My apologies

For the lack of posting the last few weeks- it's been a whirlwind of a time, and I feel like I'm just settling back into a routine.....

So, let's recap, shall we?

Saturday, September 6th
We ran 6 miles and it felt good, but Jennifer and I seemed to fight it for the first few miles. Our coaches noticed that we were running "sloppy" (they seriously used that word!). I think we were still sort of recovering from the race on Monday (that brutal 8 miler), and our muscles were a lot tighter than we expected.

It's at this point that I started icing my knees after a run on Saturday, and eating breakfast soon after a run, usually with a teammate or coaches. I feel so much better when I eat right away, I don't crash when I get home.....

Wednesday, September 10th
At this point, we've entered into phase II of our training, the strength phase. We'll be introducing hills and speed training into the mix. Today we met in Ried park to do speed training and run a few miles- coach Rick and I warmed up for a bit, then sprinted (ok, not sprinting all out, but we were running pretty fast!), jogged, sprinted, rinse and repeat for 4.25 miles. The point of these is to get our muscles into the anerobic phase, and then recover and make our muscles absorb as much oxygen as possible so we can utilize it better during the endurance events. (at least, that's how they explained it, all I know is that it made me embarrasingly tired!).

Saturday, September 13th
This Saturday was an 8 miler, and it went really well. While we took it slower than we had been, I finished feeling like I could have gone further, which is where the coaches want us to be. Today was also the fluid loss analysis clinic. We weighed in before we ran, kept track of how many ounces we took in (or deposited, depending on bathroom stops) weighed in again when we were done, and then our coaches analyzed the numbers and let us know if we were taking in or losing too much liquid. My results were that I had the potential to gain THREE AND A HALF POUNDS during the marathon. Um, no. Not gonna happen. Coach Rick thinks the #'s might be off, so we're going to try again next month.

Monday, September 15th
Hill training day!! Oh boy! I met with Coaches Rick and Lauren and some other teammates and we hiked up Tumamoc Hill. I don't know the distance, but I do know that it was an 18% grade, if not steeper. It was INSANE, but I was fine, and I wasn't sore the next day! We ran down which was so much fun, too, and it was right as the huge full moon was rising over the Rincon Mountains- picture perfect.

The rest of the week was less than stellar- I came down with some sort of bug and spent my time attempting to recover in time for Saturday.

Sunday, September 20th
Time for a change of scenery- we went to Sabino Canyon and ran some more hills- it's a 3.7 mile out and back (7.4 miles total), and it was breathtakingly beautiful. Teammate Jennifer wasn't too thrilled about the "Beware: High Mountain Lion Activity!" signs, but I assured her that I'd never seen one. The way in was rough, but the time it took to go out FLEW. I remember run/walking Sabino in 2005, and it seemed to take forever, but this time seemed to take no time at all. Hell, I remember going partway with my parents and getting tired before a mile (that's when I was REALLY out of shape....)How quickly our perceptions of mileage and time change when we start doing long distances!

Which brings us to today, Sunday. I am only a few dollars short of the $2000 mark and I couldn't be more thrilled. Everyone has been SO GENEROUS with their donations and I am so thankful and grateful for everyone who has supported me. Every dollar you donate will make a difference in someone's life.

It's so important that we find a cure for these blood cancers- they affect way too many people. In fact, by the time you're done reading this post in my blog, one person will have died from a blood-related cancer and two more will have been diagnosed. That's too many, so I thank you all from the bottom of my heart for donating to help get these numbers to a big fat goosegg.