I did it!

As you can see I finished my race with a slaphappy grin! If you want to watch videos as if you were running with me visit my youtube page: http://www.youtube.com/lookjoyruns

I want to thank everyone for their support! For those of you who couldn't make it I wrote their names on my legs, so they could be there with me every step of the way!

Im 71% of the way to raising my $2,200 minimum and I just need that extra push to the finish line! Whew! The fundraising has been more difficult than the run...that was the easy part!

I guess I'm addicted to running now & since i <3 my TnT familia I have signed up to be a mentor/co-web captain for next season. Yup thats right folks! I'm running the LA Marathon in March then who knows...maybe a tri in the future!

Check out more photos here:

Packet Pickup & Inspiration Dinner

Grand Californian Hotel TNT Disney 1/2 marathon weekend!

2010 Disneyland Half Marathon

It feels like the time flew by!

This photo is an excerpt from Lillie Hitchcock Coit's journal, the benefactor of the Coit tower, when I visited San Francisco earlier in the year.

"That life is like a roll of toilet paper. The closer it gets to the end, the faster it goes." -Andy Rooney

I've been thinking a lot lately about getting older and I realize that this is my excerpt that can be passed on to future generations. I know that I am the worst at remembering moments and times and places and people. This is my time to capture this moment in my life so that I don't forget.

I have met amazing people, challenged myself physically and mentally. Stressed myself out on fundraising and freelancing for a donation. I am actually tremendously proud of how far I have come in my training and in collecting donations! Yes it was not easy...but I have come so far that there is no turning back now! I think i have been bitten by the running bug & am definitely interested in going back & training with the team for the LA marathon as either a web captain or a mentor!

It has been an amazing journey and I have found a new purpose in life that I enjoy!

Its one week until the race and I am super excited...so I shall eat my carbs, drink my 1 gallon of water a day, and actually get more hours of sleep than you can count on one hand this week!

The next time I shall be posting will be after I cross that lovely finish line!

Working hard....

 This is me pushing myself across the finish line for the Keep LA Running 10k...I look like I could take someone out! Good news is that I got my Personal Record (PR) for a 10k!

Last weekend was tough! Here's how it all went:

Saturday morning we had an 8-mile run in Griffith. Silly me loses track of time on Friday night and goes to bed late. So I start the day with 2 hours of sleep. I then mess things up by eating 4 eggs with rice & veggies 30 minutes before practice...BAD IDEA! It was my first time running 8 miles and it wasn't a very friendly course. It was sprinkled with lovely hills and switchbacks that I was not accustomed to! OI! So there I am with an upset stomach & not enough sleep running 8 miles for the very first time! This practice was also different from others because we met up with the other greater LA TNT teams, so there were many new faces to see. I managed to pull through the run, but it was the worst I had ever felt running! Even worse than the week before when I had ZERO hours of quality sleep! We had a BBQ afterward and got to hang out with other TNTees. I was so tired that I only had fruit & couldnt stomach a full meal; my stomach still hated me.

Sunday morning Betty, Oliver & I competed in the Keep LA Running 10k in Dockweiler Beach. So we had no recovery time and just ran 14 miles in one weekend! The race was fun & the weather was so forgiving! It was very overcast with a nice sprinkle. So one of my water belt bottles drops into the sand....with some getting stuck in the cap, so I figure that I don't need it...BAD IDEA! Mile 3 comes up and I slow down at the water stop & realize that I have to come to a complete stop to be able to drink the whole cup of water! I was thinking that I could have saved more time taking drinks here & there from my belt as well as some much needed bursts of energy from a gel or block. I actually was hoping to finish under an hour, but was still pleased that I did better than last time!

Here's a shot with Oliver & I around mile 2ish....

"Scary Spice" Mel B. was there too...Reality TV show cameras and all! So I decided to keep up with the camera crew & use them as my pacer...and right after mile 2 is done they pretty much come to a halt and have to wait for her & her daughter to walk. :) I finished before Scary Spice...hehe!

I think I was more scared about this past Saturday than any other practice we've had! We ran in Porter Ranch in almost 100 degree weather. And because of the bad practice I had at Griffith I was kind of terrified of another bad 8 miles. But I made it through! We ran our 6/1 intervals (6 minutes running/1 minute walking) all the way up a very gradual hill with the sun in our faces...we then switched it down to 2/1 because the heat gradually increased as we got higher & higher in elevation. I actually was feeling pretty good despite the heat & realized that my hydration belt was almost empty which was also good because I didn't want to pass out from dehydration! We made it to the designated water stop around mile 6 and I refueled with a "GU" a magical gelatinous substance filled with stuff your body needs to re-energize....it was gross. I'll stick to my shot blox and jelly beans thank you! The last two miles were glorious (going downhill is my favorite part, its like i can put my body on cruise control)
a good downhill followed by flat terrain. All in all I could have probably ran another two miles with the full marathon group, but I was so happy that I didn't pass out that I just wanted to enjoy that accomplishment!

