Baltimore Marathon 2013: Marathon #2

Last year, I registered to run the Baltimore Marathon to raise money and awareness concerning child sex trafficking. We were in the process of a move to the area - a move that did not happen as quickly as anticipated.

I ran Hartford Marathon instead and deferred Baltimore - just in case.

I did not plan on running a marathon this year. As of August, my longest training run was 13 miles, and that was in May. Not exactly stellar training.

I met a woman in my running club who was running Baltimore. I thought maybe we could run in together. We did a training run together in September: 16.5 miles. And then I did a solo 20 miler.

Ready for a marathon? Just really sure - but I was going to do it!

The week of the marathon, she decided to go all out and try and hit a personal goal of hers which was out of my range. I thought I'd try and run with the pace group aiming for a 4:30 marathon.

Can I just stop and say I loved this marathon? The whole thing is basically in the city (here is the course map). Over the course of 26.2 miles, you travel through beautiful parks with lakes and rundown neighborhoods with boarded-up buildings. I loved that. I loved the homeless guy who ran a couple blocks with us and the street preacher who warned us about the end of the world. I loved the people taking iPad videos of us out their apartment windows. The crowd support was consistent throughout, more so than any other race I've done. It was just an all-around great race.

Back to my race :) I ran with the 4:30 pace group for 11 miles, but lost them after a pit stop. 

This marathon is hilly. It was painful. I swore I'd never do it again. Did I mention it was hilly? My quads hated me for days after. The last 6.2 miles felt like 10+. My stomach did OK, with some painful cramps around mile 14, but the salt pills seemed to help. I also kept fueling simple: water, a LaraBar and organic jelly beans (not sports beans - actual jelly beans).

I eventually settled with the 4:45 pace group and finished just ahead of them for a final time of 4:45:12 (I started in front of them - hence the difference).

This was a 13 minute PR from Hartford.

Here I am, smiling at my family as I crossed the finish line.

Trying desperately to smile at the end, blue lips and all:

The Medal

And now I surf the web for other local marathons to run......I seemed to have caught the bug :)

ING Hartford Marathon Race Recap: Trample On for the Kids!

This is the ING Hartford Marathon Race Recap.

I decided to run this marathon in order to raise funds and awareness concerning child sex trafficking.  On race morning, we had almost hit our 2nd goal of $3275 ($125/mile run) over at TrampleOn.org.

I found out on Friday morning that the weather was likely going to be about 34 degrees at race time.  Training all summer for a fall marathon had not prepared me for this.  I ran to the basement to try and dig up some winter running clothes.  I also made my family go pick me up some $1 gloves while I was at a speaking engagement Friday morning.

After the engagement, we went to the XL Center in Hartford to pick up my race packet.

It was nice to see LaraBar and Food Should Taste Good there, as well as Navitas Natural (all things my kids can eat!).  We then went and stayed at a friend's house about 30 minutes from Hartford.

I woke up early on race morning to have breakfast and get ready.  I wanted to read something, but wasn't sure what.  I remembered that my friend Heather had suggested, about a week before when I was feeling discouraged about something not marathon-related, I might find Psalm 56 helpful. This is what I read in the translation I had open on my Bible app:

Be gracious to me, O God, for man has trampled upon me;
Fighting all day long he oppresses me. 
My foes have trampled upon me all day long,
For they are many who fight proudly against me.
When I am afraid, I will put my trust in You.
In God, whose word I praise,
In God I have put my trust; I shall not be afraid.
What can mere man do to me?

I cried.  I didn't even know the term "trampling" was in the Bible! And yet, I choose "Trample On" to be my theme for fundraising.  I thought, This is why I run today, that those whose lives have been trampled on by man can find hope. Jesus, be my strength.

We got there early and parked, and after several port-a-potty stops, it was time to line up.

I decided to take a screen shot of the weather on my phone before I handed it over (I didn't run with the phone).

Cold.

Ready to go!

Kids not all that happy about getting up in the dark before 6 AM!

Am I yawning already?

I hung out with the 4:20 pace group (that's total running time, about a 10-minute mile), since the race predictor had me at 4:13.  I hoped to do between 4:20 & 4:30 if nothing went wrong.

And we were off!

As I've said before, running is almost always hard for me.  Even with tapering and barely running for the last 3 weeks, it felt hard from the beginning.

My family caught a glimpse of me at mile 5.  I was SO happy to see them!

I was already hurting, so it was great to see familiar faces.

This is what my kids did for at least 2 hours of the race:

They slept :) Understandable since we dragged them out of bed so early.

