When is running considered an extreme sport?

When the path looks something like this:


I must admit, I stopped and walked over this rough patch. The last thing I want is to trip and fall.

Being in a new place now, I need to find some new places to run. I was going to go down to a nearby park (about 3 miles or so away) and back again. I was intending to run along the road down to the park, but on my way out the door, was instead told about this great path that follows along a river (thanks, Mom!).

It was really nice! The path, in many places, was just wide enough for one person. I had a river on one side, a canal on the other, and trees all around forming a canopy above me. It kept it nice and cool, though the humidity was a bit higher in there. Navigating the path also took a bit more concentration than usual to avoid any roots or holes, which was actually a nice distraction.

All in all, a great run on a great day!

Delicious snacks

To help make up for my lack of posting, you all get an extra bonus two for one deal today!

Pretty much every time I run, I think about the blog post I can make afterwards. And then by the time I get back, get showered, etc, I either get involved in something else and end up not posting, or try to post but forget what I wanted to say.

If only I could blog while running. Somehow I think even a phone with a full qwerty keyboard would make that difficult though.

I ran around Rutgers today. It's still nice and quiet, with the semester not yet having started. For the last 2 miles or so of my run, this ambulance kept passing me. It was kind of odd. I'm not sure if they were doing a usual weekend sweep of the campus to find people lying in ditches from the night before, or maybe just training for a new driver to learn all the roads around campus before the semester begins. I think that second one is probably more likely. I was amusing myself by imagining that it was trying to casually follow me around to make sure I didn't collapse and die, running in the heat and humidity.

So, today I did about 6 miles. Normally I would do a longer run on the weekend, but I missed my run at the end of last week, so I wanted to do another shorter one before I increased miles. I'm off work for the next 3 days (yay!) so I can do a long run on Tuesday instead.

I still haven't crossed that 10 mile mark. I really want to, but I feel my body draining at around 8 or 9. I think it's actually just a matter of me finding the right snack along the way. I've been experimenting with different power boost snacks. Everyone reacts to them a little bit differently, so you just need to find the one that's right for you. There are different brands, different ingredients, different flavors, and different forms. The general idea is that they are quick and easy for your body to process, and give you some calories, electrolytes, caffeine, etc. But again, each one is different, and gives you different things.

Today I tried some cola-flavored chewy gel snacks. Whey they say "chewy" they mean it. I got tired of chewing enough to swallow, and just downed them with a big gulp of drink instead. Next time it's going to be vanilla goo (yes, goo). It comes in a pouch and you squeeze the goo into your mouth and swallow it right down. The consistency is kind of a cross between jello and pudding.

Overall, they're actually pretty gross. The only way I can down them is because by the time I need them, my body needs the fuel enough that I don't really taste much. The same actually goes for Gatorade & similar drinks. You won't ever catch me drinking that stuff just for fun. As it is, when I run alone I cut it with water to reduce the flavor. When there are drink stations out (during group runs or races) I usually grab a cup of the power drink and then chase it with a cup of water.

I find it interesting that my view of food has changed drastically since I began running. Food was always something you ate because you were hungry, or because it was time to eat. You decide what to eat based on who you're with or how delicious the food sounds. Now, food is fuel for my body. This might sound silly...maybe it's common to think of food this way, and I'm just late in the game.

But the evening before a long run, I'm going to make sure I get in certain foods. If I don't, I notice it the next day. That morning, I make sure to have something to eat, and again, what I eat will affect my performance. I love eating pasta the night before, and if I don't get a piece of bread and some peanut butter that morning with my breakfast, I get tired much faster. Even after my run -- a lot of times I'm not really hungry, but I still make sure to get something within an hour of stopping, because otherwise my body will crash. I like bananas for this, and spreading again some peanut butter is good too.

I ran out of bananas, so I had a PB&J today instead. I think I'm going to treat myself to something delicious tonight.

Decision Time!

First off, I apologize for going so long without an update. My intention was to make a post every week or so, so that everyone would know how my training was going. Well, time sort of escaped me, and here we are.

