Just Keep Going!

I ran farther than I ever have before..30 miles!!! It took me a little over 8 hrs but I did it. Maggie ran 35 in her 8hrs and my parents saved the day with Gaterade and ice cold water around mile 21.

Life has been going exceptionally well lately. Busy at work, school, and keeping up with my training has left little time to blog. My dad asked me when I was going to update again so I thought I'd add this pic of my journey... I know I look beautiful ha!

After 19 my brain stopped even attempting to participate with conversations but thankfully people understand. Yesterday I felt wonderful and I ran 4.8 miles this morning. It's tge craziest thing but I kinda love it..so Much i'm gonna go ahead and do it again tomorrow :)


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Location:Phila

From the Valley to the River

Sunday I ran with the Team at Valley Forge, did 5 miles. It was raining so I didn’t get to take any pics this week. We ran on the river trail instead of in the park. It was really pretty though. I ran a little with a woman that is doing Alaska this weekend. She joined online as a virtual team, so she has been primarily training on her own. I wished her good luck at 2.5 miles which was my turn around and she continued on. She was running 8 miles.

Last week I did make it to Valley Green. There was a 10K getting ready so a lot of people were around. My feet were still sore from the Memorial Day run, so I walked a mile or so then jogged a little and repeated. There was a coach for the walk/run team that walked with me. She was really nice to talk to and after a little I just sucked it up and my feet were fine by the end. We did about 4 miles or so.

I have not been training as I would like to but I am doing what I can. I ran Thursday morning and took these two pictures. Pretty! Friday I had an awesome softball game, but other than that I did not run that morning. I am going to make a real effort this week to follow my training. I have a Test tonight on The Blood. I heard it is all multiple choice which is fantastic.

Last night Maggie and I went for a run on the path. Did about 5 miles, but with the run there and the walk home I did roughly 8.5 miles. Which is probably why I was a little sore this morning. Here’s a pic of Boathouse Row around 9:30pm.

Saturday, Maggie and I are doing our 8 hr run on the loop. I am going to stock up Friday night after work with some gels, good socks, a nice tank top and shorts. I have the glide, that I will absolutely bring. Probably pack a couple peanut butter sandwiches. Anyone is more than welcome to come by. Not sure I will have my phone...it got annoying to have after about 3 miles last time, but who knows.

43 Days to GO...

A lot has happened! Monday I decided, it was Go Time. I have been talking with Maggie and she has done at least 2 runs over 4 hrs so far. She said she would be running a 6 hr run last week but when she ran her last long run (close to 5 ½ hrs) her leg started to hurt so she wanted to wait to run longer. Let’s back track…

Monday night last week, Maggie and I went for a run. She had already run that day so she was okay with my pace. We went down the Skukyl River path and were doing ok, until we ran into... An entire wall of gnats! At first I thought we could just run through them but there were just too many. I couldn’t even see Maggie because I dropped my head and covered my mouth. We decided to take that as a sign and turn back. I think total we did 4-5 miles. She gave me some powder called ‘perpetuem’ On the back it says ‘helps muscles not to canobolize.’ I would rather my muscles not eat themselves so the powder seems like a good idea. I haven’t tried it yet though.


Wednesday last week we ran to the Art museum in the AM. There were some pretty awesome pics I will include below. The fountain at Love Park was Purple, so pretty! That run was about 5 or so miles (there seems to be a trend here).

MONDAY! I was like ‘let’s do this!’ I had the day off (Memorial Day) and it would be the perfect chance to get a glimpse into what it will be like for the 20 in 24 race. My dad agreed to come ride his bike around the loop so if anything happened he would eventually see me on the path. My goal going out was 6 hours and if I did 20 miles I would be happy. I knew I would be walking mostly and I wanted to be happy with what I did so I didn’t set any unattainable goal. I figured 3 laps around would be 25.2 miles so that was a good goal for it. We hit the path at 1:30pm and it was 90-93 degrees and sunny. It was hot! But it will be in July too so it worked out.

I ran the first 1.5 miles then walked to Falls Bridge and ran another 1.5 miles. There was a DJ set up across West River Drive and people were lounging on the grass.. My headphones lasted about 2 miles and they became more of a hassle so I just tucked them in my fanny pack and kept moving. First lap down! I stopped at my dad’s truck to reapply the suntan lotion. I know you can’t tell by looking but I BURN! (that was sarcasm) My paleness to the sun is like fresh meat to a lion….it senses me coming and devours me whole! The second lap I still felt good it was over 2 hrs into the walk/run. After Falls Bridge (1 ½ laps in) I started feeling my underarms rub against my tank top, I looked down and they were all red and irritated. I have had chaffage in between my thighs before but never under my arms. So I started to make a mental list of the things I will need for the race. Glide stuff my arms for sure, comfy thick socks, like 4 pairs…At least two pairs of shoes. I need a new pair so I will bring the new pair and the current but possibly some slip ons of some sort..I got a pebble in my shoe a mile shy of the completion of lap 2. I stopped to bend over…that took longer than expected. Once I had my foot halfway out I realized I had a giant blister on my heel.. I was only 15 miles in though and me feet were really sore but I knew if I looked at the blister I would call it quits. So I shook out the pebble, gently squished my foot back into my shoe and continued on.

