More photo links

See my official Portland Marathon photos here
And Vasily's photos here.

Pictures

An update in pictures. I'm still processing the whole experience, I'll get back to you later on that (I'm also busy watching The Office at the moment).
I do know: the marathon was AWESOME. I can't believe I've done it. I knew it was going to be hard physically, but it was a huge challenge mentally and emotionally too. Whew.

Me, Jim, and Carmel in the background. Yes I'm wearing a trashbag, getting ready to run.















Running by the tractor















Kayte and Erin going strong














Running over the bridge, and posing

















Hydration is the key to success!
















Post marathon moment. Whew!














Kayte and Erin, done!















I'll just make Vasily be my legs...










I should have more 'official' pictures from the Portland Marathon soon, so stay tuned.
I also have an assortment of pics on Flickr, and so does Erin.

I made it...

6 hours 29 minutes 41 seconds, 26.2 miles.

Photos to be posted soon...

Taper Time!

San Francisco rocks. We did 12 miles this morning. We're on taper to get ready for Portland, which is in 2 weeks!! Anyway, despite the crazy hills, San Francisco is so beautiful. We saw amazing views and really enjoyed the run. Who is this we you ask? Me and my fabulous running buddy Erin!
Random aside: When I get flushed part of my left upper arm turns really red, you can see it in this picture. Isn't that random?

Yay fundraising!

I have reached my fundraising minimum!! Thank you so much to everyone who donated or who spread the word. I'm very excited.

If any of you have more money burning holes in your pockets, perhaps you would like to donate to Jim? My fabulous boyfriend has already completed the Disneyland Half Marathon, and is now working on finishing his fundraising. (Link on the left).

FYI- Fundraising is a really big deal. The $2800 minimum isn't just a goal, it's a commitment. If we don't reach that amount, we get to donate to ourselves. Jim is just over $1000 right now. And while we are happy to donate some money...we don't have $1800 to donate! So please help.

And donating to him is just like donating to me...money goes to the same place, same good cause, and saves our joint checking account.

Thanks!!
Kayte

I've been getting deep tissue massage for my foot/ankle/leg whatever, and the pain I've had seems to be better. Last Saturday I ran/walked 17 miles. Took a really long time because I was trying to go slow and not hurt myself. But still, 17 miles!! It was hilly and trail running, so it was really dirty. How dirty you ask? Well let me show you... when I had my shoes on it just kinda made my legs look tan, but here...not so much.





I've also been through a track workout with stair climbing, and a mini-3 mile run last night.
All summer we've been trying to run late in the day or early in the morning to beat the heat, and now that it's becoming fall it's getting dark earlier! So we cut the run short so we didn't run in the dark.
This weekend I'm going to Tahoe, and hopefully I'll get some running in. We'll see what the altitude does to me. This last weekend was our longest run, now I'm tapering down to prepare for my race. A bit of a jump from 17miles to 26.2 miles, but it'll be fine :)





Aaaand, more pictures of Jim running at Disney:

Congratulations Jim!

This Monday Jim finished the Disneyland Half Marathon in 2 hours 10 minutes and 47 seconds. He is amazing!!

We had a really fun weekend in LA. Went to Medieval Times, went to Disneyland, almost died in the triple digit weather, and learned to always spend the extra $8 a day for insurance on rental cars (and to always look behind when backing up).

Here's Jim in the elevator getting ready to go run. If he looks blurry, it's because it's 4:30 in the morning - the run started at 6.



Mickey and Miney Mouse were there to start the show. There were about 14000 runners. It was suuuuper crowded.

After showering and ice-bathing, here's Jim relaxing and sporting his fancy new pin.















After seeing Jim start, and cheering him on at the 3 mile mark, I knew I had a little while before he reached the finish line, so I headed to the Disneyland Hotel gym to get a little run in on my own.

