TWELVE Fantastic Miles!

TWELVE fantastic miles in Sawyer Camp along the Crystal Springs resevoir on Saturday. I felt great throughout the run - best I've felt doing this distance. But I'm getting ahead of myself.

The day before was a day full of weather - cold and rain. But Saturday? Well, 36F and ice on the windshield at 6:45am when I left my house. But clear skies on the drive to San Mateo...until we saw Crystal Springs - dense fog over the water. Pea soup fog. Holy crap fog. Did-I-bring-enough-gear-to-keep-dry-and-warm kind of fog...but I was dressed perfectly. Had my camera and everything and started running with a great group that kept on getting bigger - apparently we were at the right pace and the 4:1 interval was working for a lot of people. We had a great time chatting and couldn't believe it when we hit the four mile mark where we bid farewell to Simone. Then 5 mile mark and we said, "so long" to two more. And all along the way MY CAMERA WOULD NOT WORK. It's a dinky little thing that distorts action shots in a kind of cool way. These were the only pictures that came out - so no picture of Andria running on the dirt trail with grass edging the barbed wire fence. No group picture on the Crystal Spring Dam. No pics of Toni flying down the hill or the lone deer at mile 9. No picture of the post-run feast at Hobbies - Florentine scramble with extra spinach, home fries, endless cuppa joe with half 'n' half, and for dessert - blueberry coffee cake. Hey, just ran 12 miles...what do you expect? Non-fat yogurt for breakfast?

11 miles at the Baylands!

11 miles and 42 degrees on clear, still day at the Palo Alto Baylands. It was a 10 mile run along the bay with ducks, pelicans, blue herons, and other birds ignoring us all along the way. Great running with Andria and Rakhee and maintained a fairly consistant pace while running a 4min run/1min walk interval. First time running that interval for a long run and it worked for me. I decided to run with the wave 2 folks, but I'll be doing track workouts with wave 3 to work on speed work. Long runs are all about the mileage, track is all about the speed. Ahh, now it's coffee with half 'n'half after the bagel with lox shmear. Yumma.

5K Time Trial

WOOT WOOT!! This week's track night was the infamous 5K time trial. The moment of truth when the run team runs 12 laps to determine the waves we'll be placed in for the season. What would my time be? Would it be an improvement from the summer time trial? Will I run intervals or straight through? As much as I loved running with Wave 1 over the summer - I really did, we had lots of fun, and I met by running BFFs - I wonder if I will move up in the waves?

I conservatively pushed myself and did not take any walk breaks and I shaved NINE MINUTES (9 and remember I am J9) off my time. During the summer I ran a 5K in 42:09 and this time I ran it in 33:07. This is huge people - HUGE I tell you. When input into a pace chart, my marathon time would be 5hrs 23 minutes. That's an HOUR off my Nike Marathon time! Also consider that I have 2 and a half months of training left, will more time be shaved? You betcha. Now I'm waiting for the email from Coach Kris indicating my wave. Stay tuned...

AND YES! I have progressed from Wave 1 to Wave 3! (six waves total).

Thanksgiving Day Turkey Trot

On Thanksgiving Day I ran the 10K Silicon Valley Turkey Trot. I started off with 5 of my TnT friends and ended up running nearly the whole thing with two of my mentees (James and Andria)! That's them in a pic. We had fun running in and between children, strollers, and walkers. I ran it in 1:10:15. I felt like I pushed myself and made a very foolish error with about three-quarters of a mile to go. I bolted way too fast thinking the end was nearer than it. I couldn't sustain the speed and soon Andria came up effortlessly behind me as I huffed and puffed. I'm glad we caught up with each other, because it was really nice running across the finish line together. After picking up my swag and eating a banana, I made it to the kids' fun run area just in time to see my oldest run across his first finish line at the very front of the pack! The little guy ran a few minutes earlier and came in second. They were super excited to earn their first medals. What a great way to start off Thanksgiving!

Back on Track!

FINALLY, I am back into the training routine:

• Mon/Weds - circuit training and stretching for 60-75min.


• Tues - Track (Kris hammered the circuit into us with drills focusing on core and leg strengthening)


• Thur - 6am Buddy Run - 4-6 miles


• Sun/Fri - recovery/rest


• Sat - long run (today's along the MIGHTY Guadalupe River Trail)

Last season, my marathon training goal was to train to endure a marathon from start to finish. This season, I'm training to shave off time. However, at this point in the season, my big focus is to support new participants. Some of the participants are new to running and/or are training for a half marathon. I remember how IMPORTANT it was to get mentor support during these early stages, so I want to give back and do the same for others. It's so easy to get down on yourself for not keeping up with the person passing you, or because you can't do the plank for more than 5 seconds. It can be hard to convince yourself that patience, is indeed a virtue. Strength and endurance will come as long as you keep up with the training.

So, in order for me to get my mileage in while help people out, I've been running some pre-run runs. During this time, I'm running faster and with a longer run interval (4:1 or 5:1). We'll see how it pays of when I run the 10K Turkey-Trot on Thanksgiving Day - I'm aiming for a consistant pace and speed in this one. We'll see what happens!

Why J9, Why: A reminder of WHAT this is all about

As I enter into a new season, I'm looking back on my training just a few months ago. I'm really amazed at how far I have come. I ran 9 miles on Saturday and felt zero soreness. I was REALLY tired later in the day, but a few months ago...9 miles and ice-bath happened within an hour of each other (evidence to the right).

I'm also thinking about why I'm doing this and have to quote a posting from a few months ago. It holds true whether you are a novice TNT participant or a veteran. EVERY runner has a goal - to push beyond their own limits, whatever they are. The longer runs get tougher, but we will always push through with the reminders of why we are out there - the stuggles we experience during marathon training don't compare to the struggles families experience as they endure the devasting effects of cancer. Chemo, radiation, spinal taps, the poking and prodding of needles, sick from cancer, sick from treatments, feelings of hope to feelings of despair, messages left on the phone by doctors stating, "You have cancer. Call back to schedule an appointment."

During every training, we all support teammates through hardships and successes with sarcasm and smiles. We're also quick to state ,"Suck it up, man! Try chemo!" The entire TNT group is the most inspiring, sincere, dedicated, supportive, caring group of people I have ever met - it's a cult of "nice" people with the mission to cure cancer. Which brings me to my last point - many honorees have stated that they are inspired by our dedication to "the cause". However, it is them who inspire us. Sniff, sniff.

Couch Potater Turned Marathon Trainee, now MARATHONER!

Yahoo, I'm in it for the long haul now - a running addict for a cause. I'm sucked into Team In Training for Season 2: The Napa Marathon. I'm in for the cause (raising money for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society), the comraderie, the coaching, the inspiration.

This season will be very different as it is the....ooooooo.....winter season. Cold, rain, wind, fog, on some familiar trails and a few new ones - I'm really looking forward to 20 miles in Monterey. I've heard GREAT things about that run. Waddell Creek and Natural Bridges will be familiar runs with the added bonus of MUD. Unfortunately, Lake Mersucks-I mean Merced, will not be on the schedule. My goal is to improve my endurance and speed, and complete the marathon in 5:30. I'm pretty sure it can be done - 5:45 is a NO brainer. Perhaps I'll knock of even more time, we shall see.................