Ellie's Run

Today was "Ellie's Run" the finale of our "NO Boundaries" training. The race today raised $51,000 which will be used to feed and clothe children in Kibera Kenya one of the worst slum areas in the world. $25 buys the child books and clothes for a year for school. A great cause started by Ellie when she was just 10 years old over 7 years ago. The race was a bit different in that we ran not on the street but on a track and field path. A little more difficult that the old asphalt. I was a bit nervous about the uneven terrain and worried about twisting my ankle or worse yet slipping and falling in the wet grass (it rained yesterday). But once I started and got a feel for the terrain I got into the groove and finished in 36.55 and won 2nd place in my age category! I enjoyed the training so much that I have decided to do another "NO BO" and Joe is talking about tagging along with me....awesome! More to come......

Memorial Weekend
Friday…….I took today off to start the weekend and prepare for the once a month “Stamp it up Club” meeting that I would be hosting in the evening. Although it was a holiday weekend and school just finished we had a decent turn out and had lots of fun. Lindsay brought Mom-in-law and Sister-in-law Amy. Rachel brought her best friend and Karen came as my guest. Cards were cute, food good and sangria sweet!
Saturday………Joe and I ran intervals for 3.30/1 intervals for almost 3 miles at Kedron. Claire came over in the afternoon with her friend Cameron. They played some games, we went to the playground for a bit and then they baked some beer bread for me. We took Cameron home and by the time we got home Karen and Joe had arrived for our barbecue. We sat in the hot tub for a while, Joe and Karen went home and Claire and I crashed.
Sunday……..we ran again at Kedron for 4 miles at a 3:30/1 interval and Karen ran for 9 miles! While we were running Gordon made Claire breakfast and by the time we got home she was ready for the hot tub again. Once Karen and Joe left Claire and I went to the movies to see “Night at the Museum II” Although I had not seen the first movie I really enjoyed this one. Claire really wanted to bake a cake for Memorial Day and her Mom and Jeff’s anniversary. Needless to say she chose a flag cake – Cathleen seemed to appreciate the thought anyway.
Monday – Memorial Day…..Joe, Karen and I decided to do a long run this morning. For Joe and I a long run was 6 miles but Karen had already done 9 miles the day before (what was she thinking)? Anyway….the weather looked a bit doubtful at 8:30am this morning but the rain held through our run. The overcast skies made for an extremely humid run making it difficult to catch your breath but we held out own through the mileage. Since we were doing a longer run Joe and I decided to stick with a 3/2 interval. I brought us some orange slices and we stretched and headed home. Once home we were treated to one of Gordon’s awesome pancake breakfast then we jumped in the hot tub to rejuvenate our aching muscles. In the afternoon Gordon took me to Fleet Feet to spend my $25 gift certificate. I purchased a cute little running skirt (blue) and a tank top (lime green). Then we headed to Academy sports where I found a top to wear with shorts and a running tank top (strawberry) on sale yet! By the time we arrived home the humidity had lifted and there was a wonderful breeze so Gordon and I had “cocktails” on the deck....more to come

Week Beginning

So I started out the week taking a short run with Joe on Monday at Kedron Park. The weather was gorgeous. Low humidity, slight breeze with temps in the 70's. Perfect California weather. My No Boundaries training called for 6 intervals with 3 1/2 minutes running and 1 minute walking. It went well but it is surprising how adding 30seconds to your running time can make a difference. I forget the time but we covered almost 3 miles by the time we warmed up and cooled down and both felt pretty good. Tuesday night I ran with the No Boundaries group and we went back to 3/1 intervals covering just under 4 miles with a focus on hills. Again, the weather was good - just like California and again I felt good. (PTL) Time was good and the hills did not affect me. I didn't take any chances and hit the hot tub and ice bath when I arrived home and woke up this morning feeling great. Today I went to my Target Zone class which is a weight training or sculpting class where you work all muscle groups. I love it because I have the chance to target the upper body as well as build leg muscles for my running. I have been paying particular attention to my diet. I eat more fruits and vegetables and have added a lot more protein like egg whites and beans (no fried foods). At the same time I have cut out wine just about all together and having a beer at night...Since January I have lost 6 lbs and see a big difference in my tummy flab. So you can do it when you are my age! More to come