I decided to stay on east river and just go a little more than two miles out on the path and back so I could reach 21 miles. I did it in 5 hrs and 26 mins. It was 6:56pm when I took the glorious picture below. (the first)


I realized on my practice go that I am going to have a lot of time on my hands…mentally. I started to pray and realized that I can spend some good quality time with God if I chose and that can keep my mind off of whatever body parts start to ache. I also was thinking about cool things I can wear, etc. well if you don’t already know July 16 is my birthday!!! So I am going to make a tank top with the number 27 on the back. And I am going to have 6 empty dashes on top like hangman…Each Lap I will add a letter to eventually spell ‘CHANCE’ this serves three purposes…1. It will let me know how many laps I have done 2. I will have a cool shirt that says my name on it by the end 3. Once I hit the 50 mile mark and the ‘E’ is added I will have reached my goal! However if there is still more time which I am assuming there might be I will keep going and who knows it could spell ‘Chancey’ or ‘Chanceypants’ by the end! That method will help me be friendly to the other runners too when I ask what the back of my shirt says and they respond ‘Chan’ I’ll know I am on my 5th lap (4 completed).

My mom called at one point somewhere between 10-13 miles and I became a little short on the phone. I didn’t get mad at any point during the run but I did notice that I became less social. Even though it was just my dad..I just wanted to keep moving and not stop for a bit. I think I will issue a disclaimer on July 15 that anyone I see during the race, it may not seem like I am excited to see you but I will be! I think after 8 hrs or so my mind will start to wander more but we will see when it happens.

By mile 7 my hands began to swell... This pic doesn't do the swelling justice (*side note- I was in a wedding Saturday hence the pink finger nails that just so happen to match my shorts*)

Tried to capture the essence of me after 21 miles...this is what came out

This was slightly more appealing...I look tough! Watch out now...

Update: I have not run since Monday. Both of my heels had giant blisters on them. It's the first time I had one on my actual heel and not the back of the ankle. Anyway day one I was sore all over, yesterday my butt hurt most, and today there is an afterflow of sore but manageable. I plan on doing 2-3 miles tonight after class..

Team in Training run this week is Saturday, 7:30am at Valley Green! I will be there! No softball this week so I can get to bed early...well early for a Friday Night :)

Getting Honest

Honestly I do not want to write the rest of this sentence, but I did not go Saturday to the Team Training :/ I didn’t think it through and stayed up late Friday night. When the alarm went off on Saturday I decided to sleep longer. I volunteered Sat and Sunday this weekend; 3-8 and I had a feeling if I didn't sleep Saturday I would not have the chance to catch up before Monday. My mentor did email me though to see if I made it out and she is going to let me know when she hears back from the rest of her mentees on the team. She is trying to put together a car pool for the kids in the city. This week is Sat at Valley Forge but I have Tam's Wedding Shower and next week is the wedding..So now my first practice will be the first week in June.
I talked to Alyssa, who I ran the NJ Marathon with. We were discussing the change of the training schedule. Now we are going to run for time instead of miles during the week (according to the schedule), but I told her I think it will work if we just treat the min as a ten min mile. So whenever we see run 40:00 we can translate that to run 4 miles. That way we are getting the same mileage if we have a slower pace.

Sunday I met with a friend, in the AM then got a little cleaning done before going to the hospital. When I got home I put some laundry in the washer, went to Wawa to get my lunch for Monday, went back and changed the clothes to the dryer, then went for a run. I ran 4.3 miles in 45 minutes. Went up 2nd Street to Chestnut, to 20th then to Walnut (tried to run through Rittenhouse but the sprinklers were on), then came all the way back on Spruce. It was nice. I find myself picking up the pace when people are watching, then when I am out of view I am like huffing and puffing. I am so grateful to live in the city though because although it probably isn’t the safest to run at night, it is well lit. When I was living at my mom's I used to run around and around the same few streets because the Black Horse Pike is not the most runner friendly street, but there was no running happening at night there. I did have a car though so I could, if I really wanted to, drive to somewhere that was ok to run around at night, but that never happened.