Next week I'll push myself to run double-digits :)

This year has definitely been a challenge...

For the last major holidays...Christmas, New Year's, Memorial and now Independence Day I have had a loved one in the hospital and for this coming holiday I will have the two loved ones in the hospital. Geez, I'm starting to NOT look forward to them! These past few months have not been easy on me.

My heart goes out to anyone right now that feels helpless knowing that a loved one is in pain and not being able to ease it.  

This is why I run.
I run because I hate when I get this feeling and I don't wish it upon anyone else. If me fundraising and training will prevent this feeling for even a moment then I have accomplished what I have set out to do.

Last week I was feeling down because of a lot of things and because I hadn't seen any progress on my fundraising. I had been telling people around me that I was training, but didn't put as much stress on the donation part. So I decided to do something about it-I bought a box of See's Lollypops to sell at my desk for a suggested donation of $2. My desk at a prime location with a lot of foot traffic. A co-worker eyes the box of golden lollypops and immediately goes back to her desk for her money. With the lollypop mission accomplished she asks what I'm raising money for and I say the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. She asks if she can give me a hug and explains that her cousin had passed away from Leukemia a few years back.   
This is why I run.

I have two sisters that have been diagnosed with Lupus before the age of 40.
This is why I run. 
I want to run countless marathons before the age of 40. Maybe even learn how to ride a bike & swim then compete in a triathlon.

I don't want Leukemia to cause the most deaths than any other cancer to children under the age of 20.
This is why I run.

I run because I appreciate life and what it has to offer.
I fundraise because I believe in something greater than myself.


 

The Proof is in the Puddin'!

It says "PROOF" because they knew that you would doubt my running ability!

Or maybe because I am too cheap to pay money for something that I can pull off the internet with a lovely watermark on it. This photo was taken of me nearing the finish line of my first 10k.....here is another shot of my finishing time:

Trust me if you would have told me in March that I would be training to run a half-marathon I would have laughed at you, not because I doubted that I could do it, just at the fact that I was crazy enough to imagine myself finishing!

After running my 5k on March 20th, 2010 without training I was amazed to hear that our race was a "warm-up" for the marathon...chump change for the big guys. I was outta shape, outta breath, and on the verge of passing out at the 3.1 mile finish line. The best thing about the race was thinking that I could start my sprint at the top of the Doyer's Stadium parking lot with a quarter mile more to go. I guess I just got pumped when I saw the crowd starting to cheer, but didn't know what my body could handle. Well I found out the hard way when I got a cramp halfway down the cheering crowds. They were cheering me on as I had to do the side cramp walk of shame to get to the finish line & force myself to jog across it with what little dignity that I had at that point. The world continued to spin as I finished and I was so exhausted I didn't know what I was doing or where to get my medal!

So my next logical challenge would be a 10k...at this point of the year I was launched fully into my work's Flab Off competition, so I figured I could use races as my motivation to keep running. Well it didn't work as well as I'd hoped and I hadn't run consistently for weeks, but still did my other forms of training on the machines at the gym & at my weekly pole dancing classes. So I made a promise to myself that if I could run a 10k with no training at griffith park that I would sign up for the race. So I did and I clocked in at 1 hour & 20 minutes, so I signed up for the race that week! My goal was to beat my first ever 10k time. So I ran it and I felt great...being 10 lbs lighter from the 5k also helped! I finished and completed my goal of getting a better PR! 

To think, that was just 4 months ago and I just jogged 4.5 miles yesterday with Betty with no problem and just for the fun of it!

So here I am now.

Gearing up for Saturday's 6 mile workout....even though im bummed that I can't run 8 miles with the 26.2 crowd! So I feel like a real runner now: I have fancy pants shoes, a refreshing water belt & the correct gear to run in.

The funny thing is that the most stressful part of this whole thing is that I have a big-ole zero for my fundraising! I would be less stressed running 26.2 than this whole fundraising bit! We'll see how the See's candy lollipops sell tomorrow at work! As well as the Baja Fresh day!

Again with the crazy ridiculous times to Blog...its 4:36am & I should be sleeping.

Adieu for now!

:) joy

The Rundown

Well hello there!