Around mile 7, I decided to try and take off the long-sleeve shirt I was wearing under my Trample On tank.  I ran for about a mile like that, but it was too cold.  In this process, I lost the pace group.  I tried to catch back up, but it felt like too much.

I reminded myself, This is my race. Not the pace guy's race, not any of my running club friends' race.  It's my race, and if I need to slow down, I will.

Everything in my body started to really hurt.  Not only did my legs hurt, it was so cold I kept coughing very painful coughs, as if my lungs and throat had freezer burn. I was dehydrated, even though I had my water belt and was taking 1-2 cups of water at every water stop.

I desperately wanted to stop.

I thought of the kids, and I convinced myself to keep running until mile 10.  Then the stomach upset began. I decided to look for a port-a-potty around mile 12-13.

They say running is mostly mental.  They are right.

I had done all I knew to prepare.  And yet the running was torture.  This is part of why I wanted to try & run with a pace group.  If I allow myself to run too slow, it's actually harder than pushing myself to run a faster pace.  I kept just talking myself into going another mile.

I was so happy to cross the halfway mark (13.1 miles) at about 2:16.  Even though I was in pain and my stomach was upset, crossing the halfway point made me feel as if I could really do it.  I remember happily jumping over the chip timer (though not too high), knowing my family would be getting a message that I was still on my marathon journey.

At mile 15, I started experiencing shortness of breath. I wasn't sure what to do.   One of my secret fears was that something would happen to me while running.  I did have an eating disorder and had some trouble with my heart at one point.  I thought of the Schiebers. I do not know these people (they are friends of friends), but Sarah lost her husband and the father of her 3 kids Chad when he died running the 2007 Chicago Marathon.

I did not want to quit.  I wanted to finish - for the kids.  But I also was scared.

I decided to walk.

I decided I could walk 11.2 miles if that's what needed to happen.  I knew I could do that.  My health was not worth trying to get to the finish line at a specific time.

So I walked for a while.  I started running again slowly.  I would run through the chorus of a song playing on the iPod, and then I'd walk again.  After a while, I felt as if I could take a full breath again, so I challenged myself to try and run a mile.

After this point, I'd run a mile and then run/walk the next mile.  I was starving, so I focused on consuming a gel and some more of my energy chews, as well as chugging water every chance I got.

I got to mile 20 - another moment of joy!  Only a 10 K left! You can see my pace, which was 10:26 at the half, was now 10:57.  I didn't even care.  My stomach was getting more upset from the chews/gel and the water (this is within the realm of normal for me), so I found another pit stop.  I continued to run a mile and run/walk the next mile.

I did this until mile 23, at which point I saw the 5:00 pace team.  I decided I would try and run the final 3.2 with them, since I hoped to run the last 2.2 anyway.

We ran on some roads and eventually got to the bridge back into Hartford, which we ran over out of town toward the beginning of the race.

Oh, what a beautiful sight the city was!

Then the shortness of breath came back full force.  I was less than 2/3rds of a mile from the end (I asked the pace leader).

I decided, once again, to walk.

I watched the pace team take off in front of me.  Honestly, I didn't care that much.  My pride wanted to run the whole thing anyway, so that I could say I did, but clearly, my body was not up for it.  I continued to walk for a little while, and then alternate running and walking as I had before.

When I got a bit closer to the end, I decided I could handle a continuous slow jog.  I really wanted to run across the finish line.  I turned the corner, saw the end, saw the clock said 5:00:08.  Then I stopped looking at the clock and started to look for my fan club :)

I saw Olivia, cheering for me!  She took this picture.

There I am, trampling on child sex trafficking as I crossed the finish line of the Hartford Marathon, giving all the glory to God.

For the kids!!!!

I was so happy!

Someone wrapped me in a wrap thingie that they give you at the end.  Someone else gave me a ING Hartford water bottle.  I was looking around for my family, feeling a bit confused.  I walked almost to the exit, and decided instead to turn around and go to the medical tent.

I just wanted to be safe.

They gave me chicken broth (yummy warm goodness!), took my pulse (the guy couldn't find it and used the machine - very high, of course), blood pressure (also high, especially for me), oxygen saturation (100%), listened to my heart, listened to me breath, and said I was fine, that I probably just got freezer burn of the lungs and throat.  I still couldn't inhale fully, but I was released to go.

I exited the tent and went to find the actual exit from the race.  Then I saw the people with the medals! I had completely forgotten that I hadn't received my medal yet!

