Halfsies

I ran 13 for the first time since June yesterday! The weather was perfect and I was so grateful: low 70's, sunny but not beat-you-down sunny, crisp and beautifully sunrise-y (not the biscuit kitchen, though by the end of it I could have downed an egg and cheese... I definitely could have...). My legs were pretty toasted by 11.5mi or so, just as I remember having happened during the marathon.
I have been a pansy about hills lately; I don't know whether or not to forgive myself.
My knee has been better. My yoga teacher gave me some decent new IT stretches. He says my flexibility in my right leg is so extreme that 1) it makes no sense that my band is painful/ tight and 2) that it's going to be nearly impossible to loosen it up because bones don't bend how I would need to bend to stretch it. Well then. I concede.
Two weeks until the race and I'm a little less afraid because I think John is going to escort me to Asheville and after having run 13 I remember what it's like and that I'm capable of it.
I'm a little weary of waking at 6:15 on Saturdays after long, long workweeks but I think I can cope for another 10 weeks. I have no idea what it's like to run for four hours on a Saturday morning, though. One day. One day I will know.
Happy trails.

Jitters

I am getting nervous about the Asheville half marathon. I am supposed to work until 5 the day before, the drive down is 3.5 hours, and packet pickup only goes til 7. My parents (Asheville residents) are going to be in Scotland so I gotta drive myself to the race the morning of and somehow park. On top of that, my last few runs have been really slow and my knee/IT band has been hurting. Tomorrow I'm running 12 miles with Fleet Feet (and my fuel belt... mmm...). I hope it goes well, or else these jitters are gonna feel even worse.
The San Diego race was perfect. We loved the trip and were pretty happy with the race itself. Now I'm alone and the whole thing feels a little scarier. Even though I'm not planning on "racing," I do hear a voice inside my head demanding I get a[n even slightly] better time but I know the course is harder (hillier). I'm trying to generate some positive vibes for myself in the next couple of weeks.

The Fuel Belt is Incredible

Oh my gosh. The fuel belt is literally the most best running purchase I've ever made, inclusive of the Mizunos I was fitted for, bought, and have loved since March.

I went on that dank run on Saturday and didn't have to stop to walk once. I was super relaxed, never stressed, and didn't have to think about how close I was to water. The belt didn't jostle, wasn't annoying or too tight, and held my phone, keys, and a gel without any problem (didn't even plan to use the gel, just wanted to see what it would be like). I was so in love with being hydrated that I kept a good pace and was just beaming. This middle-aged woman jogging with her tiny ugly dog passed me on Seawell School Road and was like "you look so beautiful! you are glowing!" in the most genuine way. BANGIN.

So yeah, I'm running with that dorky, dorky belt whenever I do distance in the future. For sure. For SURE.

Fuel Belt

I bought this thing today. I don't know whether or not I'll like it and if I don't 10 miles tomorrow is a lot to not like it (I hate it when the hairtie around my wrist is too loose or too tight when I'm running-- I'm gonna HATE it if this thing is clunky or ill-fitting). But it has been SWELTERING and I know I need it. Ran ~4.5 in Chapel Hill North on Wednesday and damn near died from heat heat heat.
Trying to stay positive, but hellfire, I am looking forward to <85 degrees.

Fleet Feet!

TNT will always be my first training love, but I've just joined a new training group at Fleet Feet Carrboro and I'm really, really happy with it. It's set up sorta like TNT-- group runs Saturday morning at 7:00 at different locations, but FF also has Wednesday evening runs. We also have the privilege of cool clinics after training. Yesterday was a quick chirunning lesson--super fascinating. It basically carries the principles of yoga I've learned over the years into running. This makes a ton of sense and yet I've never exploited the crossover.
And, of course, I really love the people in the new group. I think I just love runners!?!?!?! So much energy going around.
It's been too hot for me to really be "successful" (=fast) lately and it gets me down when I snooze through a morning run, so I've been struggling a little with my 'tude. I used to consistently be able to wake up to run regardless of how much I had slept the night before. I also used to always shower before school. I've re-prioritized now, I think, but it feels so damn good to be freshly-run and freshly-cleaned that I can't really parse that decision.

Anyway, yeah, excellent new group, registered for my second half, with the first full possibly in sight before the end of 2010... beautiful.
Oh, and I'm really, really happy these days. Summer in Carrboro is perfect.

