Training Week 3 recap

Posted by Sammy on Aug 30th, 2010 | no comments

All week long I dreaded getting to Saturday because not only did that mean having to be up and ready to run by 7am sharp but it also meant a 50 minute training session. Granted at this point 50 min is a small fraction of the time I’ll actually have to do in January but still right now it seems like a lot

I was afraid I’d cramp up again like I did during Week 2′s session. As a preventative measure I not only drank water before I left the house but I had a banana. I also bought a handheld water bottle to take with me on my run/walk and I also had a bottle of Gatorade waiting for me in the car for the ride home. Surprisingly the 50 minutes went by super fast and I survived. My stats were:

3.59 miles in 50 minutes with a pace of 14’32″ per mile. Not bad. Slower than the week before but that’s ok because I was able to do my intervals the entire time instead of having to stop and walk for a good portion of it. That time is still within the range of what Disney is looking for so I’m good as long as I can keep that pace

Training Week 2 Recap :)

Posted by Sammy on Aug 23rd, 2010 | no comments

On Saturday I had my second group training session with TNT. Once again it was incredible. There is something about being around so many others training with you to achieve something most people can’t or won’t do let alone for an AWESOME cause that just makes it so exciting. Training began at 7am. This time I decided to join the run/walk group since my foot had been doing so well when I did my run/walk intervals at the gym. The run/walk coaches train for a 3/1 which means 3 minutes running and 1 minute walking. I decided to give that a try. About a quarter of the way through the training session I started to tire out a bit so I decided to walk a little bit longer than run which isn’t a big deal. Then when we turned back around for the 2nd half my right calf started cramping up. I decided to take it even easier. What’s odd is when I would attempt to run again the cramps would sorta go away. I still didn’t want to push it because the last thing I need is an injury.

My stats for this week are:

I was able to do 3.24 miles in 40 minutes with a pace of 12’48″ per mile. Not bad, not bad at all!

This coming Saturday will be a 50 min run/walk. If you would have asked me a year ago how I’d manage to run/walk for 50min straight I’d tell you that you were crazy. Now I can’t help but be excited about the prospect of not only doing 50 min, but eventually doing 13.1 miles!

WHY I RUN

Posted by Sammy on Aug 23rd, 2010 | 2 comments

This little poem was in the newsletter my Team in Training Coach sent out today. It’s just PERFECT and really conveys why I’m running. So I just had to share it on my blog because as I was reading it I totally got the chills.

I Run because I am not a scientist and cannot help by research and experiments.

I Run because I can and they cannot.

Training Day 1

Posted by Sammy on Aug 14th, 2010 | no comments

This morning was my very first training with Team in Training ever. And it was AWESOME!!!! I got up at 6am ready to go, quickly got dressed and drove to Weston. I got there around 6:45. It’s crazy to think that I was up THAT early in the morning to do any kind of physical activity, but it totally didn’t phase me.

I got there and got my training shirt, and drank some water to hydrate myself. They went over some stretches that we should do before we take off to help us prevent injury. Then we broke up into groups, the runners, the run/walkers, and the walkers. I decided to take off with the walkers today because my bad foot was acting up last night. I figured better safe to not push myself yet. Today was a 30 min walk and my foot didn’t bother me at all during the walk. I’m going to try to do some run/walk intervals this week at the gym. If it starts to hurt I’ll stop and resume walking but I need to give it a try to see if my foot is better and more importantly ready to resume running.

I’m soooooooooooo excited for this. Yeah it means my Saturday mornings for the next 5 months are shot, but you know what? I’m ok with that. Because in the end I’ll be doing my first race at Disney having raised a lot of money for a wonderful cause, and more importantly I’ll get to cross that finish line knowing that I’m helping make a difference for so many lives.

1/2 Marathon Training Night before Day 1 :)

Posted by Sammy on Aug 13th, 2010 | no comments

Tomorrow morning I need to be up and at the training location by 6:45am. Yup you read that time right. Crazy right!?!?!?!? I think so! I’m somewhat excited in a crazy and sick kind of a way. I’m basically beginning a 5 month journey that is going to take me from being someone that would never do such a thing to someone that WILL complete their first half marathon. I’m excited about the idea of doing something that most people would never try, let alone do it for a FANTASTIC cause.

I will be posting weekly training recaps here on my blog so that everyone can follow my progress. If you haven’t donated yet and would like to you can easily do so by clicking on the Team in Training link on the right hand side of this page. Thank you for helping out bring us closer to a cure for lymphoma and leukemia!

Running through the pain

Posted by Sammy on Jul 27th, 2010 | one comment

I remember stories that Gary told me of the days when he’d run his marathons. He’d tell me about that wall that you hit where your body tells you no more but your mind basically has to fight with your body to keep you going. I won’t say that I can even come close to knowing that that is like……yet. But I’ll admit that I have thought about what it’s like to hit that proverbial wall and I wonder if I’ll hit it myself on my big 13.1 mile run come January.

Like I’ve said before I’m NOT a runner. Never have been so running at all is a BIG deal for me. Last week was my first week running. I am slowly easing into it by doing the Couch 2 5k program. Week 1 was a BREEZE, except for the fact that I learned that the sneakers I was using were BAD. REALLY BAD! They caused the arch of one of my feet to hurt like hell. I went to a running store and got something to help me with that pain as well as got them to size me up to the right shoes for my feet. Well worth the money!

Today was day 1 of week 2 of C25k and energy-wise I did great. I didn’t get out of breath or anything. My calves started hurting a little but by the time they’d get unbearable my running interval would switch to a walking one and they’d get all better. Once I was done with my 29 minute workout my calves were perfectly fine. But when they were hurting I’d focus straight at the tv’s even though I wasn’t really making sense of what was on. It was that focus that got me through the pain. In my head I tell myself that it really doesn’t hurt and that the pain I was experiencing was NOTHING compared to the pain Gary went through with chemo.

He is going to get me through my training……HE is going to get me through my half marathon! I will NOT let the pain bring me down.