It took me a while to find my fan club because we forgot to make a plan about meeting.  Plus, I had no phone and no way to tell them I was going to the med tent, so they were a bit frantic, trying to locate me.

But they found me!  And Olivia gave me a wreath she made for me!

Yes, I felt as bad as I looked.  This is the next shot of me and my glorious finish.

At a certain point, I realized the clock at the finish line was the time from start of the race, not my chip time from when I actually crossed the start (several minutes difference).  So I thought, Maybe I did cross in under 5 hours!

So we went to see if we could find my actual time.

And there it is!

4:58:18! Not fast, not glamorous, not what I hoped for, but not bad at all for the first time out!

The lady with the times asked if we wanted a family picture.

I learned a lot this race, which I will save for another post :)  Most of all, I finished the race - for the kids!

OK, and now to make a long post even longer :)

I want to thank Pastor Craig Burns for inspiring me to run for God's glory! He started running ultra marathons (distances over 26.2 miles) in his 50's after being diagnosed with lymphoma.  He often raises money for causes while racing, and he tends to be a "back-of-the-packer" like me :)  I started attending his church in Virginia in 2000 during a visit to my dad's because it was the only church with the service time in the yellow pages.

Also want to thank Colleen, Heather & Damian for challenging me that day last March in TGI Fridays after the Half of Quincy to consider running a marathon.

I'm forever thankful for all my friends and family who supported me in so many ways in running this race, especially Roy, Bear, JJ & Olivia!

And I will forever be inspired by my wonderful father, Jack, who has fought the good fight with courage and perseverance.  Dad, you make me aspire to goodness.  I love you so much. I could not have asked for a more amazing father.

I added my marathon bracelet next to my LIVESTRONG bracelet that he gave me, which I never take off.

Thanks, everyone! You inspire me to live my amazing!

There is still an opportunity to give, if your heart is moved to do so.  The kids & I thank you!

Posted at imperfect prose on 1/9/13

Marathon Training: 18th & Final Week

Week 18.

Physical marathon training ends. 

Let the mental and emotional and spiritual training continue.

I run for the kids.

Have you given yet?

I met my goal of raising $100/mile and have set a new goal: $125 per mile.  

I need $558 more to hit that goal.

Have you given yet?  For the kids?

Monday: Rest

Tuesday: Rest

Wednesday: 3.46 miles

Thursday: 4.2 miles

Friday: Rest

Saturday: Rest

Sunday: 2.5 mile walk

I traveled 10.16 miles this week.

Hartford*, here I come. 2 short days away.

For the kids.

*I was originally going to run the Baltimore Marathon, but because we haven't moved yet, I signed up for Hartford.

Zooma Cape Cod Half Marathon: Redemption

On June 3rd, I ran the hardest race of my life.

It was likely a combination of factors.  I was experimenting with my diet to try & reduce the inflammation in my leg.  I was physically tired due to various factors.  I didn't sleep well.  I started too fast and pushed too hard.

Who knows exactly what happened.  All I know is it was a half marathon, and it was awful.  Hard. Horrible.  Wretched.

I cried. Literally cried I felt so awful.  Do you know how hard it is to run when you are crying?  I only kept running because it meant it would be over sooner.

Needless to say, I had mixed feelings when I won an entry to the Zooma Cape Cod half marathon through the running club I'm in.

We drove down Friday afternoon to stay in a place my husband vacationed at as a child.

A few miles away, we came upon this:

Do you see that rainbow off in the distance?  It almost looked like a reflection from one of those prisms you hang in a window.  Soon it became this:

And then this:

A double rainbow.

I couldn't help but wonder: would this race bring a redemption of sorts?  Would it restore my confidence in my body's ability to run a race?

Everyone told me not to race. Treat it as a training run, they said.  The marathon is only 3 weeks away, and you should be tapering.

So I had no expectations.  I was hoping to run a 2:05 half, but hadn't even done the math to figure out what pace that would be.  My previous half marathon times were 2:12-ish, 2:00:00.0 on the dot, and 2:09-ish (the hardest race of my life).  I figured I could likely do 2:05 without pushing myself too hard.

I got to connect with Colleen Fit Bee before the race (love that woman), and we hung around and chatted for a few.

Before we knew it, it was time to run.

So I ran.

My legs felt heavy the whole time.  They usually do.  Running does not come naturally to me; it never has. It has always been hard work.  I've never had that "light" or "fresh" feeling that runners talk about. I keep running because I can & others can't.