You'd Better Believe It

I dun registered for #2:

So Much Love All Around

I just finished Phase I of writing thank you notes and I think my hand hurts worse than my legs did after running the race. Which means we have a hell of a lot to be grateful for.

It was a spectacular weekend. The race was hard but about half an hour after all we could say to ourselves was "WHEN DO WE GET TO DO THE NEXT ONE?!?!" so I guess that means we gotta get on that soon.
We love you all so much. Thank you for your support--monetary, emotional, sometimes even physical. It's incredible to be surrounded by such a giving and warm community.
There's no way I'm going to abandon this blog because I like the link so much so I think I'm going to keep it as a training log in the future. That may mean for other races/marathons and even for future TNT events but for the next little while I'm just going to try and beat the heat and love the road, so if you're into hearing about how much I (we, I guess) like to run, keep checking back. I've got a lot to learn about running and a lot to learn about fundraising and being charitable and giving of the self-- many things I can learn from you guys. So stay tuned. Let the force be with you. Live it up. Run on.

We're Really Ready

The View from the Wagon

WELL. I'm back. Looking through my paper journal, I (involuntarily) had almost a full month off of training (with a few short runs sprinkled in). My knee is feeling better.
Saturday I did about 8.5 miles (really, really hilly) in the Korstian Area of Duke Forest. I had never been out there even though it's like 10 minutes from my house. It was so, so beautiful and the 7AM start got me finished before the heat made things unpleasant. Coach Bill ran about a mile with me and we had never met before it-- that's one of my favorite things about TNT, is just saying YES to running, saying YES to friendships, to 7 AM. I get out of my comfort zone sometimes but the program is so well-designed that it always seems to work out.
I would be lying if I said I wasn't nervous about building up distance over the next few weeks (only 5 left!), but my legs feel pretty strong and I think if I can stretch a lot and beat the heat I'll be okay. We'll be great!!!
According to my calculations, I have raised $2,401.00. Amazing, right??? That leaves $499. I'd like to see if people will pay for my weekend distance runs-- $14 to my 14 miler this weekend (my first 1/2 marathon distance!), $18, etc., etc. I might go around Friday nights with a blank tshirt and some Sharpies and say I'll wear it to training and you can write whatever you want on it (and my face, etc.) for a dollar a mile. I have no idea. Might be fun, right?
Please donate. The link's on the right side of the page and it's super easy. Let's KICK CANCER!

-Elizabeth

This is a Teaser

WE'RE BACK ON THE WAGON. Details to follow.

Arrrrrgh

Well, this is the kind of post we never want to make but to be fully candid, BAD THINGS are happening with our training. We both have had illiotibial band syndrome stuff going on, which comes in combo from stacking up mileage too fast and, I'm sure, the incredible physiological stress of finishing our honors theses the past 3-4 weeks. While I'm sure fundraising and training will both get back in line and we'll be able to finish raising $6,000.00 and running 26.2, things look a bit glum. We ran 12.5 miles a few weekends ago in the cold/rain--Emily did fine, I was a bit worse off (complaining, etc.) and ended up with an upper respiratory infection. See what I mean? BAD THINGS. The rest of our team is up to 16 miles and we're pretty far away from that. We've got to get back on track somehow. Send good vibes!

E&E

Lesson Learned

I staunchly disrecommend attempting to PR your 10k time on the first day of direct-sun, 80-degree Chapel Hill Heat.


Though that may have been obvious to others.

Whoa

This, my friends:



Is an eight mile loop. Which we ran yesterday in cold and sun. In one hour and eighteen minutes (that includes a stop at about 5.25mi to see if they had a water fountain in Calvander Body Shop: no dice, they gave us a bottle of water instead!) Painful, fun. We've discovered that no matter how far or hard you run, the second quarter is the most difficult (but why?)

Donations are rolling in! It amazes us when we check the mail. Thank you to everybody for being so very generous. Happy spring break! And even if you're a grown up and don't have one of those, we wish you the feelings of peace and relaxation that go along with this sacred week.

Fundraising Update #1

It's the last day of February-- which means we've been fundraising for a month-- and we have $705.00 out of the $5,800.00 that we need to run (that's 12%).
Here we are writing the fundraising letters on a snow day! John Reitz, Scott Vicari, Kristin Elliott, Jaki Bradley, David Greenslade: thanks for your help. Takes a village to put all those stamps on.

