So we found out where we are staying while in Alaska... at The Hotel Captain Cook, which apparently is Anchorage's only luxury hotel. Not too shabby. I bet those down comforters & pillows will feel mighty good after the race.

Now let's just hope I can raise all the money I need. I'm still panicking about that a bit. I still need to raise $3200 in less than 2 months & I'm not quite sure how I'll do it. I was REALLY hoping that at least one of the companies I contacted would sponsor me, but so far, no luck at all. :( I REALLY can't afford to cover that much money. My dad said he will cover me up to $700, so in reality, that leaves me with $2500 left to raise. But I really don't want him to have to pay all that money. So I need to come up with some SUPER creative ways to raise money.

Monday I'm going to contact the city to find out what kind of permit is needed to set up on an intersection in my neighborhood to raise money. Yesterday there was a group of firemen set up at a major intersection (the very intersection I'm interested in) having their "Fill the Boot" campaign. They have a bunch of firemen asking the people in their cars at the light for donations. This is basically what I want to do. Hopefully I can get some TNT banners & some friends to help me out.

I also still have some ideas going around in my head for other fundraisers, but I need to figure out some SUPER creative, fun ideas so I can get lots of people to attend.

I'm still panicking.

Half way there

Today was a tough day, but a good day at the same time. I had trouble going to sleep last night, then I ended up waking up at 3:30 in the morning. I couldn't get back to sleep, so I just laid there in bed until about 4:30 when my dog decided I'd been in bed long enough & that it was time to take him outside. It was so hard for me to resist the urge to just get back into bed & sleep for a few more hours. But I knew I couldn't do that. That would've been way too easy. So I got my butt in gear & got to the park just around 6:00 am. All us walkers & our coaches decided it was a better idea to get an extra early start on things because #1: it's getting hotter & hotter as the days go by & by starting early, we don't have to worry about being out there in the high heat of the day. And #2: since we're out there so much longer than the runners, we obviously finish much later than they do & often miss out on the clinics they have after practice. So today we started a whole 90 minutes earlier than the runners & for once, I wasn't the last person to get back to the starting area. It was great!

Now, the practice itself wasn't the best in the world for me. My bad streak this week continued. With my lack of good sleep, I didn't have nearly the energy I usually do for practice & had a bit of a tough time. I wasn't sure if I was actually going to be able to finish, but after about the 1st 4 miles of walking pretty much alone, one of my coaches walked the entire rest of the way with me, talking with me, encouraging me, & pushing me to go just a bit further. We actually ended up doing more & going further than everyone else, because at every opportunity we had, we did extra hills while most everyone else kept to the flat trail. (Lord knows I need the hill training, cuz Alaska isn't exactly flat!)

It was actually a fairly beautiful course. We started out at the park, walking almost an entire loop around the park, then out to the streets toward another park that ran parallel to a main road that led us straight through downtown Houston. (this is the exact spot we went through. On the way back, my coach & I ran down those stairs you see in the center of the picture towards the bottom.) Once we got into downtown, it was so cool. It was still pretty early & there was hardly a soul around. We pretty much had downtown to ourselves. The only other people around were the window washers at one of the hotels & a group of hotel workers walking to work. Every once in a while, a single car would come by, and we could smell fresh doughnuts being made at a bakery. Downtown really is beautiful. I love my city. :)

By the time we got to the George R. Brown convention center, we'd walked 7.7 miles. It was there that we turned around & made our way back to Memorial Park, the same way we came.

The last 2-3 miles were definitely the hardest. Since I didn't really have the energy to run at all today, my muscles were getting a bit over worked (it's a lot better to run every few minutes because it makes you use different muscles than when you walk, so you give those walking muscles a chance to rest) & my feet felt like they were turning to lead. But I eventually made it to the finish. We ended up doing 13 miles instead of 12 & it took me just over 4 hours to do it. I was exhausted & my feet hurt like a sonofabitch, but it still felt so good to know I could do it. I basically did a 1/2 marathon today, which is what I originally signed on to do. But now I'm thinking I may actually end up doing the full 26.2 miles. Hell, I still have almost 3 months more to go before the race & so far in the past 7 weeks, I've gone from barely being able to run 20 feet & walking 3 miles to being able to run 1/4 mile at a time & finish 13 miles!! That's quite an accomplishment for someone like me. Sure it's still hard & some days I just want to quit, but even on a so-called bad day like today, just knowing I can still do it keeps me going.

