Ice Cream and Cake!

Ah, yes, 20 MILES!! It took us forever, but we are SO CLOSE to the actual marathon!

Just think: only 6 more miles to the actual marathon finish. Not too shabby! I can honestly say I never thought I'd get this far. But I'm extremely proud that I have.

Although I definitely found myself icing my right knee after that run for quite a while.

Perhaps it was because I fell on it while dancing at a red light. Yeah, you read that right. Let me paint this picture for you:
Have you seen the Baskin-Robbins commercials? The ones where they sing: "Ice cream and cake and cake, ice cream and cake and cake. Ice cream and cake do they ice cream and cake!"
If you haven't, watch it now it in order to proceed with the story...



Okay, great. Now that you've got that song stuck in your head for the next 24 hours, I can tell you the rest.

For whatever brilliant reason, I decided to sing this song at every red light on our run. Which - at 20 miles- is a LOT of red lights. But it kept our morale up and entertained us. I would even do the dance. THAT is how dedicated I am.

But at about mile 14, I was jubilantly dancing around screaming "ICE CREAM AND CAKE DO THE ICE CREAM AND CAKE!" when I overestimated the amount of ground below me. Because I was at a corner, I was right on the curb and COMPLETELY missed the ground, falling into the street and crumpling down on my right knee. I basically melted to the ground because my body and legs were already so exhausted by this point. My whole group gasped and reached to grab my arms. I didn't scrape myself or bleed, but I did a number on my knee. Luckily it wasn't so drastic that I couldn't continue, but I don't think it helped anything.

Now my knee just gets kinda stiff if I've been sitting for too long. I've run since then and haven't had any problems.
BUT!
BE WARNED: ALWAYS USE CAUTION WHEN DANCING THE ICE CREAM AND CAKE AT ALL AND ANY RED LIGHTS.

Almost can't believe I'm still running

Sorry for the delay in checking in - I've been SLIGHTLY busy...

y'know...

RUNNING around!

To get us up to speed, I am currently about 7 weeks away from the actual marathon. Each time I think about, my heart skips a beat. Who the heck signed me up for this???

Last week I ran EIGHTEEN MILES with my training group. 18 MILES! We started out in Griffith Park, looped around Glendale and then ventured out into Toluca Lake. I think by about mile 13 my legs were starting to kill me. My body has definitely taken a toll since I started culinary school - getting up at 5am everyday doesn't allow for a well-rested person. PLUS, our 18 mile run started at 6am, as opposed to 8am, so that these longer runs don't completely eat up our day.
We finished our run around 11ish, so that left me with the rest of the day to take the world's longest NAP! Actually, first I came home and fell into the hottest bath I could take. Every joint on me ached - I kinda felt like how my grandma must feel.

Epsom salt baths : delicious.

So - overall, these long runs DON'T get any easier. We have our "recovery" runs that our fairly manageable. For example, since we ran 18 miles last weekend, we're going to run 9 miles this weekend. I think they do that so that our bodies don't just spontaneously combust. I am SOOO looking forward to our 9 miler this weekend. (BTW, definitely NEVER, EVER thought I would say that I was looking forward to a 9 mile run. Ever.)

NEXT UP: 20 MILE RUN!! See you in 2 weeks with sore knees and aching calves!!

I can't feel my legs...just kidding.

I know it's been a while since I've updated the blog - the holidays! They were trying to eat me alive!

But here we are at a new year and I'm very excited. Actually I'm more excited about this year because I started prepping for it ahead of time. I made my resolutions a few months in advance and am very happy about that.

This marathon is really something to look forward to. I'm so happy that I'm consistently training for it and am able to be a part of something so great.

About two weeks ago we completed our 14 mile training run. UMM...

FOURTEEN MILES.

That means that we have now completed a little over a half-marathon. 

If a psychic had told me a year ago that I would be doing this, I would have thought she was on crack. But here I am - running. A lot.

The 14 mile run was a bit daunting but having a great running group to complete it with definitely helps. We talk, we bitch, we moan, we encourage and we FINISH! I think by the eleventh mile I was thinking, "I can't feel my legs, but there's only 3 miles left. And 3 miles isn't that long so I can DO THIS!" And once you get to the twelfth mile, there's no point in quitting. And before ya know it, we're rounding the final stretch back into Griffith Park to the finish line...three and a half hours later!