People have started asking me whether or not I'm still running. And the answer is....YES! I am. I actually just committed last week. See, when you first sign up for TNT, you're in sort of a trial period. You pick an event, and start training and fundraising for it, but you're not really locked into anything.

Then, about 2 months before the event, you have to commit for real. This allows the group to make the reservations for travel and hotel, register people for the run, etc. I don't actually do any of that myself; it's all done through the group.

So now I'm in for the long haul! Which means I need to get back into the gear of fundraising so I can meet my goal!

There is one change to my original plan, however, which is why this post is titled "Decision Time."

Instead of running a full marathon, I'm going to run a half.

I know, I know. Gasp! But but....you wanted to do a full! Are you giving up? Well, no. I still do want to run a full, and I will in the not too distant future. I'm just not doing the full for this event.

But why!?!

Glad you asked. When I originally signed up for this back in March (or so), I wasn't sure if I wanted to do a full or a half for this particular event. In the end, I signed up for the full because it would be easier to drop from a full to a half then to bump it up from a half to a full (both for training and registration reasons). I figured I'd sign up for the run that would give me more flexibility to change later, if need be.

So why the switch? I want to run at Disney again. See, the half marathon is already full (haha). The full marathon isn't. So if I want to run at Disney in January, I am going to be doing the full. And if I run a full marathon in October, and then one again in January, I just might die. Well maybe not, but it's more strain than I want to put on my body. Remember I'm still a novice runner. Now, quite conveniently, running a half marathon in October is pretty good training for running a full in January. So doing it this way will actually set me up rather well for the full at Disney!

This also gives me the bonus side effect of allowing me to ease up a bit on training, so I can focus more on fundraising and the other things going on in my life. For instance, back when my mid-week runs took 20 minutes, it was pretty easy to fit those in. Now that they take an hour or so, it's a bit harder. (Running 6 miles takes longer than running only 2.) And it will only get more difficult, as the mileage builds up and the semester begins.

I've already done a half marathon before, and I'm actually in much better shape now than I was for that one. So I'm not too concerned about the run. Instead, I can stress more about raising money to meet my (other) goal.

Speaking of which, I have another $250 to submit. This will put me at about 25% of the way there. I need to raise $3,000 in 2 months, so all help is most appreciated! If anyone has any ideas for things to do, please let me know.

Foot fail :(

So I ran a little over 5 miles on Saturday through Liberty State Park. It was really pretty...running along the bay with the Statue of Liberty and the NY Skyline in the background. It was actually one of the harder runs we've done, because it was all open. This let the sun and the wind come in without much to block them. Also, running next to large bodies of water? Plus: really pretty. Minus: really muggy.

It was requested that I take pictures along the run! Which I didn't do. :p Sorry! I need to get a camera to take with me on runs. I could have used my cell, but those pictures aren't great and I forgot my cell. I'll do better next time!

Then I went for a quick 2 mile run on Monday. I should be going for a 3 mile run today, but I don't know if that's going to happen. I did something to my foot, and now it hurts off and on when I'm walking or standing on it. It's in a weird spot...I didn't sprain my ankle, and it's not in the arch. It's sort of above and behind my arch a bit. When I realized it was actually a problem yesterday, I started to ice it. It feels better when I sit, but gets aggravated when I walk. I'm a bit nervous to call this one of those aches or pains that you just blow through. I *really* hope it's nothing, because I will be quite upset if I injured myself this early on in the game (though it might be better to do it now actually if I can recover in time to still train and run the marathon.) And on a quick little jaunt down the road, nonetheless! I'm going to call my coach later today and ask him what he thinks. It's great to have a team like this with people that know about this stuff!

For those of you who bought Yankee Candles, I just got a call yesterday that they came in. It happened a lot faster than I thought! So I'm going to go probably this weekend and pick them up so I can get everything out to people. Yay candles!

Not sure what this weekend holds in terms of a long run for me. It might be Cranford, or it might be Philly running with regular (sort of) friends and not the TNT crowd. Or it might be nothing if my foot needs rest. We'll see!