So I wasn't concerned that my legs felt heavy.  I was maintaining about a 9:05 pace initially.  Then the hills set in and my mapping app sort of lost me.

This race was hilly.  Very, very hilly.  We didn't have a serious downhill until after mile 6. And then we went right back uphill.

Around that time, I decided I felt good enough to push myself a little harder.  I kept telling myself I could slow down if I needed to.  At about mile 7 or 8, my phone said I was running a 9:14 pace.  It was more like 9:20 based on the difference between the course markers and the miles my phone thought we were running (i.e. much shorter miles!).

I just kept running.  I ran fast up the hills, even though it was hard.  I ran & ran & ran.

At mile 10, I timed a mile.  8:35.  Not bad at all.  At mile 12, my phone said I'd been running somewhere around an hour and 50-51 minutes.  I couldn't quite read it.  I did the math and figured out I was pretty close to getting a personal best.

So I really, really ran.  I figured if nothing else, I could get in really close to 2:01 or 2:02, which would be amazing on such a difficult course.

I was near the end and rounded the corner.  The big clock said. 1:59.  1:59?????  Would half marathon #4 finally break the 2 hour barrier?

I sprinted and gave it my all.

Almost done - check out that joy!

The clock read 1:59:24.  I gave all the glory to God.

Redemption.

My official time was 1:59:13.  Amazing!

You can see my dear friend Colleen in the reflection! She's so speedy she PR'ed with 1:39 AND placed 2nd for her age group! And did I mention she has lost over 100 lbs?  An inspiration!

Thanks, Zooma ladies, for contacting Parkway Running Club & giving me this amazing opportunity!  The race was unique in so many ways.  It was almost all women.  There were pacers!  I've never seen pacers in a race before.  In fact, after mile 12, we did a little out & back down a side street. Seeing the 2:00 pacers let me know I was close!  Instead of a race medal, we got a cool running necklace that said "Run" on one side and "Zooma 12" on the other.  There was food, music, and lots of fun!

I run because I can.

If you haven't yet read about why I will run a marathon in 19 days, please do.  I will be running 26.2 miles to raise awareness & funds in order to trample on child sex trafficking.  Please consider giving to this great cause.

I Registered for a Marathon

A week ago, I registered to run the Under Armour Baltimore Marathon on October 13th, 2012.

Last year's logo

I'm thrilled. And I'm terrified.

I'll be running to raising money for a great cause, about the only cause that could motivate me to attempt to run 26.2 miles.

I'll share more about this later, as well as what lead me up to this decision. For now, you can subscribe to my blog in the right navigation via email or through your favorite blog reader if you want to watch this journey unfold.

Race Recap: All Women & One Lucky Guy Half Marathon

Today, I ran the All Women & One Lucky Guy Half Marathon. This was my first half marathon, so my goal was to run the whole thing and (hopefully) finish in under 2:15. Also, yesterday during a short 2 mile run in the dark, I tripped over an uneven sidewalk and was all out of whack. My neck & back hurt, as did my legs. My neck is hurt bad enough that I can't turn my head. So my goal was to finish, not kill myself, learn about racing, and have fun :)

Stretching, because that's what people say you should do before you race.


Now I'm ready to run!

The course for the All Women & One Lucky Guy Half is really beautiful. It takes you around the towns of Newburyport and West Newbury, MA. At around mile 3.5, I ran by these:


Llamas or alpacas? You decide.

I was not running particularly fast. At the end of mile 2, I was running a 9:50 pace. I was happy with that and hoped to maintain it. Then at mile 3.5, I stopped to take pictures of the llama/alpacas. At mile 4, my toes started hurting. At mile 5, I realized I should have had some water in the past 2 hours (and past 2 water stations!). Mile 6 came, and my stomach was cramping. Around mile 8, I thought maybe I should have trained in the direct sunlight. 53 degrees is much warmer at 11:15 AM with the sun high in the sky than it is at 8:15 AM (the latest I usually run). I moved my number off my jacket and on to my tank top around mile 10. That involved walking as well. I took my jacket off at mile 12, and picked up my pace for the last mile. I passed a bunch of people and was quite proud of myself for that :) I would have been a couple seconds faster but I practically tripped over a little girl who came onto the course to "finish" with her mom. Good thing she was cute :)

Me with my medal:

Sorry, ladies! Didn't mean to include you in my moment :) OK, less random people in this one.


My official time was 2:12:33.50. Here are the results. Honestly, I was hoping I could do 10 minute miles, but a 10:08 pace is pretty good. I learned a lot.

