Week 4

I'm feeling a lot better about training this week. I'm cutting out my Wednesday runs to help my legs recover. Yesterday, I was able to run with a couple people from my group. I was in a lot of pain from the week, so I had to run a bit slower. I was actually pretty disappointed with my time for the group run, but at least I had company. My goals for the week include stretching a lot more. One of my coaches said I should stretch every night while watching TV, not just after runs. I'm going to try and fit this into my weekly routine. This week, I'm also going to focus on nutrition. My group met with a nutritionist after the run. She reminded us the importance of getting enough calories and the right mix of carbs, fats, and proteins. Even over the last 24 hours, I've been able to adjust my diet to include all three each time I eat a snack/meal.

Week 3

Oops already skipped a week, but I'm back now! Week two was very unproductive, I was both sick and out of town, so sticking to the training schedule was hard. But onto week 3, which was much better. I got two weekday outdoor runs in and went to my weekly group run. I'm a little disappointed with the group runs. It seems like the entire team is walking the race, so I run with one other girl, who is much faster than me. I was only able to keep up with her for half the time. By the time I got back everyone had already finished.

Having run two half marathon's before, I think my training schedule is moving way too fast. By next Saturday I will be running close to 9 miles and the race is still over three months away. Yet, I feel like the walkers training is moving slowly, since I never see them start or finish. Just disappointing to me that my coach doesn't really give the runners in my group much instruction or stick around once the walkers are done.

My disappointment in the training part of the program has not stopped me from my ultimate goal, raising $4,000 for CCFA and crossing the finish line in Napa. Instead, I've brought back my amazing coach from the past two halves (my terrific boyfriend). He will be attending the Saturday long-runs with me.

Fundraising is going a lot better than expected. I thought that would be more difficult than the training. Thanks to everyone I know, I'm close to $1600 in just three weeks! I cannot express how thankful I am for all the support! Every little bit counts.

Finally, I would like to make a shout-out to a new runner. My best friend JoJo in Chicago started running this past month and has even signed up for a 5k. While, I'm so excited that she has found the passion for running, I'm so disappointed we don't live in the same city. But I hope to run with her during Passover and figure out a race we can do together. YAY JO!

Team Challenge: Week 1

I began my training schedule for Napa this past week, which officially started with a group run Saturday morning. I woke up at 6:30 am, which was hard since JoJo was in town, but I was good and did not go out the night before. Team Challenge divided us into groups based on our past running experience. Only one other person from my group was there, yay Andrea, so we ran with one of the mentors. Twenty-nine minutes later we were done.

For those of you that know me, 29 minutes is not a workout... so on the way back, I had Ben drop me off at the corner of Massachusetts and Wisconsin and I ran the rest of the way home.

I think my group is really going to push me. From what I can tell in one week, their longer distance pace is a bit faster than mine, basically anything over a 10k at their pace will be pushing myself. Having run two half marathons before, speed is something I'm looking to improve upon, so if I don't kill myself training or drink too much wine before the race, this experience should help me get a PR on race day.

P.S. Help me reach my goal of $1,000 by my birthday (March 13!!!!!)
http://www.active.com/donate/napa09dcvirginia/napa09ESudow

Pre-Week 1

I am happy to report that I ran outside twice this past week before work. I was able to take advantage of some pretty decent weather in the district. I also met my team this weekend at a fundraising workshop. Everyone is very nice and I look forward to our first training run next weekend. Some of the people I spoke to were a little nervous about the running. After telling them that I had run two half marathons last year, if definitely gave them some hope about being able to do it themselves.

It has also been interesting for me to meet people my age with Crohn's disease and hear their individual experiences. No one has the exact same experience with this disease, but it's nice to know there are people out there who understand what I go through on a daily basis. I'm really going to enjoy getting to know my teammates over the next 16 weeks!