My maintenance runs are getting much easier to complete. I try to run on pavement two to three times a week for at least 30 to 45 minutes. And I have been fortunate enough to receive a membership to a private gym nearby where I am able to work on my cross-training by using the bike and the elliptical machine. (They recommend that we cross-train by doing things that aren't as jarring on our body as running). 

I'm a little worried about how I'll get in all this running now that I have a brand new and wonderfully busy schedule coming my way. With the new year also comes the beginning of my enrollment in culinary school. So I'll be in school 30 hours a week and working 20 hours a week. NO I'm NOT worried about that AT ALL! It's gonna be TOTALLY fine....

I hope.

This weekend we have a lovely 7 mile recovery run. (Thank god because I am exhausted from all of this sitting around and eating and drinking). :) But next weekend we move on to the big, bad 16 mile training run. EEK! It's gonna be great, it's gonna be fine - I just know it.

See you on the track!

A Kind of Glow

Over the past two weeks we have had a 10 mile run and a recovery 6 mile run.

And, believe me, you need a recovery run after running 10 frickin' miles.

Considering I wasn't any kind of runner before I started doing this, 10 miles was a huge milestone to me. We had only run 8 miles prior to the 10 and it was definitely right around the 9th mile that I started to REALLY feel the run taking its toll on me.

Luckily I made it to the finish line without wanting to totally collapse. Most of all, I just wanted to sit down. That's a lot of time to be on your feet! Sitting down and eating a massive breakfast afterward was the perfect therapy. Not to mention a coma-like nap afterward.

The week after the 10 mile run, we did the 6 mile run in order to let our bodies recover from such a shock!

And moving on to an amusing anecdote...

I have found people's relations with me very interesting since I have taken on this challenge. While most people's reactions have been overwhelmingly supportive, there have been some mixed responses in the bunch that are quite puzzling to me.

This is one I will probably remember forever!

Since I have been putting in a good amount of mileage on the pavement, I have noticed that I'm starting to get tan lines from my sports bra and am pleased to have a less-than-pale countenance - especially for this time of year. In other words, I'm more tan than I have ever been in November/December.

The other night I ran into an old family friend who hadn't seen me in a while. After we got past our hellos and how are yous, he paused and quizzically looked at my face. He said, "So, it looks like your skin is a different color."

Decidedly ignoring his lack of courtesy, I nodded and said, "Yes, probably. Maybe because it's tan?"

He doubtingly giggled to himself and said, "Could it be a type of glow....because you're...expecting?"

EXPECTING? I mean, SERIOUSLY? First off, don't comment on my skin color. Ever. There's no point, it just isn't necessary. Second, don't EVER EVER ask a woman if she's pregnant if you're not 100% sure - unless she's in the delivery room and you can see the baby coming out.

I looked at him in shock and replied, "Umm, no. Definitely not."

After setting him straight, I also realized that perhaps I LOOK pregnant and it's not just a skin color thing. And that was SO not what I needed that day.

I continued with, "I don't think I look pregnant."

He then had the audacity to give me the triple pat. (You all know it, the dreaded triple pat. Where someone condescendingly, gently pats you three times as if to say, "It's okay that you're retarded, it's not your fault). SO, he TRIPLE PATTED my arm and said, "It's okay, it's the holidays."

Yes.

It's okay that I'm fat.

Because it's the holidays.

I proceeded to tell him that I was definitely not pregnant and but that I was definitely training for the Los Angeles AIDS marathon. I went out of my way to knowingly pause afterward, as if to say "I know you're too poor to donate to my campaign, so I won't ask."

I quickly moved away from him because I felt that if I stayed near him, I might have plucked every hair out of his head.

While this story may seem stupid and completely meaningless, it really shook me. I'm more tan because I'm training for a marathon and I get called pregnant.

I mean, c'mon, gimme a break.

8Mile

This past weekend we had our 8 mile run. It went quite well, considering I've probably never even walked for 8 miles, let alone run. There's something about running with the group that just makes the time fly by. If you told me that I had to run for 2 hours by myself, I would say, "No, absolutely not." It just gets too boring. But we've got our route, mile markers, coaches, fellow running groups - they all fill the time.

