Chilly Buddy Run

Last night was a fairly uneventful Buddy Run, which is good. :D Claudia, Cynthia and I ran about 3 miles and we did it in a little over 30 minutes so we were running at a pretty good pace, for us at least! It was actually a little chilly out, which was nice for the run but not so nice while we were standing around afterwards! On a side note, I really like how the summer people and fall people at our buddy runs have become one big group... we warm up together, stretch together and most all of the fall people wait around for the summer people to finish, even though they're running twice as long as we are!

10 miles... foiled again :(

Since our Disney training group didn't do 10 miles last weekend in Antioch (except for Karen :D) we decided to do our 10 miler this weekend. Well, that didn't happen-- darn captain duties got in the way :( We planned on getting two miles in after we got our water stop people on their way and before the team got there, and then 8 miles with the team. But by the time we got the water stop people loaded up and on their way, we didn't have enough time run before our team arrived. So we settled on doing just 8 miles with the team.

We ran at the Berkeley Marina so it was overcast and cool... thank god! The East Bay AND SF Summer teams were also out there with us so there were TONS of TNT shirts and "Go Teams" along the trail! I felt pretty good out there, except for the last mile, which at Berkeley Marina is always mentally tougher for me because you think the finish is just around every corner. Luckily I was running with Phil and he was feeling crappy so I knew I couldn't wimp out! I'm so glad that I decided to take my shoes back in to Forward Motion and get the next higher level of support... they feel SO much better than the other ones and all the little aches and pains have gone away. It's amazing what the wrong shoe can do to you!

After our run in Berkeley: Salina, Trish, Lindsay, Vanessa (our honoree), me, Phil, Claudia and Matt.

Sunday afternoon we had a nice get together with some of the EB mentors at Pyramid-- drank some yummy beer, ate some yummy pizza and talked about all the cool races everyone has done. Even though I really have no interest in training for another marathon right now, getting together and talking with all these other marathoners always makes me think "Hmmm... what do I want to do for my next race?!"

Picking up the pace

Last night we had our Buddy Run at Heather Farms. This week the Fall team was suppossed to do 35, 40 or 45 minutes-- I didn't have my watch on so I decided to just do three miles. My pace on the way was good, I felt that I was pushing it a little bit. On the way back there was a guy pushing a baby jogger who asked me what we were all training for. We chatted about running and various races for about a mile-- well, HE chatted and I huffed and puffed next to him... he definately made me pick up my pace! I wish I had my watch on me so I could see what my time was, all I know is that by the time I got back to the parking lot, I was completely out of breath!

On the edge of nowhere

That's where it felt like we ran on Saturday morning but it was actually the Delta de Anza trail in Antioch! Phil, Karen, Claudia and I had originally planned on running 10 miles-- a few before the team got there and a few with the team-- but after Claudia and I got all the water stop stuff unloaded and helped set up stuff for the Honoree Potluck, it was too late to really get a decent run in before the team got there. So, we decided that 6 for this weekend was good enough and we'd run 10 next weekend :D Fine by me since this trail had NO shade!


Claudia and I on the trail with NO shade :(

The run went well, despite the warm weather and no shade. I think that Coach Gary's markings were a little off-- either that or we were running a little faster than we thought! I got to see some of my old mentees from past seasons out there; Julie helped out at our first water stop and Rhonda tagged along on the run :D By the time we finished I was DONE... and very happy that we hadn't done 10 miles. Karen was the true trooper though and whipped out the whole 10 miles!! Even with the hills and not feeling well, she did it!! She kicked BUTT!


Honoree Cappy Natalie with Honoree Cappy and Cole's mom Brandy, Jen, Joe, Michael, Vanessa's mom Trish and Brenda

After our run we had our Honoree potluck and ALL our honorees were there! The honoree potluck is basically our thanks to all the honorees for being such an inspiration to all of us. They are the ones that motivate us to run those extra miles when all we may want to do is quite. While we munched on some yummy food (including pancakes and eggs thanks to Jeanette) the honorees all said a few words about what they've been through. Brenda had some great news to share-- they found a donor for her!!! It's a 9 out of 10 match so soon she'll be going back to SF to get her bone marrow transplant! WOO HOOOO!!!!