I ran about 2.5 miles, and even in that short (ha, I now think that's short!) amount of time, my foot started hurting. I called my physical therapist when I got back in town, and had an appointment today.
I really don't understand how last week I had tendonitis in my foot and was supposed to take pain killers and this week the problem is really tight muscles in my leg and foot and I need deep tissue massage. And in both cases I'm supposed to not run, and rest my foot...
This Saturday is supposed to be our last long run before the marathon - 20 miles. My physical therapist told me to go easy, see what I can do, maybe run-walk for a short distance, but not to run if it hurt.
I have two more deep tissue massage sessions next week, and I'm working on stretches and some exercises.
It's frustrating to be doing so well, and then get stuck. Crosstraining and resting...I haven't really run in 4 weeks, when I went 14 miles. I have 5 weeks until my marathon. I'm hoping I can really run it, but I'm not sure how well my body can tolerate that. But luckily the Portland Marathon is pretty walker friendly. So I'm getting across that finish line somehow!

We're off!

Leaving for the airport in about 20 minutes to go down to LA. Jim is running the Disneyland Half-Marathon on Monday.
I have mini-sunscreen and mini-deoderant in a little plastic baggy.
My running shoes are coming with too so I can run on a treadmill (better than concrete) at some time on the trip.
And Micky Mouse is BECKONING ME!!

(What a random photo, I know)

Wish Jim luck, we'll be back on Monday night so we can go to work/school tomorrow.

Ankle and running update

I have had 2 weeks off from running. Due to mostly lazyness I haven't done any crosstraining in that time either. Yesterday was the San Francisco Lake Merced run. I was supposed to do 16 miles. I didn't know whether I wanted to try to run, with my ankle still bothering me. I went to the doctor last monday, and got a referral to a Sports Medicine doctor. In the mean time I got a fancy new ankle brace and the instructions to take it easy.
So by Saturday I was feeling OK, my ankle was doing better, so I decided to try a little. Jim was supposed to do 4-6 miles to prepare for Disneyland - which is next weekend!! So we did a loop of Lake Merced together. I really enjoyed it because I got to run with Jim the whole way. Usually he's Mr. Speedy, so this was the first time we'd gone together the whole way. My ankle wasn't hurting so much as the bottom of my foot, and the brace felt funny to run in. But it wasn't that bad, so I just took it nice and slow, and we did 1 loop of Lake Merced - 4.5 miles.
When we were done I was a little frustrated, I was supposed to go 16 miles, and I only went 4.5, and my ankle was really stiff.
Then I realized - I haven't done anything for 2 weeks, I have an injury, and I can still whip out 4.5 miles without much of a problem. 3 months ago 4.5 miles and I'd be dead. Yesterday I was running and chatting with Jim. So really, I think I'm doing ok.
Going to the Sports Med. doctor tomorrow, hopefully I'll be able to get this ankle back in shape and get right back on track.
Jim's run is next Monday (Labor Day) so we're going down to LA on Saturday. Jim is going to be awesome! I'm so excited for him.

Here are a couple of pics from Lake Merced. It's grey and overcast in SF, perfect for running. We don't actually have pics of us running, but here's us right before:
Note our sexy water belts and opposing Bay Area Baseball team hats.

Quick update

I've run 14 miles. More than half of a marathon. The run was great, we started running at 6:30am, and were done at about 10. Stretched, came home, took an ice bath, and relaxed for the rest of the day.
The next day my ankle started to hurt (this was last Sunday). I tried to ice it and stretch it, but I had a lot to do, so I kept moving...
My ankle has kept hurting all week, so I haven't run since last Saturday. A whole week off seems nice, but it's frustrating when my body won't do what I want it to. Still icing and stretching and resting. Yeah, it's a bit worrisome...
Monday I'm going to the doctor. I'm guessing they won't be able to tell me much other than - it's not broken, if it hurts, don't run on it. But we'll see.

Think good thoughts for me, I only have 2 months left, I might be hobbling that 26 miles, but I'm doing it.....

Realization of the day

If these legs can run 12 miles and I can't find a pair of pants that fit right, that's the fault of the pants, cause there ain't nothing wrong with my legs!

