I SURVIVED MY FIRST MARATHON!!

First of all THANK YOU to everyone who supported me along the way to achieve this goal!! I wouldn't have been able to make it though without the emotional support throughout the training process, the generous donors who helped me raise money for such a great cause, and the amazing coaches I had along the way. All of you helped me out so much and I am so thankful for that!!

And now onto the top FIVE things I learned during race weekend:

1. Always pack your bag the night before and double check that you have everything!

For race weekend my parents flew down to provide additional support for my first marathon! I had to work later than expect that day so I decided to just meet them down at the hotel right away and I'd go back to the apartment later that evening to pack my bag for the weekend. After walking down to the expo to get our stuff we decided to come back and take a quick nap and by the time that was over we forgot an important detail of Atlanta TRAFFIC - especially on the day when the President decided to come to town. After trying to coordinate with Adam on how we'd get him downtown, we decided he'd pack my weekend back and if he forgot anything I'd go back sometime on Saturday. I went through all of the things I could possibly need and thought I had it all. Unfortunately on race morning I forgot one important element...DEODORANT. I went into a panic at 5:30 in the morning and couldn't imagine what I was suppose to do?! I went with the only option I had...use Adam's. It didn't have a pretty smell to it but hopefully it would do the job. At this point I realized how important this rule is!  

5:45 AM and nervous for the race

2. Enjoy the course and the people around you

Prior to the start of the race the TNT Publix team met up for some last minute information and to head to our corrals together. It was wonderful seeing all of my TNT friends and knowing that all of our training and fundraising came down to this day. We decided to start all together and remembered that we needed to pace ourselves especially at the beginning. Finally at 7:03AM our wave crossed the starting line and we were off. As we began the race it was amazing to see all of the crowd support and get to share this incredible moment with other people. For the group I was running with, our overall goal was to maintain a comfortable pace for the entire race. After the awe of the start of the race had worn off we got into our grove and it almost seemed like any other GTS run. We started talking about our daily lives, what was next, and interesting things we saw along the way. Next thing you know we were passing the half/full marathon split a little after mile six and it seemed like no time had passed. We were consistently averaging 10:45 a mile and it was like clockwork. We truly had settled into our routine and it made the time go by quickly!

Me and a few of my TNT running buddies

3. Listen to your body

As I passed the halfway point I was feeling great! While I was trailing back a bit from my initial starting group, I had my iPod in and had really gotten into a rhythm. I figured I'd be on track for a 4:30 marathon. My husband met me around this point and he too was surprised how quickly I had reached mile 13. I continued along the course and honestly just ran along with no problem and enjoying running and the sites around me. Unfortunately that feeling began to change around mile 19. At this point the pain in my hip and knee started to increase and I had hoped it wasn't going to give out on me now. I finally decided I had run the entire thing up until this point and could use a short walking break to give my IT band a moment to regather itself and then start up again. Unfortunately this was the beginning of the end. From that point on it was run/walk and the pain continued to grow (as did the number of hills). By the time I reached Piedmont Park (mile 21) I was holding back tears and limping. I called my husband and he finally met me at mile 22 and I could hardly walk. While there were hints of dropping out of the race in our conversation, I was determined to make it to the finish line! I realized I could no longer run without causing more injury to my leg but I was going to get my medal and make it to the end. It was so frustrating knowing how well I was pacing and how much training I had put into this event but at the end of the day I knew I had to really listen to my body and its injury.

My never ending battle....

4. Smile and be proud of yourself

While I was forced to walk to the finish line, the encouragement and support I received from spectators and TNT members/coaches/supporters was incredible! I'm not quite sure why, but all of the photographers decided to appear AFTER mile 23, you know the point where I was limping and fighting tears. If you go to marathonfoto.com and look at my pictures from the race (Bib 2741) you would think I was just taking a leisurely stroll with a smile on my face but I do promise you I was in a lot of pain; I wasn't going to let that show on the camera :) I realize I had so much to be proud of! I had raised over $1000 to help find cures and better treatments for leukemia and lymphoma. While I was in a lot of pain, it was only temporary in comparison to what those with cancer go through everyday. These individuals are the real heroes who helped to inspire me to make it to the finish line with a smile on my face knowing I was racing towards a cure!

Mile 24 - in pain but still smiling

5. TEAM IN TRAINING....ROCKS!

When I set out on the adventure almost five months ago I honestly wasn't sure if I would meet my fundraising goal much less make it to the finish line. I had never run more than four miles and honestly had never run continuously for more than 20 minutes. TNT changed all of this for me! Along the way I made great friends and achieved the unthinkable all while helping to raise money for a great cause! During the last mile all I could think about was my next marathon and how much I wanted to do it with TNT. And because of that I have signed up for the Bank of America Chicago Marathon in October!! 

My new fundraising link can be found here: 

Kimi's Team in Training Donation Page

I really appreciate all of those who have followed my progress along the way! Ultimately I hope to continue updating this blog during my journey to Chicago. If I can reach $500 towards my fundraising goal by the start of the next season (May 19th) I promise I will update the blog on a weekly basis starting from the first day of training until the end in Chicago. Any and all donations are appreciated even if it is only $1, collectively we can make a difference! The fall season blogs will be a little more interesting than the winter as I will be facing a whole new factor - HEAT AND HUMIDITY.

GA TNT Publix 2012

Once again thank you for all of the support and I hope to update again soon!!

Long Runs, Injuries, Vacation & Tapering

As much as I wanted to update this more often, it has once again been a month since my last post and so much has happened since then. First of all thank you Janelle & Alex for supporting my on this marathon journey and donating on my behalf!! I am 90% to my goal with 11 days until the big day and I appreciate it!!

