Personal Records!

Last Saturday, Mike and I ran 14 miles! It was the longest run either of us have ever completed. About 7 years ago we did a 1/2 marathon (13.1 miles) but never this far. Now were are in the Big League! The run was from Pacific Beach to a point in La Jolla and then back. IT was a very pretty and friendly run. We ran around part of Mission Bay and then along the boardwalk and continued up in to some beautiful neighborhoods that overlooked the ocean. People we super friendly and we asking about Team In Training and why we were running, as well as folks cheering "GO TEAM"! Over all it was a great run. This weekend we will be running in the Silver Strand 1/2 marathon instead of a regular training run. We received our practice purple shirts last weekend and can't wait to wear them on this run!

It seems so hard to believe that we will be in Florida in about 8 weeks. Everyone on the team who is heading down there is so excited! It seems that most of us really like Disney and are having some fun planning our free time at the various parks. I have not been since I was about 5 years old - and back then they only had the Magic Kingdom, and even then they were just finishing building Space Mountain!!! Mike has been there since Epcot, but hadn't spent too much time there. We are both looking forward to exploring the new parks and of course Disney World! It will be fun going with the group, as so many of them have been before and can show us the places that we must see. A couple of the group are planning a trip over to Kennedy Space Center, that might be a fun side trip too...so much to see and do, so little time and 26.2 mile to run right in the middle!

Lyndsay Update!

Lyndsay is home now and doing very well! We enjoyed a wonderful dinner with her and her mom & Dad, Lisa & Carl on Sunday. Although she goes to the infusion clinic 3 times a week right now to check her levels and often needs to get a boost of magnesium she love being home and able to move around more freely. They found a cute little place near the hospital and Lyndsay can even sit on the balcony and get some fresh air!

Double Digits!

This Saturday's run was in Encinitas, although a very different area than the last time we ran here. We met up a little park right on the beach. This was a special day in that the team was challenged to all wear our white TNT (Team In Training) shirts. If there were any that didn't their coaches would have to accept the "punishment". Well, it seems that we were the first team ever to all wear them, so the 2 head coaches had this wonderful purple hair coloring applied to their heads and had to run with very purple hair! It was quite a site!
Our run took us past some amazing beach homes, many of which were for sale. So Mike & I house shopped (wished) while we ran. Then we came along the PCH for a bit until we turned around at a camp ground - we ran through that on the way back instead of the road, just for some thing different, then it was back by our homes again. Once we got back to the park, Coach Ken had suggested that we all go for a waist deep dip in the ocean. It apparently is a great way to recover after a long run - the waves moving back & forth over your muscles, the salt water to help replenish your sodium and of course the cool temperature to help sooth the legs & feet. It really was nice, but reminded me of swimming in Maine when I was a girl. I used to come out of the water in July with my lips and fingers blue! The picture above is of the shells I discovered while out in the water.
Mike & I both agreed that so far this was both our favorite and our best run to date.

The last two runs

Well, obviously I have not been keeping up with my postings...so let me fix that!
Two weeks ago we ran 7 miles at 4S Ranch in North County. I have never been in an area that is up hill in every direction!! Needless to say it was a very long 7 miles. That being said, it was a great clinic on stretching. The team had me say a few words about why Mike and I chose to run. This was the weekend afterLyndsay had her bone marrow transplant. Which after 2 high doses of Chemo and 3 days of full body irradiation happened on September 18th without a hitch! Praise God! To read how she is doing check out the link to her blog in the upper right of the screen!
This past Sunday the team run was at Lake Miramar. This is a beautiful area with a 5 mile loop around a man made reservoir. Mike & I ran 8 miles and loved it. This weekend we will miss the team run as we will be in Philadelphia visiting family and attending a software training. I have a call into the Philly area Team In Training office and hope to be able to run with them on Sunday. If not, then my sister, Jessica has a great path that she runs and we will do our "Back down 6 miles" there.

UCSD Run

This past Saturday we ran at UCSD. This was a very fun run. The course was a bit hilly and very confusing. We missed a turn and ran a bit further than planned! So, what was going to be a 4 mile run turned into a 5 mile run! Oh well. We were joined early on by one of our teammates and then once we realised we missed the turn, we added another! We were so close to Lyndsay, who is back in the hospital (UCSD) to have her bone marrow transplant this week on the 18th!!!!
Later on I went over to see her. She is doing really well. Saturday and Sunday she was given doses of chemotherapy. Monday, Tuesday & Wednesday she will undergo total body radiation in preparation for the transplant on Thursday. After her transplant she will be confined to her hospital room for 30 days, after that she will be limited to being at home, which I am sure will be a nice change. After 100 days, her restrictions will start to be lifted as the transplanted marrow has joined with her!

Missed a week!

Last week both Mike and I had to miss our team run. I had volunteered back in January to work at the Women of Faith conference and Mike had to attend the Guide Dog leadership seminar. We made up for it by running durring the week. Righ now the miles are not yet that large 2-4 each day we train on our own, and between 4-8 on Saturdays, they soon will be. Mike and I have both found that each day the run gets a bit easier and we are also shaving a bit of time off each mile as we progress!
I came back on Wednesday, very excited because I ran over 4 miles with an average of a bit over 11 minute miles - that's almost to where I was when I was in my early
30's! We both found that durring the week we like to run with our ipods - My "power song" is "I Get A Little Stronger Everyday" by Michael W. Smith, it really helps me kick it up! On Saturday runs with the group, we don't use the ipods. Instead, it is amazing how many people - not part of the Team, cheer us on with a "GO TEAM" as we run by, it realy lifts the spirits and is a quick reminder of why and for whom we are running.
We are really looking forward to going to the run tomorrow - for Lyndsay! We also hope to be able to see Lyndsay, she will be getting her bone marrow transplnat on the 18th and will be in the hospital for at least a month. Please keep her and her family in your prayers!

Encinitas Training Run

One of the best things about being in the San Diego chapter of Team In Training is the great places we get to run. This week it was along the PCH (Pacific Coast Highway) in Encinitas. It is so nice to have the ocean breeze and hear the surf as it hits the sand. It also is much more pleasant to look at than the boring road that we run during the week. I think we will need to find some place else to run when we are in Riverside.
Tonight we start the midweek training with the Inland Empire/Orange County group. Even though we are officially SD members, they are letting us run with them. There was no way we would be able to meet midweek down there. We just got their schedule today. It seems that they do something called "boot camp"...this sounds tough. I did that in the Air Force, it was hard then, and I was much younger!!!! So we will be off to that in just a couple of hours...I'll keep you posted.