five sleeps...

...until my very first half-marathon - eeeek!

After kicking ass and taking names (well, relatively) in the 10k a few weeks ago, I got a wild hair and decided that I really could (and had no reason not to - hello to you, vacation!) run the upcoming Rock n Roll in San Jose with Summer. A self-proclaimed non-runner, she rocked it two years ago. Anyone that knows us knows that we're a bit competitive, which she totally took advantage of when she suckered/reverse-psychology-ed me into this mess. That bitch.

Rob and I spent a few days in both Tahoe and Denver over the last few weeks and did some altitude running as part of my training calendar. It went....meh. Tahoe was a five-miler that I finished strong, but huffing a bit thanks to the thin mountain air. Denver was definitely harder since I ate and drank all the things the city had to offer and felt totally gross to begin with. What should have been a loonnnnnng run on Sunday was pushed to yesterday morning and did not go well. Like, not well to the point that I considered just chalking up my non-refundable registration fee and quitting on the spot. Ugh.

Knowing that altitude is an asshole, I got up this morning and ran about a third of the race's full distance (again, per my training schedule. Hal Higdon, you may just save me yet, buddy.). I can't say that I killed it, but sea level air tastes/feels/is SO much better.

I'm still nervous, but now I might be a little teeny tiny bit excited. Regardless, my face will probably much resemble this guy for the 2.5+ hours I'll be running on Sunday:

are we there yet?!

10kilometers = 6.2miles = a really long way.

Rob and I ran our first ever (intentional) race on Friday, September 9th - yaaaay!

Awesome:

- running by moonlight/flashlight (though some of the awesome was diminished by hoards of pushy people)

- finishing the entire thing without walking - woot woot!

- a nice, long stretching party after the race

- lots and lots of free stuff (good stuff too - t-shirts, legit protein shake packets...)

- borrowing the pilfered balloon arch, then convincing some dumb kid to tie it to his car and drive around. bah!

- post-race mac & cheese...a newly forged tradition. a damn good one at that!

Awkward:

- running in lightning/thunder/rain/strangely hot winds

- having to work the next morning

Rob, Summer, Katie, Rebecca & Terry (I'm behind the camera - hiiiii!)

RESULTS

Nicole

Finished in: 1:09:26.15

Overall: 794 of 972

Rob

Finished in: 1:07:11.24

Overall: 751 of 972

I just felt like ... run-neeng.

In my recent struggles to find something productive/positive to which I can aim my energies, I signed up for to run a 10k race. I've been missing constant exercise, its a great way to pound out stress, is totally attainable, and it gives me a goal aside from "get through the week without drinking all the wine".

I roped Rob into it with me, and so far so good actually. The event is on the evening of Friday, September 9th along the nearby baylands trails, which will give us an extra boost to keep us interested. And we get to wear headlamps so we'll look cool, which is really important when you're trying not to keel over. We found the race late in the game, so our training program is a bit abbreviated at only four weeks. When we were training for the triathlon, we ended up burning out with constant training over such a long period, so this is okay for now. We run four days a week, cross-train two days, and rest one day...

Don't tell anyone, but sometimes I almost look forward to my runs. I've got a rad workout mix on my ipod, I'm not farting around on the computer, I'm not blowing money on (more) shoes, and I'm not gaining any weight by eating/drinking my boredom away. I think the entirely easy, flat routes I run may help these feelings though.

Summer is trying to convince me to run a half marathon with her in early October. Which is exactly twice the distance of the 10k. It may take a bit more than a (really cool looking) sparkly finishers medal and a free 64-calorie post-race beer to convince me, but I'd be lying if I said I'd never entertained the idea...

Sorry not sorry

It's my birthday...I can have a solo CalTrain happy hour if I want to. 

(in my fave VIP seat, might I add?)

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Ummm...

we went to our fave lil produce stand today to pick up ingredients for my sudden guacamole craving...and while I was selecting the perfect tomato (lycopene, people.  getchu some.), Rob went and found this guy.  In the store. 

Dr Doolittle sprung into action, shooing the little critter into a produce bag, which he then showed off to store employees (reaction: "hey, we've been looking for him!") and a wide-eyed and apprehensive little boy outside before freeing him at a nearby park.  



Oh yeah, and the guac was good too.

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Picture of health.

I blame my boss for making me walk across the street to Walgreens to buy a half-pound of sugar, cuz he is holding my healthy banana hostage in the back office while he is on a conference call.

So there's that.

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Question: what sucks more than training for a triathlon?

Answer: NOT training for a triathlon because money gets in the way.

We had to make a difficult decision over the last few weeks, and have been toying with how to let the “non-TNT” world know.

The way that Team in Training works is pretty cool: we fundraise, they support, we train, they coach. Depending on the event chosen, each participant is responsible for raising a specified amount of money. A small part of the funds raised is used to cover participant training expenses (the time of volunteer coaches and other support staff) and event registration, while the vast majority goes directly to medical research. Eight weeks into the training season, participants are presented with a “recommitment” opportunity. It’s a time to reflect on how training and fundraising have gone and determine if it’s feasible to commit to the remainder of the season. Recommitment also means that each participant personally guarantees that he/she will meet his/her fundraising minimum by the end of the season. If a participant is not able to come up with the money from fundraising, then he/she commits to paying the remaining balance from his/her own pocket.

When our recommitment deadline approached in mid-March, we spent a good deal of time crunching numbers, checking and rechecking the calendar, and really examining the next few months from all sorts of angles. We’d tapped out nearly all of our donors, and while we were willing to get creative to raise more money for a tremendous cause, time is not on our side. My brand-new job and Rob’s ongoing job-hunt alone suck up a decent chunk of time. Sadly, adding a six-days-a-week training schedule (at 2 to 3+ hours per day!) and a lofty fundraising goal just proved to be too much. We realized that we’d have to make an adult decision to not recommit for the Spring 2011 season.

There is some good news, though! In speaking with the managing director of our Team, we were offered the option to defer our participation for up to one year. This means that while the big bucks we’ve already raised (thanks to you!) are already hard at work to fund medical research for a cure, we are able to rejoin Team in Training for a future season and will have a $3,250+ “head start” on our new fundraising goal.

Rob and I have loved, loved, loved the time we’ve spent on the Team. Being a grown-up isn’t easy, and we’re really disappointed that we can’t manage to fit everything in as we would like…but we’ll be back. And we’ll probably hit you up for money ; ]