I am amazing

I am really really amazed at myself today. I ran 12 miles... Our run today was the Stanford Dish - which is suuuuuuuper hilly, and then around Portola valley, which was much flatter.
The dish (hilly) section was about 6 miles, and Erin and I only walked up a few of the nastier hills and down a few of the nastier hills. Because really, running up huge hills you feel like you're running in place, we seriously walked faster. And I know this because usually one of us would start walking and start beating the other person. Once that was done we had 6 miles of reasonably flat reasonably shady terrain. We'd stretched at aid station, and said, OK, we can do this. And we went for it.
We did the last 6 miles with no walking!!! I've never run 6 miles without doing the run-walk thing, and to do that immediately after 6 miles of mostly running on crazy hills?
I am so impressed with myself. And with Erin, the greatest running buddy ever.

Go team! Wooooooo!!

This week

This was an intense week running wise. I couldn't do my normal crosstraining at lunch time Monday or Wednesday, so I ended up just running. This is what my week looked like:
Monday: Ran 3.5ish miles around town
Tuesday: Track practice
Wednesday: Ran 3.5ish miles around town
Thursday: Ran 4ish miles around town
Friday: Yoga/Pilates class
Saturday: Rest day...spent the whole day reading Harry Potter 7
Sunday: Ran 4.6 miles (after I finished reading Harry Potter)

My run today was awesome. I was dreading it, but it turned out really really good. I just ran straight down Cowper for 2.3 miles and turned around and ran back. It took me just over an hour, and the most exciting thing - I RAN THE WHOLE WAY. No run-walking, no resting, I just went for it. I ran pretty damn slow, but I didn't have to stop and walk, and I'm not even dead! I've never gone that far before, it's one of those signs that really shows me how much I'm growing. The first week that we went 4 miles I was at my limit, and now I can just go do it.

The marathon is still a little daunting, but if I keep improving like this, it's going to be awesome :)

And we're into double digits!

Today our regional run was in Woodside. It was trail running, which means lots of hills and prickly plants trying to poke at me from next to the trail. Rough terrain, narrow pathways, heat and hills make running a lot more diffiicult. I went for 10 miles.
The first 6 were really good, then the 7th I started getting really tired, I was getting cramps and my stomach was hurting. The 8th - 10th mile I walked almost the entire way, cause I was just miserable every time I tried. Yuck, I just felt gross.
But I still made it 10 miles! And even though I pooped out and had to walk a lot, I feel like I learned a lot about how my body works. Much more liquid the day before and the morning of, more whole grains, fiber, and eat eariler in the morning before running...which means waking up even earlier.
Came home and filled the bathtub with cold water, put in a couple of trays of ice, and sat. Then showered, napped, and went about my day.

Running on my own

Last night I ran 5.4 miles. I know I've run farther than this, but this was the first time I did it on my own. It's alot different to wake up at 6:30 in the morning, go meet 100 teammates, have aid stations, and the trail marked.
I went to Lake Lagunita on Stanford Campus...which is really just a big hole in the ground, I can't imagine when it last had water in it, although it still has signs that say "No lifeguard on duty" and "boating at your own risk."
I used my new $6 Target watch to time myself, so I ran the whole way doing 5 minutes running with 2 minutes recovery. It kept me pretty steady the whole time, it was great.

I also used my new fannypack water bottle holder thingy, which was really wierd. And I ate Jelly Belly Sports Beans, which were tasty.

I think this running thing is becoming a habbit......

In the water

OK, I found a (blurry) picture of us in the water in Half Moon Bay. Good times!

This is us before our track workout on Tuesday night. Fresh back from vacation in Telluride, Jim and I are ready to train!!













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And this is us when we got home. Track workout was brutal this week. We started doing "dynamic drills" which are basically different drills that are done while moving. We did lunges, and grapevines, and skipping, and different funny ways of running on the straight parts of the track and then we "recovered" on the turns. Running isn't my idea of recovery, but we did it. And let me tell you, if you ever want to feel completely detached from your legs, try doing 40 really deep slow lunges, and go straight in to running. I really just couldn't pick my legs up, it was ridiculous. But I still made it :)






My goal for our next long run is to bring my camera with me, because I really wish I could show all you out there in internet land what I did this morning. Here's a picture I stole from the internet so that you can at least get an idea...