Yesterday morning I was planning on running outside but since it was raining I went to the gym. I was not feeling it. I haven’t been to the gym in probably over a month. I ran a little but walked mostly..2.2 miles in 25 minutes as I watched The Patty Duke Show, which I actually really liked. I thought I was watching Leave it to Beaver when I first saw the mom and dad talking but then it was about Patty, she so irresponsible lol. Anyway I ran/walked as Patty tried to get money to the bank but it was closed and then she lied to her parents, such shenanigans. I really like Black and White television though. When life was simple or so it seemed to be...

I feel like a chump for not making it to the first practice but at the same time it was only a couple miles. I will get there in June and have a goal to make at least two new friends. It is actually kind of hard sometimes to go right out and make friends but luckily there are a lot of people like me who just show up alone and so they start talking and get the opportunity to meet some really awesome, down to earth cats that are all there for the same cause. Then you start talking about why you chose Team in Training and well one thing leads to another and before you know it you are crying together over either a survivor story or someone running in the memory of someone who lost their battle with cancer. It really is a great experience I don’t want to miss.

This morning I ran the Ben Franklin Bridge. The forecast was rain, but luckily 6-7:10am it held off. I was prepared though with my hat and jacket. It was pretty humid and foggy. The picture I took (below) is not the best but it is neat with the train coming over and the skyscrapers engulfed in the clouds. So from my house to the bridge (I ran down Front St by accident but gave me some more mileage) and back was about 5.5 miles. I ran with my friend again, and we walked some of it, so it took about 70 minutes but forget the time I am happy with the 5.5 miles. Can’t forget the .5 either, that is 5 and one half mile bud ha.
This morning when my alarm went off I had to remind myself that I used to wake up at 5:30 every day when I had to be at work by 7am, which was only 5 months ago… And it definitely helps knowing that someone is meeting me, because I know that is at least one more person getting up to run at that hour.




Ben Franklin Bridge 6:45am Wednesday May 18, 2011



I feel good! It is only 9AM, and I am ready for the day :)

"We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, therefore, is not an act but a habit."~Aristotle

Go TIME

Let it begin!

Fundraising
OK I added the link (on the right) to my Fundraising page and it OFFICIALLY has begun! I got the brochures for Cookie Dough Tubs $10 for a 2 lb container that you can freeze. The kinds of cookies are:
*Chocolate Chunk
*Peanut Butter
*Oatmeal Raisin
*Sugar
*White Chocolate Macadamia Nut
*Snickerdoodle

I have to have 120 tubs ordered before I can place it though, so if you know ANYONE that likes cookies, send them my way!!!

Second Option: Joe Corbis Pizza
A woman at work's kid, did this one and I kept my pizza kit in the freezer at work so I can just make the little personalized guy for lunch when I need it. Great Idea. I am waiting on the brochures for that. More info to come...

Kick Off
Last night I went to the TNT Kickoff at the Great American Pub in Conshohocken. Last year they had the back room but this year it was upstairs, a lot bigger! There were a lot of people there! A lot of people are doing the Philly Full Marathon and A bunce are doing the Rock N Roll Half in September. There were people for the other events too (Marine Corps Marathon, Nike’s Women Marathon, the Tri, and Seagull Century) but the majority were for the Philly events.
I got my training shirt, similar to last years, but I went for the Large this time. Last year I was always tugging on it, too tiny..

Training
Anyway tomorrow will be our first group run and our training schedules start from there. It was interesting this time because instead of miles, the runs are by time… so for the three or four runs on our own during the week it will say (25 min or 30 min) instead of 2.5 or 3 miles. The weekend long runs are in miles still. I am excited!! Tomorrow we are meeting at the Manayunk running club. They are leaving every 20 mins from 8-11am. I met a couple girls from the city but none of us drive, they are taking the 7:25am train out because they are mentors so they have to be there from the start. I said I would go with them because it will be nice to not go alone plus I have no idea where I am going. My understanding is that when I first get there, they will give me the schpele on running shoes and which are best for me…take a look at mine and ask me how long I have had them… I can actually get the correct answer by going back in my posts but off the top of my head I think Feb of 2010 I bought them so over a year old. I was told that the deal for running shoes is they are good for 500 miles…I am not sure when mine expired but I’m pretty confident they are doneski. I do not have the money right now for the new shoes but they are in my plans for this summer. After that we will go with a group for a 20-25 min run on the toe path. Not sure what the toe path is or if I have run on it before but it sounds fun.