Brenda and her boys

Sunday Rocky, Phil, Claudia and I went to Stern Grove again to see Ozomatli. We got there nice and early to get a good spot-- good thing we did because it got even more packed than it did two weeks ago. The weather was overcast and a little chilly but we had a great time (and I KILLED Phil at cards) :D Now that we know about the Stern Grove concert series and how fun it is, I have a feeling we'll be back there again next summer a lot more! How can you beat a FREE concert in such a beautiful setting!


Bundled up at Stern Grove

Dublin Track

Thursday night Claudia and I went over to the Dublin track instead of Concord. Coach Al wasn't able to make it so he asked Claudia to take over for him :D We basically did the same thing we did last week-- either run 17, 19 or 21 minutes. The track we ran on is a little smaller than a standard track so 5 laps was about a mile. That's too many laps for me to keep track of so I'm not sure how far I actually went during those 21 minutes. :D I think that next week we start circuit drills which I actually enjoy, even if they do kick my butt!

Buddy Run

Since I missed last week's Buddy Run, this was my first one of the season. I was actually excited about getting out there to run, especially since right now we only have to do about 30 minutes :D I was looking forward to doing the run and getting home and eating dinner at a decent time. Well, that didn't really happen. :( The Summer team was also out doing their Buddy Run so many of us ended up staying to cheer them all in. I think it was about 8:00 by the time I got home... by the time I cooked dinner, ate and showered it was already 9:30! At least the weather was perfect for our run, nice and cool, and I even got to see Brenda! She came out to do a little running and walking with the group!

Tonight we're off to Run University! This takes the place of the pre-run clinics that we usually do through the beginning of each season-- now we have them all in one evening so when we get together for the Coached Runs, all we have to do is run!

Team Hope

On Saturday we had our first Mentor Led run of the season, led by Mentors Phil and Jeremy. Since Karen, Phil and I are training for Disneyland, we are running different mileages than the Fall Team-- we were supposed to do 8 miles while the team only had to do 2-4 miles. We decided to meet up at 6:45 to run 4 miles and mark the course and then do the other 4 miles with the team.

As we started off on our first 4 miles, the weather was perfect for running. We made pretty good time although I think we were all wondering at the end how we were going to run 4 more miles. We met up with the team, refilled our water bottles, Phil gave me some moleskin to cover a blister that was forming and we were off again! After our stretch, the team talked a little about what our team name should be and someone came up with the idea for Team Hope. I think that's a great name and totally fits our team this season and I think everyone who was there agreed, so pending Coach Al's approval, I think we finally have a name for our team!

The second 4 miles felt great, I think we even had negative splits and did those miles faster than the first 4! At least it felt like we did! Maybe it was running with the team, having new people to talk to and take our minds off the run that made it go more quickly... I'd like to think though that we were all just faster! It felt great to reach the 8 mile mark-- it makes me much more confident about doing the half in just 4 weeks!

New shoes and our first track workout

Well, Wednesday I went and bought some new shoes so I'd be all ready for track the next night. Saucony has upgraded their Omni line and the newest version, Omni 5 seems to fit a little snugger than the Omni 4s. Guess what that means? Yep, I had to buy a Men's shoe because my feet are like boats :( The sales guy also told me I didn't need the Ultimate support, just moderate, but I'm not sure if I agree with him. We'll see.

So last night off to track I went with my whiter-than-white (even whiter than my legs) brand new men's shoes. Because this was a our first track, Coach Gary did a lot of talking and we only did a little running. After our two lap warmup he talked to us about proper breathing, proper form and the fact that because we aren't sprinters, we should not be kicking ourselves literally in the butt while we run :D FINALLY we started our actual workout for the evening, running either 14, 16 or 19 minutes. Because I'm not a glutton for punishment and it was a little warm out, I went for the 16. It went well-- felt nice to run and I got to talk with a couple of the new participants. I'm still a little iffy about the shoes so I'll try them on our 8 miler tomorrow and see how they feel. If they're still not working for me, back to the store they go... with Disneyland right around the corner, I don't have time to fool with shoes that don't fit right.