Reunion Run Celebration

Today was our Reunion Run – all of those that trained with Fleet Feet for the CMM Marathon and ½ Marathon were to return to Concord Park (where the majority of our training runs were) to run together again. The weather again turned on us and at 6:50am when we parked at Concord it was pouring down rain with intermittent thunder claps. Tammy our Training Group Leader remarked the Reunion Run (RR) would now be known as the Reunion Run Ruined (RRR).
Our pace leader Lou and her husband Bryon showed along with Delaina. Tim who crossed the finish with Joe was not able to attend since his daughter was graduating today. Everyone had a different mileage in mind but our group was quickly able to agree on 5 miles at the 3+1 interval. We started out in the rain and finished in the rain just under 59 minutes and despite the weather we all had an awesome run! So Tammy was wrong we did not have a RRR but a Reunion Run Celebration (RRC). Also Joe remarked….we ran 1 mile less than the 10K we will do on July 4th so we know we can do that at the 3+1 interval but I think we can do better than that! We drove home and I jumped in the hot tub and relaxed my sore muscles. By this time though my ankle is a little sore so I plan on icing it when I hope in bed. I will see how it feels in the am before making a final decision.
More to come………

Running behind as usual

I cannot believe I have not written in my blog/diary since April 20th! Since that time I have run the ½ marathon in a whopping 3 hours and 19 minutes on the hottest day we have had this year, started a new training session, signed up for 3 more races and here we are mid way into May and we still have not had another day as hot as it was for the CMM on April 25th. I ended up running about 3 miles of the 13.1 with Victoria who is the daughter of Lou our 2+2 Pace leader. Victoria had not trained for this race (although she had run another ½ and walked a marathon) so by the 3rd mile she was looking to walk. In keeping with my “no runner left behind” commitment I stayed with her. Even when she stopped for a potty break! Now if was real honest I would share with you that I probably would not have run much more than the 3 miles or so but I will blame it on Victoria since she is not around to defend herself. Joe and Karen finished ahead of me (of course) but that is ok. I am real proud of both of them for making this commitment and finishing their first ½. Which reminds me, it was 18 years ago that I ran my first ½ and finished in 2 hours. Yep I am proud of that but it is in the past and I need to look for new accomplishments more in tune with my age. The week before the ½ I started a new training program with the guru’s at Fleet Feet. This one is called “No Boundaries” and it is for folks that either want to start running or have not been exercising. I thought it would be a great time for me to retrain. I have had no injury issues during this training and love meeting new people. My friend Martha is also doing the training so it was good to see someone else that I knew. Now although I have not had any new aches and pains during this session I find that I am still going over the MHR that I am suppose to maintain for my age. Although I feel great I can’t help being concerned when I hear everyone talking about following the MHR training and what it can do for you. The goals I have set for myself include finishing at least 6 miles of the Chicago ½. I think I am going to check in with my doc and see if he will send me for a stress test to see where I am at and what my heart is really capable of doing safely.
I should mention also that Karen, Joe and I will be running the Peachtree Road Race in Atlanta July 4th. This is a great 10K race 50,000 + people run and it is hotter than hell but don’t tell Karen and Joe! Then we travel to Chicago for some site seeing and the Chicago Rock n Roll ½ marathon the first part of August. Are we nuts or what?
This past week I ran 4 miles following the 4+1 interval training with the NB group and felt great finishing in 48 minutes. On Tuesday I went to the Target Zone class at the Rec Center. This is a great class that works all muscle groups in an hour. This class is really helping work my hamstrings, quads and calf muscles (greet for running) as well as working my flabby upper body. I am really enjoying this class. Yesterday I followed the 4+1 interval for 5 intervals over at Kedron Park. Saturday called for me to do 7 intervals but instead Joe, Karen and I are planning on meeting the ½ marathon training group at Concord to run about 6 miles (a reunion run of sorts!. Of course the weatherman calls for rain – wouldn’t you know it would rain considering we ran most weeks training for the ½ in the rain.
Back to the ½….what I have learned is do NOT drink so much Cytomax and make sure you have water waiting or you at the end of the race! More to come....photos also.