I figured I'd sleep about 5 hours afterwards today & that I'd barely be able to walk this evening, but I napped off & on for only about 3 hours & have almost no soreness at all in my muscles (good stretching afterwards, followed by an ice bath, then hot shower is key!). The only thing that is pretty much unbareable is the massive rash I have on my feet & ankles from walking thru all that damn pollin on the track & thru the city. I swear I have the most sensative skin on the planet! My feet feel like they are on fire & it's taking every ounce of my self control to not scratch. I will likely have to go see a Dr. about my allergies & hopefully get a Rx cream for the rash & maybe a different Rx pill (right now I'm taking Allegra) to control these outbreaks. I have to do something because right now, I can't even put on flip flops without them hurting my feet.

But other than that, I'm good. Next week we're starting at 5:30 am & are dropping back to 10 miles, so it should hopefully be easier. *crosses fingers*

I think my Benadryl is finally kicking in, so I should get to bed soon. (Wow... I'm such a rock star! Ready for bed by 10:30 on a Saturday night. WOOO!!!) Here's hoping next week goes better than this past week!

Hello. How are you doing today?

So let's see... what's been going on in my training world?

Well... it's been up & down. One day I'll be feeling great & like I can take on the world. Other days I feel like my feet are made of lead & that my knee or my ankles are going to give out. Today is one of the latter days. It's very frustrating, especially since last week was so good. My Tuesday night training w/ the team went great. I ran more than I ever had & felt great afterwards. I could've gone on longer but it was already 8:00 pm & it's really not a good idea to run in the park any later than that, especially alone (which I would've been because I'm the only walk/run person on Tuesdays & all the runners were finished by then).

Wednesday I rested.

Thursday was another great day. I decided to walk/run w/ the dog & we did about 3 miles. I ran for about 1/2 of it. I felt GREAT! Of course it was probably because 1/2 way thru we stopped off at the dog park so Moe could have a quick romp with his buddies, but dammit, I still ran a LOT.

Friday was another day of rest. I needed to conserve my energy for the big distance training Saturday morning. I did 10 miles. I'd been worried about it all week... I wasn't sure I could do it. But I worried for nothing. It went SO well! I was in such a zone. The team went out of the park & ran thru the city, but I stayed in the park w/ another teammate who had been getting over the flu. She didn't feel well enough to tackle 10 miles outside the park & she asked me to keep her company. I walked w/ her for about a mile or so, but it wasn't "doing it" for me & I told her I needed to run. She said to go ahead, that she'd be fine, so I ran. I'm able to go about 1/4 mile at a time now, which is a HUGE improvement for me (when I started this, I could barely run 20 ft). I finished the 10 miles in about 2.5 hours. My coach was so proud of me. Hell, I was proud of me! Sure, it was tiring, but it was still a bit of a rush. Of course, not long after I got home I crashed for a few hours, but I was hardly sore at all by the end of the day.

Sunday was a day of much needed rest (I'd gone to a party Sat. night was out very VERY late) and Monday was yoga.

Then came the next Tuesday night team workout last night. It SUCKED! I started out great. We were doing quick drills (1/4 mile slow, 1/4 mile fast, 1/4 mile slow, 1/4 mile fast, etc.) I was all set to do the full 4.5 miles, but after about 2.5/3 miles, I started to get a sharp pain/cramp right up my middle toes on my left foot. I couldn't complete a full stride w/out severe pain so I had to stop. I hate it when shit like this happens. I got home, stretched some more, soaked in an ice bath, & took some ibuprofin. It felt fine by bed time & there was no pain today. I figured I'd be good to go tonight, but we had a big lunch today at work (celebrating a friend's birthday) & I ate WAY too much. I had no energy tonight, although I tried. Hopefully I'll feel better tomorrow. I haven't had a single good workout this week & this worries me because Saturday is another big day... 12 miles. I don't want to peter out 1/2 way through. I want to do good.

We'll see what happens.

8 miles

With hills.

Ow.