Things I need to work on/think about/learn from:
1. Food. I have no idea what to eat before a race/long run. Generally, I do not eat at all prior to my long runs because I wake up and go. On my last long run (17.3 miles 2 weeks ago), I had 2 bites of banana beforehand because I woke up hungry. Then I had 1 bite of a Larabar halfway through. For my pre-race meal, I had a small egg and egg white omelette with spinach and non-dairy cheese, along with celery and almond butter at 6:45 (race was at 10). I had a rice cake at 7:30. My stomach was OK for the race, but not great.

2. Water. I generally don't drink much on my long runs because I drink a large cup of water before I leave. I also run in the dark for at least an hour. I only take water on runs over 100 minutes long, and I have to force myself to drink 16 ounces. At mile 5, I started getting the weird feeling that I get in my head when I'm dehydrated. I do not have a fuel belt, so I had to wait until mile 6.8 to get a drink. I had 2 cups. Then I had a cup at the last 2 stations, along with some of the free gel they were handing out. Post-race today, I am very dehydrated.

3. Clothing. I wore too much of it :) I wore the same tank top I always run in, with running tights and shorts, and a windbreaker. The first issue is my tights are too big, so I have to hike them up. The high waist of the tights contributed to my stomach pain. Then the direct sunlight made me very warm. So I'll have to research better clothing solutions.

But I finished!

And one of my favorite part of races?

Coupons!

Legacy 5K: Race Re-cap

Hello, friends!

I know I've not been super-active, but I have some exciting stuff in the works. A few hints: an update on my Weight Watchers journey, a series on meal-planning, where I share my monthly GFDFSF meal plan with you, low maintenance guide to fermenting, and some running updates as well.

On a whim, I signed up 2 Thursdays for the Legacy 5K, which was on 2 Sundays ago. Believe it or not, this was only my 4th race of my adult life. When I ran my first 5K in 2003, I ran it in 29:46 (9:36 pace). I ran for about 6 more months, and then I stopped running for 4.5 years due to many factors, including major hip and back issues. I ran a 5K in 2008 in 32:05 (10:20 pace, but it was a huge race and I lost a lot of time trying to gain speed). Soon after I got pregnant and stopped running again.

I ran a little last summer (2010), stopped for the winter, and started again in May when I re-joined Weight Watchers. Then I ran a 10K in July in 58:10 (9:22 pace). I had a goal in mind for the Legacy 5K of 28 minutes or under, but I didn't tell anyone. At the very least, I was hoping for a new 5K personal record.

Here's a race recap for you :)

Starting out, my legs felt a little heavy, so I wasn't running super fast. I figured I'd assess my pace at the first mile marker. I looked at my pedometer at 5 mins, and then again at 10, and thought, "I'm either running at a super-leisurely pace, or there are no mile markers." Soon after that, I saw that people had started running by me, going the other direction, and could see the last turn in site.

I got to the halfway point at just around 13:33 or so and thought, "I could do this in 27 or under!" I also figured my legs felt heavy because I was running at a sub-9 minute pace and didn't know it! Of course, having no mile markers, I didn't exactly have anything to gauge my pace on, so I just ran a little faster. The homecoming stretch was short, so I sprinted and inadvertently passed a guy The crowd was yelling, "You can take him! You can catch him!" I wasn't trying to catch him, just trying to finish fast :)

My official time was 26:08, over 3.5 minutes faster than my previous PR and almost 2 minutes faster than I hoped to run it! I came in 66th place out of 258 people.

A couple cool things:
When I walked into the registration area and was looking at the sponsors, thinking, "It'd be great if I could get some free running gear!" Not 10 minutes later, a woman was going around, asking people to test out running socks! So I got free running socks :)

The race took place at a plaza, sort of an open air mall. Whole Foods was one of the sponsors; that's how I heard about the race because I get emails from them. They had a deal that if you register in the store between 5-7 PM on Thursday, you get entered into a $25 gift card drawing for the plaza. Well, when I registered at 6:30, the race organizer said, "As of right now, you have a 100% chance of winning the gift card. No one else has registered so far." I found him at the race, and I did win the card! So I paid $20 to run, and I'll get a $25 GC!

My next race will be the Chilly Half Marathon.

Do you see that? 100%!

Do you see that ticker, folks? We did it! We raised $1000 to help find a cure for breast cancer!

Woo-hoo!

Race Update: Only $50 to go!

You read that right; only $50 until I reach my goal! 95% of the way there: woo-hoo!

More Donations! 83% of the way there!

