fatigue, fatigue, fatigue. And then, the cold came (a doozy, I might add), thanks to the man from New York who brought me those special East Coast germs that I hadn't yet experienced. Hopefully, there will be no sinus infection as a result.
Finally, the exciting news of the two week layoff. I ran my first 5k! Me and 10,000 Minnesotans early on Thanksgiving morning, just an early strike against the many thousands of calories to be consumed later in the day! Thanks to Kirsten and Jake for facilitating this (5ks are apparently a regular thing for them), it was really pretty exciting. And it snowed! That was a LOT of fun.
I think that is about all. I'll try to write again and let you all know how post-cold recovery is going. I'm hoping that I'll be able to shake it off and slide back into the program. In the meantime - THINK PINK!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