No Buddy Run for me :(

Last night was our first night of Buddy Runs for the fall team-- finally people to run with during the week! But last night I didn't make it :( I've been having some icky migraines over the past couple of days-- 3 in the past two days-- and running was the last thing I felt like doing. I loaded up on headache medicine and took a nap instead. I'm also nursing a sore foot (possibly a little plantar faciitis due to worn out running shoes) so I figured a day off would give it a chance to get back to normal. On my to-do list today is to pick up some new running shoes so my feet can be happy again while I'm running :D

Tonight some TNT alums from my first season are meeting up to have dinner with Korina, who now lives in BFE (Wisconsin). I don't think that I've seen her since she and her hubby moved out there a couple of years ago so I'm excited to catch up!

Another TNT filled weekend!

Even though I'm dead tired and still recovering, this weekend was so much fun!

It started out with our first Coached Run of the season at Heather Farms in Walnut Creek. Even though the run didn't start until 9:00, Claudia and I needed to get there at 6:45 to help the water stop people get set up. We met up with Phil and Rocky to get a little run in before we met with the team. According to our Disneyland training calendar, we were supposed to do about 6 miles so we decided to do 3 before the team got there and 3 more with the team. The first 3 went well although our pace was a little faster than normal (thanks to Phil, who was freaking out about getting back to his mentees on time :D) but it was nice a cool. We ran into a lot of familiar faces out there since the Summer team was doing 6-15 miles and started early. We even saw Brenda out there! It was great to see her back out on the trail! After our shoe clinic, a short, but very heartfelt, talk from Brenda, we were back on the trail for our second 3 miles. Since this was about an hour and a half after we finished our first 3 miles, it was MUCH warmer out and that that made for a MUCH slower pace! Next time I tell myself that I don't need to bring water/gatorade with me because I'm only doing 6 miles, I need to think again. I could definitely tell that I needed to drink more fluids.


After a nice nap, Saturday evening we headed over to Oak Hill Park in Danville to listen to the wonderfully talented East Bay Mudd, a 10 piece R&B, Funk and Soul band! Our friend, and fellow TNTer, Jeanette sings back up and her husband plays drums. A bunch of other TNTers showed up, even Mama Lisa and Coach!! It was a perfect night-- gorgeous weather, great music, great friends, a little dancing and some towel jump rope with Rocky and Chris :D

Sunday morning we were up early again but this time we were off to Stern Grove in SF for a free concert. The bands didn't start playing until 2:00 but we were told that the place gets crowded so we met Monica (our team manager) early to save some spots. This was the first time that I had been to Stern Grove and it's gorgeous! Driving by, all you see is what looks like a grove of eucalyptus trees, but in the middle of this grove below street level is this awesome outdoor concert venue. Monica was right, by the time we got there at 10:45 the place was packed, and when the bands started playing, hundreds of people were crammed in there like sardines! Good thing we brought lots of food, sangria and beer to tide us over until the bands came on. First up was Ska Cubano and after that came the Spanish Harlem Orchestra. I didn't understand any of the words but I LOVED the music! Being San Francisco, there were lots of interesting characters, including the renaissance fair hobbitt that Phil (aka "Sad Panda") made friends with.

Even though I only ran 6 miles this weekend, my body feels like it's been run over by a truck. But it's a good hurt-- I had such a great weekend and I don't remember when I've ever laughed so much :D

2nd Annual Art for Charity

Get out your calendars... the 2nd Annual Art for Charity event will be on October 14th at the Blackhawk Art Gallery in Danville and you're ALL invited!



I am SOO excited! Last year we put on this fundraising event to benefit the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society as well as Cole's Cure and it was a great success! We had great food and wine, were serenaded by the talented Acoustic Mutt, raffled off some fun prizes and were surrounded by beautiful art, including the piece above designed especially for us by Peggy Magovern!

This year we'll again have some great food and wine, great music, beautiful art and even BETTER raffle prizes! This year the proceeds will go towards my fundraising for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. So put October 14th down on your calendar and save the date. I'll post more information about the event (and the great raffle prizes we're getting) as the date gets closer!!