Getting into the swing of things

I'm finding that getting started is a bit harder than I thought it would be. The fact that I have an excuse I think only makes it worse, honestly. See, I came down with a wonderful case of mono in April. I feel better now, and have for a few weeks. But even when I was feeling better, my energy wasn't at its normal level. I could function in my daily life without much problem; however, I had some fairly significant stuff going on elsewhere, which was monopolizing the limited energy I had. Work was crazy for a while into the end of May. Once that calmed down, I had concerts for choir and was suddenly out at night more than usual. And in these weeks, it came down to a matter of priority. I simply could not justify chancing having to call out sick for work because I ran 3 miles the night before and that took all my energy.

All of that just ended literally 3 days ago, so now I should be able to get back into the swing of things. Provided I'm not so out of the habit of running that I put off getting started again.

Partly because of this fear, I ended up running last weekend. I was really debating going, since I had concerts that weekend (the end of choir season for me). If I ended up feeling sluggish for the concerts (or worse even, lost my voice or had any sort of chest/throat irritation from running in the mugginess...) my choir director would likely have killed me. :) But I figured I could take it easy, and stop whenever I wanted. And I hadn't been out for a run in WEEKS, and the longer I put it off, the harder it would be to go again.

So I went. And anticipated running 5.5 miles. Which ended up being 6.2 or so, on account of the last water station being put out farther than we realized. Oops.

But I did just fine! So that's very heartening. I was sore the next day, which is to be expected, since I just up and ran that without any sort of lead in (which you're not really supposed to do, but oh well...). Our run this weekend is at Liberty State Park, with the path overlooking the NY Skyline & Statue of Liberty, so I'm really excited about that. I swear, you can get some of the most beautiful scenery while running.

I'm optimistic from here. I want to go out for a short 2 mile or so run tomorrow, and then I have the longer run on Saturday. I'll have more time next week to do runs during the week after work as well. All in all, I think I'll catch up in no time!

Fundraising is starting to look less intimidating as well. I got a number of donations, and am really thrilled at the generosity everyone has shown. It is so encouraging to have that support, and to receive the (sometimes unexpected) contributions. I've got thank you cards in the mail....but if you're reading this, thank you again! I sold some Yankee candles as well which was great! I just sent in a bunch of donations, so now I'm just waiting for my donation page to update. It still says I'm only at $230, even though I'm actually sitting at something like $900 or so.

Where it began

This, like all good things, began at Disney.

Maybe not quite -- I suppose running a half marathon seems crazy enough to some people that explaining my motivation for that one is also necessary. On that account, I'll simply say that my family was doing it, so I did it too. It's like peer pressure, but in a good way.

But at Disney, while running the half, I decided to run a full. (More accurately, it was sometime after running the half, when I no longer felt like I might die from running so much and instead was pumped with adrenaline and accomplishment at having just completed 13.1 miles.) And more than that -- I think while there I also decided to join Team in Training. I got interested in it at least. I saw all these people in purple shirts running for a cause, and supporting and encouraging each other. I saw coaches, who had already finished the race, running back along the sidelines to help their teammates through. I thought if I were ever to run that far, having that support would definitely help me to the finish line.

So I looked into it. I browsed the internet, and attended an information meeting. And that's when I learned about the cause: raising money for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, to help stop leukemia, lymphoma, Hodgkin lymphoma and myeloma from taking more lives. See, I didn't join TNT as I believe most do. I haven't suffered the loss of a close one due to a blood cancer. I don't know anyone who has been diagnosed. I guess in a way, you could say that my involvement with TNT began primarily for myself.

My motivation has, of course, changed. Raising over $4,000 is a fairly daunting task, and I would not be doing this if I did not think this is a worthy cause. Since joining TNT, I have become more aware of blood cancers and their impact on society. While running alongside fellow TNT members, I have heard their stories, of their loved ones who were diagnosed with a blood cancer. I have met and talked to "honored members" -- people who are currently battling a blood cancer, or are in remission. These people inspire me.

And so I run. I run for survivors, I run for fighters, I run for those who have been claimed by blood cancer. I run for my family and my friends. And yes, I even run for myself.

One step at a time, and I will eventually cross that finish line.