I did not wake up yesterday or today in time to run : ( Yesterday I just wanted to sleep and today I justified it because I got a Charlie horse (or cramp) in my Left Calf. So I told myself, I better not run so I am not sore for my softball game tonight. But actually I don’t feel the pain anymore. Sometimes when I get those cramps I feel it for a day or two…They are the worst! I cry like a baby too when I get one. There is nothing that can make it go away. Depending on my mood I either squeeze my leg for dear life or I punch it, but I have to ride it to the end. Then if I flex my foot half the time the pain comes right back again. Every time I tell people I get them they always say how they got them when they were pregnant. I get them like once every 3-6 weeks, but no bun in the oven here. Lack of potassium is what WebMD and my parents tell me, so I gotta eat more bananas and stop being such a baby.

Tonight hopefully I will run around the bases a couple times and can count that as my little teeny run. Tomorrow after Manayunk, I am going to run to the Path and check out the Dad Vail (Since I didn’t make it this morning). Today is the beginning so by mid morning tomorrow it should be heading into the Finals.. I miss crew.. Hopefully I will get a few more miles in other than the morning run.

Sunday I am meeting a friend at 10am so I want to wake up and run a little before then, that way I am not rushing so I can run before I have to be at the hospital at 3. School starts on Monday, which means these AM runs will be key. I need more discipline. I know once I get home from school I usually have convinced myself I am too tired to run, so by doing it right away I don’t give myself the chance to say no! Two weeks til Tam’s Wedding! Holy Moly! Next week is the shower and then it is here already. I have not tried the dress on since I was fitted for it, not because I am too scared but Tam has it. I think it should be fine. I have the dress for Dannielle’s wedding (Sept) Hanging in my closet and I don’t want to touch it because I feel like I can stain and wrinkle anything at any moment. Hopefully by August that bad boy will be a little looser, but if not no worries. OK today’s quote is:

"Running is a big question mark that's there each and every day. It asks you, 'Are you going to be a wimp or are you going to be strong today?" - Peter Maher, Canadian marathon runner

Yesterday and today I woke up in time to run! Monday my allergies were out of control. It took half the day to feel semi normal. By the time I got home, my plan was to take a nap for 30 minutes around 6pm…I woke up at 5am! Then I laid in bed til 5:45 when I got a text from a friend, saying ‘Rise and Shine.’ Now a few weeks ago, maybe even a month by now, I was telling her how great it is to wake up early and get your work out done. Telling her how I feel so wonderful when I do, yada yada. And she has been waking up to make the early morning spinning class for her gym on Tuesdays. That was the push I needed to get moving. I was well rested but my body could sleep forever if I let it. I ran up South St to the Bridge at 27th St, then back. It is 4 miles total (2 up and 2 back). I ran 10 mins, walked 5, ran 10, walked 10, ran the rest. It was nice.

Then this morning, I ran with a friend which always motivates me. Woke up at 5:30 was out the door at 6 and we ran for roughly 35 mins. Did around 3.2 miles. We went down to Penn’s Landing then up Market over 10th and back to Bainbridge and home. I was talking to him about Team in Training and the Philly Marathon, if I had it my way everyone of my friends and family would run a marathon together! It was perfect running weather today. I ran the whole time (because I wasn’t alone). But so far I feel good today. My college crew team is coming to town this weekend for the Dad Vail Regatta. I am going to try to wake up at 5 on Friday and run up there to see if I see Coach Allen. I would go Saturday but I think the first Team training is this Sat at 8am at Valley Green, so I won’t have enough time.

Tomorrow night is the Kick Off Party and I am excited to meet the new team. I am glad Alyssa is doing it too. She moved to the burbs though which is kind of a bummer but I think she will still be at the group runs so I can have a running partner my pace. I will have to mingle so I can meet someone from the city who has a car and won’t mind carting me around. I borrowed my mom’s car for a couple of the runs last year but I had some numbers to call in case it didn’t work out.
I’m excited to start again with the Team because it gives me more of a purpose. I like to hear the stories of the survivors and of other team members as to why they do it. It’s like a mini cry session before the run but again it reminds you why you are out there, raising $ Etc… Alright Quote of the day:

“No great achievement is possible without persistent work.” ~Bertrand Russell

Speedy Pants

I can be a space cadet sometimes. The whole reason I wanted to write was because I was just on http://www.athlinks.com/myresultsadv.aspx?rid=80623279
And I can see my pace for all of the races in the past. Even though I ran Broad St as someone else, this site still let me claim the time as mine, so that's awesome. And....This last run was the fastest pace I have ran (well it's the average, but you get my drift) ever. Pace was 10:46 which is slow for a lot of people but if you haven't noticed my user name is 'slow and steady.' I am usually an 11 or so on the longer runs, so ten miles averaging under 11 min miles is something I can be happy about :) Fastest Race over a 5 K*
Big things guys, big things!