Woke up at 6:20 am today, a Saturday, and headed out. Even the drive to Half Moon Bay is beautiful. I've never been there before today, but I really want to go back and see more of it.
Anyway, so we get there, and it's really chilly and overcast. Park the car, warmup a little, stretch and then we're off! Erin and I ran together again, and we were going to go 8 miles. Well, I was going to see how it went, but we started with the 8 mile group. I think it's one of those mental things, I just convince myself to start running, and that I can turn around at any time.
The first bit was pretty cruddy. I was tired and stiff, and it was chilly. Probably about mile 2 I got in a pretty good groove and started to feel better.
The path we went on followed the ocean, and was stunning. There were lots of trees and other naturey bits too. There were horse tours too, so we passed the people on horses and picked out which ones were the prettiest (the horses, not the people). By the time we got to the 6 mile turnaround point I was feeling pretty good, and Erin and I ran right passed it! We got to the 8 mile turnaround and were grateful for aid station #2, which was stocked with Gatorade, gummy worms, and peanut butter M&Ms. Once we were there we were 4 miles away from where we started, so we had to run 8 miles, cause we had to get back to the car! On the run back, Erin and I had some eating adventures. I attempted to drink water out of a cup while running, and got the whole thing ended up on the front of myself. Erin was carrying a cup of gummy bears and at she accidentally dropped it, and then my next step I smashed them and we both screamed in shock. A nearby mentor turned to ask us if we were OK, but we were both so giggly and amused, we shouted "we dropped our gummy worms" So maybe you had to be there, but it was really quite funny at the time!
The whole run was overcast, and the sun never showed, so we managed to stay cool the whole time, which was great. It was weird feeling so warm internally, but having it still be cool outside.
I think I'm going to have to invest in one of the little running belt things that will hold my water and snacks (and camera) for next time, it'll be better to be able to sip liquid constantly, then just the aid stations.

So we FINALLY made it back and stretched while our muscles yelled at us. One of the coaches advised us to get in the water, so we went to the car and got long sleeve shirts and different shoes, and then waded into the water up to our thighs. Well, we got our butts wet too, but we intended only to get our legs :) The water was freezing! But that's supposed to be really good for muscles after a long run, and I wanted to treat by legs well, so we stood and chatted with teammates in the water. We watched seaweed attack one of the other girls and her freak out. The water was pretty murky and gross.
To give perspective on the temperature, everyone who wasn't running was generally wearing jeans and long sleeve shirts or light sweaters. And the water, well it's the Pacific, it's never warm! But my legs went a little numb and it was all good.

Drove home and ate a crepe from the farmer's market. Took a nap, ate some more, watched TV, and tried not to do anything that involved bending down, because my legs are not interested in doing that right now!

But I feel really good. I'm really impressed with my body and with myself. I mean, I've never been a runner, never really ran, and in about a month I'm going 8 miles. Wow...

Shopping, Talking & Running

Shopping:
Tuesday after our track workout we went to MetroSport in Palo Alto to learn about Gear. I got fitted for for shoes, and bought me a new fancy pair of running shoes. Jim actually got the same shoe in the men's version. I also got some clothes so I can look good and feel good while I'm out there. Everything I had was cotton, which holds in moisture, so now I have some nice teknit sort of stuff that is good for running. It's good to have the right tools. I need to get some more stuff, since we're working out all the time, but I have enough for a good start.

Talking:
I drove my friend Arthur to the airport on Friday night and we were talking about Team in Training. His father passed away from a really agressive form of Leukemia just over a year ago. I remember his Dad from high school, and I lived with the Ulfeldt's for a summer after we graduated. Both of our parents moved up north after we were in college, and we both ended up at UC Santa Cruz. I remember making eggnog on New Years eve with Arthur and his Dad in Pollock pines and visiting when we'd be home from school. Stan (Arthur's Dad) fell sick really suddenly, and at the time I just remember being really worried about him, and about the entire family. But I didn't know anything about the diagnosis, just that it was very serious.

When I started Team in Training, everyone kept saying how you'd be surprised how many people you know out there have a personal connection to blood cancers. I didn't really think that much of it. But Friday I realized how close to home this really is. Stan was an amazing man, he was so happy and non-judgemental, and so smart. He was one of those people that seemed to know a little bit about everything, actually a lot about everything. He took care of his sick wife and raised 3 kids, and always had some amazing (and often crazy) project going on. He was really amazing.
I asked Arthur if I could run in his Dad's honor, and he said that I could. I'm really excited to be able to dedicate my marathon to Stan, and to the Ulfeldt's.