Thank you to everyone who has donated money so far. It means a lot to us to see our little goal bars on our fundraising websites fill up. The training and fundraising are all so gradual--a little soreness here, an ankle acting weird there, the joy of a really fast split, a pang of worry here (will we ever raise enough?), then, inevitably, that rush of gratitude and relief when a check comes for the LLS in the mail. So many feelings!
We send love and lactic acid (we've got a lot of both to give away)!

Week 5 and a Mission Moment

Hey friends! We're well into week 5. Yesterday was my last mid-week 2-mile and I ran it in 15:24. Holllllaaa. That's fast for me. That's peanuts for Em, but oh well. Last Saturday we had group training and ran 5 miles on the American Tobacco Trail in Durham. Emily. about 6:45 AM. About 30 degrees. Sometimes that part is harrrrddd, y'all.

It was pretty cold but SUNNY and nice. We took it easy--10 minute splits--but did okay.
We finished sending out our letters, too. Hollie Novak (who teaches ceramics at Chapel Hill High, my beloved alma mater) ran into us at the Starbucks after the run and stuffed with us! Such a sweetheart. It's crazy: all of the people with Team in Training are united by this very warm spirit of giving, so it's hard to run into anyone (no pun intended) who won't lend a hand or give you a big smile or do something really enthusiastic and encouraging. We're already really excited about making new friends.

Em and Hollie. TWO HUNDRED LETTERS! STUFFED! SEALED! In da MAIL!

In one of our team emails this week, we heard about one of the reasons we're running:
"Teammate Al Colvin wanted to share his personal mission moment with the team this week. Al is training in honor of his little pal: Hunter Zen Thawley, an adorable little person struggling with leukemia. As of this week, Hunter is out of options. His cancer has returned for the fourth time, and after 9 rounds of chemo and a bone marrow transplant, there is nothing left to do to save his life.

Here is a message from Hunter’s mom 's blog :

'We are continuing to love on Hunter like never before. We are drowning him in kisses and holding him and squeezing him tight every single second we get. I tickle and smooch his tiny, little toes constantly. I look him deep into his eyes and make sure that he understands when I tell him that mom and dad love him so deeply and that we will ALWAYS be with him, loving him, cherishing him and applauding his amazing and courageous efforts.....wherever he is. We try to get him to smile as many times as we possibly can and are constantly figuring out ways to make his time left the most enjoyable and the most memorable......for all of us.'"

Hey Hunter. You're in our hearts.

Thanks, Kinko's!

We don't want to get anybody in trouble, but last night we were at FedEx Kinko's printing fundraising letters to send to friends and family and things we VERY BELABOURED because we kept forgetting this and that. Then the photo printer broke halfway through our job so a very, very gracious employee said "you know what? This is for a good cause. No charge." Thanks, Kinko's. You've got a big heart. LETTERS and PICTURES coming your way, friends!

We begin!

Comrades!
It's hard to believe, but we're in the thick of week 3 (though I think we could probably start every entry on this blog with "it's hard to believe"; this whole process is unbelievable). Despite the rough start of 7" of snow whiting out our first group training session on January 30th, we have run 9 very fun miles together on Team in Training's watch (though there was that very, very slow 2-miler in mid-January where we discussed how awesome TNT was gonna be when we started and how we needed to invest in, like, actual gloves to keep our actual hands actually warm-- in the words of our friend Kristin, "no doi").
We had our first team run on Saturday. We ran 3 hilly miles in Meadowmont at 7:30AM in 35 degrees and it was AWESOME. Even better, we're already shaving minutes off of our two-milers. I think it's safe to say we both have very, very sore glutes (Emily's "butt is shrinking").
In real news, this week we begin fundraising! We will be kickin' cancer by check and by paypal to start, with more adventurous ways to contribute to the LLS to come soon.
Elizabeth's fundraising webpage is located here (http://pages.teamintraining.org/nce/rnr10/elizphil). So go visit!
Perhaps some bios forthcoming? Sure hope so.

Twenty Six Point Two!

That's how much we're gonna run. If it weren't for this dang-blasted snow, we'd be on the road right now. I guess tonight is a treadmill night.