I got news this week that an acquaintance of mine was diagnosed HIV positive. The news really hit me and, again, it became apparent just how close this disease comes to everyone's lives. He has no money so he is having to live off of what the AIDS center in New York City is able to provide for him. The very type of center that I'm fundraising for here in Los Angeles. I'm happy to say that my friend is stable and doing well, he just has to maintain his health and medication. The news proved to be chilling proof of how my work comes full circle.

Since yesterday, I have hit $1,500 in my fundraising. As soon as I send in the raffle money, I'll have $1,700. For a while I was definitely worried that my goal would be really hard to meet, but I feel quite relieved that I reached it comfortably. Now I suppose my next step is to up the goal!

My friend and I had talked about doing a karaoke fundraiser. While my last fundraiser was tons of work, I think this could be something that draws a lot of people in. People love to drink and sing - why not do it for a cause? Not to mention that my friend hosts karaoke at a bunch of places and he would be able to draw in a nice crowd. It could work!

Wish me luck as I keep up with my maintenance runs this week. (Already ran about 3 miles this morning. Was harder than I had hoped it would be. I think I need to carry my water bottle with me, even on these short runs. Gotta stay hydrated!) Next week we run 10 miles, see ya then!

Don't Stop This Train

Today I reached $1,420 in my fundraising efforts.

This is huge. I've never done any individual fundraising so this has been quite the learning experience.

But as I sit here looking at all the people that have made donations, I am sincerely moved. I'm finally part of something that is bigger than me. And I love it.

I consider myself extremely lucky in life and quite blessed with all the people I have known and know - now this is my chance to give forward.

I almost can't believe that so many people would come together and contribute, but their names are there in black and white. I made a commitment to run a ridiculous amount of miles to prove how much I care - and people responded.

This Thanksgiving I will have so much to be thankful for - the people who have donated, the people who have helped me with the fundraising process, the people who support me, the people who run with me and, most importantly, the fact that I decided to do this marathon in the first place. I hope that I will also give people out there, suffering from this disease, something to be thankful for this year.

Thanks to everyone who has made this possible - I'm freezing this moment in my mind.

Stellar

I had my fundraiser event this past weekend - what a stressful event! I never knew that hosting a fundraiser would take up so much time and energy! The restaurant owner, Gary Bric - who is also the mayor of Burbank! - offered to pay for ads in the Burbank Leader. In order to get those out, I had employed my dad to design paper ads as well as online ads. (Originally we did not have online ads, BUT they completely screwed up our first print ad because they didn't run the color yellow the day of our ad. Fantastic. Nothing better than seeing your ad in the paper and realizing half of the information isn't there.) Needless to say, this whole thing snowballed into one big headache!

Luckily it seemed to go very well. I suppose I had really high expectations for it because I was really hoping for everyone that I invited to show up. Alas, people have lives and plans and such an outcome was not feasible.

Once I got past the dinner hours and got into the cocktail hours, naturally, the evening got better. :) If y'know what I mean!!

I also had tons of help from my mom in getting ready for this event. We had prizes for the raffle we put on, which she coordinated. She also prepared all the raffle details - such as actual raffle tickets, their prices, something to put them in, etc. SOO many details!

Once all was said and done, I raised over $600 that night! HELLO! $600!! Let's go shopping!!

Just kidding.

I'm not REALLY gonna go shopping. That money is going straight to my campaign!

I made a speech toward the end of the night because I was so moved by the whole event. It was such a special occasion - these kind of nights don't come along too often. Having the mayor of Burbank believe in me enough to host a fundraiser event was something that truly touched me. On top of that, having all of my friends and family there to share the night with me meant so much.

The next morning I got up at 7am to run 7 miles with my pace group. Not an easy task after you've been up til 2am fundraising! But I showed up and it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be! I've realized that once I pass the 2ish mile marker, I start to really hit my stride. Plus, the people in my running group are really fun and help pass the time.

We started our run at Griffith Park and ran down to and around Warner Brothers and then back up to our starting point. The coaches have advised for us to eat these "Gu" things every 45 minutes when we're out running. They're like power bars in gel form and, let me tell you, are awesome! They re-balance your blood sugar and give you this surge of sustained energy - totally love 'em.

Wish me luck as I get closer and closer to my fundraising goal and prepare for my 8 mile run this weekend!