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!

FUNDRAISER! BECAUSE I MUST FUNDRAISE!

PLEASE join me as I strive to fundraise for my marathon campaign!

I will be having this fundraiser event on Saturday, November 7 at Gary Bric's Ramp, a restaurant in Burbank. The dinner menu will be available from 8pm to 10pm. From 10pm to 2am the bar will stay open and we will have some snacks, some raffles and, hopefully, some dancing! All YOU have to do is show up! Ten percent of the evening's proceeds go to my campaign so this will be the night to shamelessly order 4, 5, 6...oh heck, as many drinks as you want!

Please join me, it's going to be tons of fun all while fundraising for a good cause!

Get it - there's a reason that the word FUN is in FUNdraiser....

I don't know what it is, but I'm sure there's one.

All I know is that I'm looking forward to the event and so should YOU! So be there or...you know the rest.

Get It Girl

Yes, I'm still running. Haven't stopped yet!

We ran 5 miles this weekend with our training group. Have you ever done anything for 5 miles on foot? It's a pretty darn good distance.

Our team finished in about an hour and fifteen minutes, which is right on pace for us. (Our pace group is at about a 15 minutes mile).

Being part of this training program is really exciting and actually fun! There are so many of us running and we're all there to support each other. So if a faster group passes us on the street, we cheer and yell at each other which creates a great sense of camaraderie. And, the coaches that work with us are extremely motivational; they make you feel so special just for showing up.

There's something almost unusual about meeting so many nice people all in one place. No weirdos, no flakes, no negativity - because we're fundraising for the benefit of other people. So naturally you're gonna get people who are smart, motivated and, overall, good-natured.

I feel honored to be a part of something that is bigger than me, I feel like I'm really putting my fingerprint on the world. When I signed up for the marathon, one of their lines of encouragement was "too see L.A. a totally different way." I get more and more excited when I think about it. This is gonna be huge. And I can't wait to experience it.

Take a look at this video called "Stadium to the Sea" (because our run starts at the Dodger Stadium and finishes in Santa Monica). And if you're gonna criticize that the run is mostly downhill, I don't want to hear it. I can't believe how many people have said, "Y'know that run is mostly downhill." I mean, really? Are we really gonna criticize what altitude someone runs 26 miles at?

Try running 26 miles. Period.

Yes, it's downhill.

I didn't say I was climbing Mt. Whitney, just running a marathon.

But seriously, check out the video.

Week One Done!

I survived. Even though I wasn't quite sure that I would. For whatever reason I was really nervous about my first official training run for the marathon. We had to do a simple 3 mile run at our own pace. I have been trying to run at least 3 miles on my own every time I run so I figured this first meet shouldn't be too daunting. But, as with any new and unknown activity, I wasn't quite sure what to expect and ended up dealing with a small bout of social anxiety!

Luckily a former editing teacher of mine from FIDM, Paige, is running the marathon with me. It was nice to know that someone would be there who has done this before and would be a familiar face in the crowd.

The Sunday division of the marathon meets at Griffith Park at 8am. Paige and I timed at about 42 minutes for the 3 miles. And while that might not sound impressive, keep in mind we will be running almost NINE times that amount for the marathon. You can't be huffing and puffing and feeling the burn when you're running for that long. So Paige and I ran a 2:2 ratio of walk:run. Very comfortable and rather pleasant - especially when you're gabbing the entire time! :)

I'm really looking forward to the fundraiser event I have planned. I'll put the official flyer on here as soon as it's done. The mayor of Burbank owns a restaurant and has agreed to help me host a fundraiser night the first weekend of November. (It's a restaurant/bar that myself and friends frequent). They have good food, good drinks and you can count on me for great music, great raffles and an overall great time! So keep Saturday, November 7th open if you want to come and join me! The restaurant is called GARY BRIC'S THE RAMP in Burbank, right by the Burbank airport. Ten percent of the entire night's proceeds will go toward my campaign. Not to mention the raffle money and any other generosities people feel compelled to donate.

I'll let you know how next week's run goes. We are scheduled to run 4 miles. For now I'm trying to run a little over 3 miles each time I run. But that can get tough with a crazy schedule like mine. I'm determined to keep running because I keep envisioning the finish line and the support I'll be giving and getting as I train for this feat!

I have to admit there are days where my legs feel like they're made out of concrete and simply won't move unless I use all of my force. That's why it's handy to run a good distance away from home so that you HAVE to make it back!

Music

I would love music suggestions. I have an expansive list of heart-pumping songs on my cardio playlist, but I'm always looking for something new.

What gets your legs movin?

Random Run Rants

Okay everyone - no need to worry. My new iPod shuffle has been ordered and is on its way. Of course I had to buy an arm bandy thingy that will hold it far, far away from my central area of sweat. (My arm).

I was quite pleased to discover that the other day I had the best run I've had so far. I think there's a freeing quality when running on a Sunday because I have no other obligations and I can run for as long as I want without always wondering how long I've been out.

I keep gravitating to the Burroughs track because it keeps me on track. HAHA. Get it. Track...track. Anyway...