With all of the progress that has been made fighting Leukemia & Lymphoma, and cancer treatment in general...there is still a very long way to go.

Running: On a happier note, today we had a regional run at Palo Alto Baylands. Erin and I ran together again, which was great. She inspired me to push myself past what I thought I could do. We ran 6 miles this morning. SIX MILES! We paced ourselves by alternated running and walking. It worked really well, and we were able to keep a pretty constant pace the whole time. And we ran in the whole last 1/2 or 3/4 of a mile. I really wanted to walk, but Erin told me I could do it, so I kept going. Stretching felt sooooo goooood when we got back. My shoes feel a little funny, and I'm not sure if I just need to get used to them, or if they don't fit quite right. I'm going to go back to MetroSport and see what they say. That's for tomorrow...today is for watching CSI and playing board games.

4 miles

Yesterday was our first regional run, we ran at a really pretty park in Mountain View. I challenged myself and did the 4 mile course. Yup, I woke up at 7:15am to run 4 miles. I met one of my teammates named Erin, and we ran the course together. She's really cool, and it was a lot of fun to have someone to run with.
Jim zoomed ahead and ran the whole course without stopping. Go Jim! I was just excited to finish without dying. I was doing a run-walk :)
Anyway, it was a very exciting day.
Today is a rest day, which is good because it's Jim's 26th birthday, and his family is coming in to town. Happy Birthday Jim!

2 workouts down, how many to go?

Tuesday was the first workout, and it wasn't so bad. I was actually impressed with my body, it did a good job of doing what I wanted it to.
The idea of a half mile 'warmup' was daunting, but not too bad. Did some stretches, ran another halfmile. Did a bunch of planks, push ups, sit ups, and other stationery excerices. Then finished up with another half mile. My running was a combination of running & walking, but that's okay. I feel like as long as I can convince my body to keep moving forward I'm still getting closer to the goal.

Today was the OYO (on your own) run, 2-4 miles. Jim and I went to Stanford track and worked it. We did a half mile warmup, which I ran the whole way, then did some stretches and went into the rest of our laps. I was pretty beat by the end, my ratio of running to walking changed quite a bit, but I finished.

I'm still excited, and Jim is being really great at keeping my energy up, I'm glad we're doing this together.

Exercising at work.

The first team track workout is tomorrow night, so today I decided that it was time to aquaint myself with the office workout room. I work in an office building across from the Palo Alto VA that Stanford rents out. It used to be lawyer's offices, so the offices are huge, and it's really fancy. Downstairs is a workout room. It has a stationary bike, eliptical machine, stair climber and treadmill. So on my lunch hour I headed down and spent 40 minutes riding a bicycle in place and listening to my ipod. It was actually pretty cool because no one else came in the whole time, so I sung out loud, and danced around while cycling.
So now I'm aquainted with the workout room. I have a feeling that by the end of the summer I'll be good buddies with those machines. And if I hope to be friends with the actual people in my office I'll start to get acquainted with the shower at work, too. :)

Welcome to my first blog post! Yesterday was the kickoff party for Team in Training, and I'm really excited to get started. I've decided to to run the Portland Marathon, October 7th. Jim has also decided to join in the fun this summer, and is running the Disneyland Half-Marathon, September 3rd.

Team in Training is a really amazing organization, they are super organized, and everyone I've met is so excited and inspiring. At the kickoff meeting I met my Mentor, and was introduced to all of the Coaches, Captains, Honoree's and Staff. It was a little overwhelming, there are a lot of people... but it was good.

I really wanted to do something different this summer, something totally out of my box. I've heard about Team and Training from several people, and everyone has such positive things to say about it. Sarah, a friend from high school, blogged about her experience with Team in Training, and it was really inspiring to hear about her journey. So I guess I'm ready... my fundraising site is set up, now my blog is set up. I have a calendar for the first two months of workouts, and the first track workout is on Tuesday. I guess we'll see how this running thing goes!


I think this was the last time I ran, chasing birdies on the beach in Mexico....