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!

Team Challenge

Last night I signed up for CCFA's Team Challenge. This summer, I will be running my third half marathon (in beautiful Napa) to raise money and awareness of a disease that I have lived with for over 19 years.

I'm really excited to meet my teammates and begin training/fundraising. I know it will be a big time commitment, but in the end, the experience of a lifetime.

The plan is to post every week, once my training begins on March 7, so that I can share this amazing experience with everyone.

Don't forget to check out my fundraising page! - http://www.active.com/donate/napa09dcvirginia/napa09ESudow

Happy New Year!

I haven't posted in a while because frankly, I haven't been doing any running. I'm starting to really miss it. Which is good, because in a little over a month I start my half marathon training program. I'm a bit concerned about being able to participate in all the activities/training runs because of school.

In addition to the actual running, I'm really excited to meet people who are raising money for a chronic illness that affects me everyday.

I'm sure I've posted it before, but here is the training program I will be participating in. Can't wait to get started!