Welcome if this is your first time here :)

So here's a quick & dirty breakdown of whats going on in my neck of the woods:

• My dad is still in the hospital
• Suffered from a stroke a few weeks ago
• Has been transferred to another hospital
• I'll be driving up to Vegas after practice, then coming back to LA on Sunday
• I bought my hydration belt 
• It makes me feel like a superhero
• I will run with it for the first time tomorrow
• Im intrigued by the "goo" bottles
• I bought new shoes 
• Woohoo! 
• A Runner's Circle is amazing
• All New Balance Shoes are 20% off until 6.15.10
• Can't wait to buy more goodies from there!
• I'll see tomorrow if my ankles still hurt after the run
• I made TnT business cards :)
• Why? Because I figured that it would be a better presentation to have a business card with your name & donation website on there when talking to potential donors
• Also because I have the resources to do so
• I will having my first fundraiser!
• Making TnT business cards for my teammates!
• I'm asking for a $10 donation for 50 personalized cards
• There are 2 designs to choose from
• I can take the long web address for your donation page and condense it to be more memorable
• I can also take personalized orders & greater quantities
• I still have an easter egg for my fundraising
• There will be a big fat zero by my name tomorrow on the sign-in sheet :(
• I'm going to have a Baja Fresh fundraiser
• I spoke to the manager at the Westlake Village location 
• He sounded excited to have one because I work within walking distance of their location and we have a lot of hungry employees
• He informed me that all I do is fill out a form and they provide a flyer & 15% of the proceeds would be mailed to the organization
• He also mentioned that if we have enough people to bring in $1,000 that they would bump up the donation to 20%
• I will plan the date so that it lands on a payday so more people from work would be willing to take a caravan across the street
• Went to both mid-week practices
• I find it difficult to make it through all the traffic in the 6 o clock hour and make it to practice on time!
• I was okay on Monday but came in at 7 on Wednesday
• My friend Betty & I did our 3/1 intervals for 40 minutes which came out to 3 miles
• It feels good to run on dirt as opposed to the cement
• Am planning more fundraisers...
• Along the lines of health & beauty....Stay tuned!

Oi! I should have slept a few hours ago! 
I'm fighting to keep my eyes open...so until next time.

Joy

"Everything will be okay in the end. So if its not okay then its not the end"

Times are a changing

My dad has been in the hospital for the past few days and I have decided that I want to cross off a marathon on my bucket list. So since I missed the Nike Women's marathon this year...I think I'll do it next year along with the LA marathon.

First things first...13.1 miles
So today we ran a 10k in Griffith Park...one of my favorite places :D
But instead of running straight through I ran it at a 7/1 interval...7 mins of running and 1 min of walking. I felt pretty good until I got a cramp & slowed my pace down. When I got back to our water stop I had a packet of salt with a few shots of water & was back on the trail.

My goal for next week is to contact a family that has been affected by Lukemia or Lymphoma who will inspire me to run before I start running those double digit miles. I'm interested in their story. I will keep you posted and write about them in a post.

I also wanted to start hitting that fundraising hard this week so keep a lookout on what interesting things I can pull out of my bag of tricks!

Check out the hydration belt i got today...Its my power pack!

:D

ps- Im going to buy a domain name today so I can link this blog/fundraising page/twitter/facebook all in one... I'm taking my fundraising to the web and see what I can catch!

Square One

Well hello there folks in the tangled web of worldwide-ness!
I'm starting this blog to document my experience in training for the Disney half-marathon in September.

I am by no means a marathon runner...I have ran a 5k in March and a 10k last Sunday, but did not train for either of them. It just means that I'm good at not stopping!
Okay so I might have dabbled in cross-country in high school, but that was 40 pounds and over 10 years ago.

Earlier this year I had a weight-loss competition at work we called the "Flab-Off" which had jump started my healthy lifestyle with eating right & exercising. So I would say that I workout at least 5 times a week for at least an hour. That competition has ended so I guess I wanted another motivator.

When I ran my first 5k I thought I was going to pass out(and almost did), but was amazed that I could do it after a long hiatus from running. The run was a "warm-up" for the LA Marathon and I remember telling my friend that I would cheer him on at next year's event. After I ran my 10k without stopping I began to rethink that offer of cheering him on and switching it to meeting him at the finish line! I would have never thought of actually running a half or full marathon, but now feel like I can accomplish anything I put my mind to.

So its 3am and I should be sleeping, but I'm nervous and excited about tomorrow's first practice. I know it will be start of something great!

My biggest concern about all of this is the fundraising. I've never really had to as a child...I kinda left that up to my parents, so this whole experience will be new to me! In order for TNT to cover your entry fee & hotel, I have to raise $2200. This seems like a very daunting number...but I look at it as a part of the training. I wouldn't want to put in all those hours of hard work just to come up short of the requirements. This race is also a challenge because you have to keep a 16 min pace or they will pick you up and transport you to the finish line...that would be horrible if you trained for the race & just pooped out and didnt make it across the finish line in time!

I'm more tired than I thought I was....so until next post...
Run inspired!