I have quite an exciting Race for the Cure update. I've received several more donations in the past 24 hours, and now we're 83% of the way toward the goal of raising $1000!

Woo-hoo!

I Did It!

I ran the Race for the Cure! Bear stayed home because he still had a fever. We decided it wasn't a good idea to expose 7000 people to his germs, and vice versa, especially since some people participating in the race are undergoing cancer treatment.

I ran the whole race without stopping! My official time was 32:05. I think they time you from the official beginning of the race rather than from when you actually cross the starting line and begin running because I timed myself and it was somewhere around 30:15 or 30:20 (I forgot to stop the stopwatch on my phone after I crossed the finish line, and didn't remember until it was up to 30:25). That means I ran less than 10 minutes miles - woo-hoo!

It was really an awesome experience. I loved looking around at those women in the pink shirts who were survivors of breast cancer. There were people of all ages there, including small children, all running (or walking) for a common goal: to alleviate the suffering of other human beings.

Awesome.

I'm going to try and raise the other $345. I plan on giving $50 to keep things going, so that will bring it down to $295. I think $705 is awesome (especially since I didn't raise any money when I ran in 2003), but $1000 would be even more awesome!

Here's what I looked like at the end of the race:


I did a little carbo-loading last night and whipped up a batch of these oatmeal cookies. My, are they good! Of course, I added raisins to some, chocolate chips to others, and pumpkin seeds to some. Yum, yum. I also replaced half the fat (it calls for 1 cup of butter!) with canned squash, and the other half of the fat was a combination of coconut oil & palm shortening. Yum, though I think they're a bit too sweet for my taste. Next time, I'm going to try making them with less sugar.

Race for the Cure Tomorrow!

The Race for the Cure is tomorrow at 9 AM! The race happens, rain or shine. Unfortunately, Bear may not be running with me. He has a fever of 103 today. Also, if it's raining, the stroller is not weather-proofed, so we are going to have to play it by ear.

I'm running no matter what, so I'll keep you updated.

Still Running

Still running & gearing up for the "big race". OK, so it's only a 5K (3.1 miles), and I've done that before (albeit in 2003), but it's still exciting! Today, we (Bear & I) ran for about 43 minutes.

I'm back on the green smoothie band wagon today after only having 4 green smoothies last week. It was quite good.

There's still time to donate money! Actually, I'm pretty sure you can donate after the race is over as well. We're over 60% of the way there!

Blogging Slacker!

My week has been so busy that I've been a blogging slacker!

Notice that we're over 50% of the way to our fundraising goal!

I did my long run on Tuesday (5.5 miles). I have to admit; I ran slowly, but it still kicked my butt! And I did my long walk yesterday. So tomorrow or Saturday, hopefully, I'll do my short run. Then next week is Race Week!

I'm cutting caffeine out of my diet in an effort to be more healthy. I'm still drinking decaf Americanos (or Americani?), but I may cut those out as well. I've been fighting a lot of fatigue, so I'm trying to narrow down the reasons. It may simply come down to the fact that I haven't gotten a full night of sleep in over a year. I'm lucky if I get 6-7 hours of sleep, and that's never uninterrupted sleep. The joys of having a child!

I also have to say I love that the feeling of fall is in the air. Often when I run or walk, the weather is in the low 70's with a cool breeze. I just love it! Of course, that means winter is coming, which I don't love. I don't mind winter, but no one fully clears their sidewalks around here. That means no running, much less walking. I don't know how we're going to swing it! The local community center has a walking track, as well as treadmills, so I might join. Of course, the jogging stroller can't go on the treadmill & there's no running allowed on the walking track. I'll have to keep brainstorming....

Training

As part of my "training" program for the 5K, I'm trying to do one long run (4.5-6 miles), one long walk, an one short run (about 3 miles) weekly. This week, I completed that easily, despite being quite busy. The weather has been a challenge lately, but there was very little rain this week.

I'm over 30% of the way toward my goal of raising $1000 with money that has already been donated. Including another $200 in promises, we're halfway there! Thanks to all who have given so far & to those who are considering giving.

My Asus battery isn't holding a charge as well as it should. Even though it was plugged in all night, it only has a 20% charge right now . I was hoping to write a long blog while Bear & I played outside, but I don't think that's going to happen :)

The Massachusetts Race for the Cure!

Bear & I will be running the Race for the Cure on September 7th. In honor of my good friend's mom & a close family member, we're trying to raise $1,000.

Please visit our webpage to donate to this worthy cause.

Thank you!