aaah... taper time!

last saturday was our 20 mile run day.

i would love to have started this post with "i ran 20 miles last saturday"... but i'd be lying.

i tried to run 20 miles last saturday... and the first 16.5 miles of it were GREAT!

chilly... but great.

then i took a step and felt a twinge, and then more than a twinge... and suddenly i was limping my way on to the 17 mile marker, where we had a water stop and people who could drive me back to the parking lot where we started.

i believe i'll pulled something in my groin. after a couple days of rest, it is already feeling better.

really, i only feel it when i'm climbing stairs, or trying to lift that one leg up into bed.

i'm going to be fine by next weekend.

because i said so.

less than a month now until race day!!!

embracing the suck...

National Marathon was two days ago... and what a wonderful morning for a marathon. Chilly to start, but gloriously warm and sunny to finish. Almost too hot, really.... What a shocker, in a season that had us running in snow, not being able to run because of snow, running in pouring rain the week before... and now an unseasonably hot day!

It was great to get out and run through parts of DC that I have never seen before, and certainly never run before. Because I'm still in training for the full marathon, and because I am scheduled to run 20 miles this coming Saturday... I approached the National Half Marathon as just another training run. But with 12,000 friends and a medal.

So, I didn't push too hard. Didn't set any land speed records. Didn't even set any personal records. But I had a good run and thoroughly enjoyed myself. The TNT staff, coaches and volunteers were outstanding as usual, which really made the race a great experience for everyone.

And now, I shall focus on a little more fundraising and one more month of training to get ready for Nashville Country Music Marathon. Woot!!

As always, thanks so much for your support.

first blisters of the season...

so yesterday was a long one.... 18 miles in the pouring rain. and i mean POURING rain!

when we finally reached the end and i took my wet clothes off i had to wring them out before putting them in the truck... and even then, they still created puddles on the floor during the drive home.

my running shoes are still seriously wet... had to break out an old pair for my 30 min run this morning. and my feet are still pretty tender.... running in wet shoes set the stage for the first blisters of the season :(

18 miles is the longest run of the season so far.... there's only one longer run before we hit marathon day.

next week, an easy cruiser of just 13 miles.... the National Half Marathon in Washington DC.

the next week, 20 miles... and then we start to taper in preparation for Nashville Country Music Marathon.

so exciting!!

i'm still fundraising, as i'm about $400 shy of my fundraising minimum.... and about $800 shy of my personal goal.

as always, you can click the link in the upper right hand corner if you want to help me to reach my goal.

and, as always... thanks for your support!!

fundraising update...

the problem with my fundraising website is that it can take a very long time for donations to process if they are not made to the online website itself. this is rather frustrating, as it appears that i'm not making any progress, when in fact i am.

i have to remind myself of that regularly when i look at my funds raised and it never seems to go up.

the Dinner Done fundraiser was post-poned due to snow... happened just a couple of days ago, in fact. it was an absolute hoot (thanks ladies!) and although i don't have confirmation yet of how much it raised, i am thinking it will be about $150.

i volunteered for two shifts at the IHOP National Pancake Day fundraiser last week as well, and that brought in about $200 per shift last year. we're still waiting on the final numbers, but they're looking good so far.

and then, my husband's company Radiant Blue Technologies has also made a very generous donation...

so i'm actually only hundreds of dollars away from reaching my goal, not thousands as it seems.

a few more fundraisers, and i'll be there!

* * * * * *

we are just a few weeks away from the National (Half) Marathon... very exciting!

we're almost 8 weeks from the Nashville Country Music Marathon. and get this... when i was talking to my mom yesterday, she let slip that she and my dad are looking into flying down from Canada for race weekend!! how great is that???