Frustration

Went to my team workout last night & all went really well... for the most part.

We were supposed to do 4.5 miles in drills... 1/4 mi. slow, 1/4 mi. fast, 1/2 mi. slow, 1/2 mi. fast, etc. I started out great. I knew I wouldn't be able to run very far, but each time I did, I made myself go a little bit further than the last time. My coach was telling me how great I was doing & how impressed she was that I was able to keep up such a steady pace. Even tho the running part was hard, I still felt good about my progress.

About 1/2 way thru the workout, a muscle started to tighten in my right ankle. I slowed down & then stopped to stretch it out for a bit & that really helped. I continued on, but we (my coach & I) decided to do just the 3 mile loop instead of the full 4.5 miles to give my ankle a rest. With about 3/4 mile left to go, I decided to run again, but with the first step on my right leg, I felt a big pain in my right knee (the same knee I hurt last year). I thought I just stepped wrong, so I "worked it out" & tried to run again. BAM! Pain again. So I had to walk the rest of the way.

I was very frustrated, especially since I was doing so well. My coach tried to give me a pep talk & said not to worry... that she was still very impressed w/ my progress & could tell I was doing lots of training on my own. That made me feel better.

I went home & soaked my legs in a cold bath, then took a hot bath afterwards & popped a few Ibuprofin. My knee was bothering me most of the night, but so far, has felt fine today. I think tonight I'll just do some yoga & give the knee a rest. I want to be at full strengthor the 8 miles on Saturday.

One more thing...

On my drive home from the park, I decided to track the distance from the park to my apartment. It's exactly 5 miles.

Only 5 miles!

It's funny how different distances can feel when you're walking/running vs. driving. I've driven that route SO many times over the years & never imagined actually running/walking that distance. But I've been walking even further than that for the last 2 weeks! It's crazy to me. Now I look at the places I drive to... the grocery store, the gym, various shopping centers, even the center of downtown... all of them no more than 2-3 miles away from my apartment, yet I never associated those distances with a distance I could actually walk/run. Now I know I can do it... & then some. I'm really feeling so much better about myself & what I can do. :)

6 miles... revisited

What was a piece of cake last week was a challenge this week. We did 6 miles again, but instead of just going 2 loops around the park on a nice flat surface, we went out of the park & hit the streets & the neighborhoods. This meant hills.

Oy the hills.

Those hills kicked. my. ASS!

Going down was fine. (this is when I love gravity) It was the whole going back UP the hills thing that sucked.

But I survived. :)

And I ran a lot more this week than last week.

And I've lost about 12 lbs.

So WOO!! :)

Woo! Go me!! :)

I actually ran today. Like, really RAN! And I didn't die!! Granted, I walked a bit as well, & only did about 2 miles, but dammit, I RAN! This is progress!

I also decided to have a fundraiser for my birthday. It'll likely be either on my birthday (Fri. Apr. 1) or Sat. Apr. 2. Two friends from work (who have bdays in late March) are also going to join in. I'm so glad about that, too, cuz they are grad students & have TONS of friends.

Basically the plan is to get a restaurant/club to donate the use of their facility, & get another place to donate the food, have a cash bar (so the restaurant/club still makes some money), & have at least a $10 cover charge w/ all that money going to my TNT/LLS fund. We figure we can get at least 100 people to come, so that's a minimum of $1000 that I'll raise. Not bad for a day's work, eh? I'm also going to see if anyone knows of a local band that would be willing to perform for free. If so, then maybe I'll raise the cover charge to $15.

I'm so excited!!!

Due to work, I missed my 6:45 team workout today. It's ok tho, cuz I definitely wasn't in the mood to be around people. After today, I needed a day off. (I worked out yesterday) I'll work out tomorrow instead.

In other news... I told my boss about my race & the cause behind it & she said I can count on her for a donation. Turns out her nephew had Leukemia (he's considered cured now). I have no idea how much she'll give, but I'm hoping she'll be generous (especially after all the extra work I've done for her these days... LOL).

This weekend I went around to some local shops & restaurants & dropped off paperwork for corporate donations & got some other names & phone numbers of store managers to talk to about donating. Hopefully one of them will come thru. We shall see... we shall see...