Moody Monday

So...I had all kinds of plans to go to a "target" class at the rec center, follow-up with pilates and then run/walk 1 mile. Considering that Saturday is the race I am not sure what I was thinking....So Best Buy had the Garmin watches on sale again and I went for it. After I saw what Joe's watch could do and the info it stored I was sold. Gordon picked it up for me when he took Alice (from our church) to one of her bazillion doctor appointments. I could hardly wait for the end of the day to figure out how to use it. Joe was kind enough to stop by on his way home from work tonight and got me started. He loaded the software, set up the "running ahead" program so I could upload the info from the watch and keep track of each run/walk etc. Then he pulled that program over to my blog and Wow....I have a grown up type blog now! Awesome!
So once Joe got the watch set up and went on his way I decided to go for a walk. When I got out there I did my usual 5 minute warm up and then decided to do the NB training 1.5-2 interval. First I thought for 1 mile, then I thought for 1.5 miles and finally finished 2 miles in 24 minutes (including my slow 5 minute warm-up). The weather was really nice - in the 60's a bit overcast but so nice after all of the cold weather. Needless to say I was quite happy with my time. I did some nice stretches and will take a hot tub bath and then ice my ankle and feet once "24" is off. I still need to take it easy this week so will finish my NB tomorrow night (that should be 3 miles) and then the rest of the week will cross train. It has been an exciting day between, the watch, my run and losing 3 pounds. Gordon also lost 3 pounds so we are both real motivated now. To be continued......

Last show at Otter Creek

Although for once the weather cooperated sunny and in the 50’s @ 7:00am it was a bittersweet morning for me. This was our last marathon - 1/2 marathon training session. Maybe some folks will be glad that they don’t have to get up at 5:00am on Saturday but to be honest I will miss it. I love the camaraderie and at my age being surrounded with so many young people helps keep me young. On a positive note I will still be working with Tammy (picture above)who I adore during the week with the "No Boundaries" training group. (Of course I adore all of the Fleet Feet people but Tammy and Kristi are my favorites). I am still walking and have not returned to running although running is what I am doing with the "No Boundaries group". I really have not made up my mind about whether I will run or walk Saturday. I figure I can made that decision come 7:00am next Saturday…..so back to yesterday I started with the walkers and soon found a good pace with Courtney ( a pretty yound woman I met a few weeks ago). We started out just ahead of the rest of the walkers and soon found ourselves farther ahead. The loop we did has only one hill and that is in the last mile so it is a good route to pick up speed. (I was remiss and did not pay attention to my heart monitor but I did notice that at this pace I stayed around 130-140 beats per minute.) It was a lovely day and we finished in 1 hr and 24 minutes....which turns out to be a 14 minute mile!! For sure I would NOT have made this time if I stayed within the 109 – 119 range. God bless I had no ill affects once again and after finishing the walk – we stretched and picked up our FF “goodie” bag and headed home to the hot tub. I felt real pretty snappy all day and dealt with the typical muscle soreness related to repetitive motion….yippee! Back to our “goodie bag” – we received a water bottle, cool tech shirt, cytomax and some anti-chafing cream. I plan on wearing the shirt next Saturday to the race. It is a pretty light blue – I picked up a white visor to wear (weather is suppose to be sunny and will top out in the 80’s by the end of the day). I expect it will be in the 60's at the start of the race. Elizabeth our pregnant walking pace leader is still walking with us although her baby is due inext Sunday!(She has been with us since the beginning and although her pace has slowed she has been an inspiration to us all.) How wonderful that she has taken care of herself and is still exercising this late in her pregnancy? She won’t walk the race but will be on the side-lines routing for her husband and the Fleet Feet folks that is if she does not deliver before next Saturday.
So….again a big thank you to Joe for inviting me to join Karen and him in this training program and run with him for his first ½ marathon. It has been so much fun for me and a great way to bring us all together. Ryan now is the time to start training so you, Amanda and I can do the 1/2 marathon at Disneyland on Labor Day????
To be continued for sure...........