I get to challenge myself by running more and more laps each time I go. This way I'm not just running all over the city blocks - the track keeps my running methodical.

I just found a new website called WalkJogRun where you can map out your run turn for turn. Pretty cool!

Oh, and, woohoo because I officially ran 3 miles last night. It was my small personal goal because that's the amount we're required to run the first day of training for the marathon. And I gotta say my legs HURT today! But it's a good hurt. :)

Sweat Sweat Sweat

I don't know if I've mentioned this yet but when I run I sweat. A lot. In fact I sweat so much and turn so red that people see me and give me this worried look that says, "Oh no, she's gonna pass out!" It was actually one of the reasons I hated working out at a gym.

Sure, tons of people sweat and get a little pink. But it's always in that cute or sexy way that makes them look better. People get that glow about them, they have rosy cheeks, everyone's feelin' the burn. I, on the other hand, sweat until my hair is completely drenched and I turn a purple-maroon color. I don't know what it is in my genetics, but with the slightest bit of exertion I'm suddenly morphing into a drenched tomato.

I bring up my ridiculous and gross amount of sweat because it had a drastic effect on me this week. (Besides the understood constant embarrassment it causes). About a month ago, I bought an iPod shuffle so that I could run with something that was a little bit lighter than my hefty classic iPod. WHAT A FOOL!

So I'm running with my lovely neon green iPod shuffle and the thing just quits on me! Because. I. Sweat. On. It. Seriously Apple? Now, I'm not about to start dogging on Apple just because this happened, but that's mainly because I'm expecting to go into their store this weekend and demand a new one. And then they will give me a new one. If they DON'T, THEN I will start dogging on them.

Even though this has been a minor - VERY minor - setback, I will move forward! Official training starts October 10 - very soon. Wish me luck as I attempt to juggle a 40 hour work week, freelance work, running AND fundraising. Yikes!

Begin the beguine

Hi and thanks for stopping by!

I wanted to start this blog so I could share the ups and downs of training with everyone and hopefully give some insight into what it's really like to train for a marathon. (Also, I'm totally nervous and excited and want this journey on record!)

Let me start out by saying that, up until this year, I have never been what you call a "runner." Sure, I like to walk, dance, do the occasional yoga but I've always thought running looked so darn HARD. And ya know what? It is! At least when I first started running it was really hard. There's all that breathing, moving, sweating, more breathing, sweating, panting, sweating, more moving and did I mention sweating? And I'm supposed to do this voluntarily!

After getting a treadmill installed at the house it became kind of a no-brainer that I should at least TRY and jump on it. So I did. And it was just as hard as I thought it would be. So me and the treadmill had a touch-and-go relationship for a couple of months. I told it I needed my space and it understood. About a month and a half ago I decided to fully commit to the treadmill. So much so that I started running everyday, pushing myself just a little more each time I ran. Believe it or not, I actually started looking forward to running. SHOCK. Especially coming from someone like me. (I'm usually that person that looks at runners and thinks, "Why ON EARTH are they putting themselves through that?" Now I know.)

A few weeks went by and I was starting to run everyday. I started to have more energy and was feeling better about myself overall. I actually started to CRAVE it. (Not to mention that a few shed pounds were somewhat of a booster.) I wasn't thinking much of this newfound interest in running until I saw the AIDS marathon pamphlet in a store near where I work. A few months ago I wouldn't have even given it a second glance but this day I did a full-on double-take. AIDS marathon? Wait....running...a lot...for a cause...with other people...fundraising...helping people...training...dedicating myself to something huge...and I was sold.

Every time I think about being part of this event, I get more excited and more inspired. Now when I'm running I start to think about all the ways I can get people involved and I get even more energized. I've been part of exciting and big things before but this one was of my own device. I actually decided to apply myself and am going to follow through. (I put this under the category of things I decided as a "Big Kid.")

Currently I try to run at least four days a week for at least 2 miles. My new small goal is to try and run 3 miles and see how many hours it takes me. :) (Actually, my current time per mile is about 13 minutes. That's with your basic run/walk method. Running at about 5 to 5.2 mph and walking at about a 3.5.)

Official training for the marathon starts in October and continues for 6 months. We are required to run at least three times a week and meet for a longer group run on the weekends in Griffith Park. The actual marathon is March 21, 2010. The trail starts at the Dodger Stadium and ends up in Santa Monica, making for a total of 26 miles. Yeah, you read it right. TWENTY-SIX MILES. That's about NINE times as much as I'm running right now. Soooo, needless to say I've got a lot of training ahead of me. Which goes back to why I started this blog.

I have signed up for something that is going to demand a lot of me and lot of others. I'm running so I can raise money for a cause, I'm running with a purpose. And there's nothing more motivational than knowing that each time I push myself on the track or on the treadmill, I will also be pushing to spark involvement and trigger awareness toward a plague that we are all too familiar with.

Join me as I embark on this adventure. It promises to be exhausting, electrifying, rewarding, stimulating and heart-warming. Thanks, and I'll see you on the track!

-Hartley