At the end of my last blog post I had just ran 12 miles and was feeling pretty decent. The following week I continued my runs and continued to anticipate the 14 mile run on Saturday. Up until this point I hadn't missed a single run on the training schedule and was doing well and injury free. I woke up Saturday morning, enjoyed my usual routine of Peanut & Honey on Toast and proceeded to drive down to our meeting location in Buckhead. Unfortunately I got half way there and then lightning began to strike. Needless today the morning run was canceled and I proceed to drive home. I pondered running on the treadmill or waiting until later that afternoon but finally decided upon running with a few other TNT members on Sunday. 

Since this wasn't our ususal GTS run we had to be self-sufficient, bring our own water, snacks, etc. This was something new for me as I had to try out a fuel belt and bring a gel along. I decided to bring some powerbar gummies as shown below:

The run started out like any other. We paced ourselves well and just continued with the motions until we got into our groove. Things were going great for the first half of the run and then we hit Clairmont road near the VA Hospital. For those of you not from Atlanta...it's a massive and LONG hill! It was important that we slow down but honestly, it still sucked!! To make things worse we pasted right in front of my apartment complex as we hit mile 9 and I wanted nothing more than to turn in and go home. Instead we had to keep trucking it for another 5 miles with plenty more hills in between. The four of us that day (Kevin, Alan, Mary, and myself) managed to keep each other on pace and motivate one another. I ended up not needing to eat the gels and managed my energy level pretty well. Unfortunately, by the time we got back to Piedmont Park I was struggling. The arches of my feet were hurting pretty bad and it was tough to even walk. I took Sunday off and the pain continued for quite a while.

The following we I maintained my normal training routine, but for the first time I skipped one of the midweek runs as I had to finish studying for the GMATs. I had hoped skipping one midweek run wouldn't make a difference and I would be fine for the 16 mile run on Saturday. For the Saturday run I once again brought along the powerbar gummies and set out for another long run. This weeks run was at the river which is always pretty great because it's relatively flat. We were quick to learn that this statement is only true if you are doing less than 10 miles. Anything after that requires a large uphill. 

Luckily I made it up that just fine as it occurred around mile 5. At about the one hour mark I tried my first gummy and it was surprisingly really good. I continued to run with no complaint and the arches of my feet were doing well. It was all great until we hit a downhill right before our turn around point at mile 8. Out of no where I just felt my knee doing something weird and from that point on my knee was on fire for the following 8 miles. I refused to turn around as I didn't want to walk or get driven back so I suffered through it but it was MISERABLE! I was fighting tears the last 4 miles or so and really started to feel the difference between soreness and injury. I drove home and honestly never wanted to move again. The next day I was limping around with a highly inflamed IT band and finally decided a massage was necessary. I went over to Massage Envy and got a sports massage. It honestly was one of the greatest things possible! At the of the massage I could finally walk again.

I attempted to run on Tuesday prior to our flight to Europe; however I only managed about 10 minutes until pain set in again. I decided I'd take Wednesday off as we were just getting into London and would try again on Thursday. On Thursday I left from our hotel, The Regency, and took off to run around Hyde Park/Kennsington Park 

It was great to explore the park as well as the surrounding areas and I managed to run six miles with no pain. It was great running on flat land and I felt the few days I had taken off would be great. I had planned on doing my ten mile run that Saturday morning right as we got into Paris; however, Adam and I decided we wanted to explore the town instead. It was extremely cold in the city but we managed to see a lot of places to include walking up the Eiffel Tower. Not only was it cheaper to walk up, but also the line to take the elevator would have taken nearly two hours just to get on the lift up. The walk up was great and I could tell the marathon training had really helped my lungs. We walked up all 668 stairs with no problem and got to enjoy some great views of the city. The walk down on the other hand was painful on my right knee. While I had been taking time off from running, Adam and I were still managing to walk around every where we could and were easily walking six to ten miles a day. Not to mention if you know my husband you know he never takes the elevator; thus we walked up every set of stairs possible as well.

I was deteremined to stick to the schedule as much as possible so the next morning Adam and I set out to run 10 miles along the Seine River. We set out nice and early and we got some funny looks. Why you might ask?? Because it was snowing, something that only happens in the Paris city center about once every five to ten years!! It looked something like this:

The first few miles felt fine; however at about three and a half miles my IT band started hurting again! Being stubborn I stopped to stretch it out and was determined to finish the run. Adam asked if I wanted to turn around but I simply said no I would survive. That was a dumb move on my part! By the time we hit the five mile turn around I was walking and even that was painful. Walking up and down all of the stairs the day prior really had aggravated my knee and it was not in a forgiving mood. I normally take about two days off after my long runs so I proceeded to only walk the remainder of our time in Paris and I figured I'd try again once we got to Barcelona.

Barcelona was AMAZING. The town, the people, the food...it was all wonderful! I wish I could say I got in a run while we were there but honestly we were just enjoying our honeymoon and my knee simply needed a break. Maybe running in Rome would be a better idea?!

Nope!! Once again the cold front of Europe continued and I used this as a nice excuse to enjoy our honeymoon and give my knee a break. It was hurting every time I would sit down for an extended period of time and stand up, when I would go up and down the stairs, and even when I was just walking down the street. At this point I decided my knee needed time to heal and I would take off the rest of the trip and start again once we got to Colorado. Next up we headed off to Prague and enjoyed the final stop on our honeymoon. It really was a great two weeks!

Once we got back to Colorado I knew I needed to start running again but I once again took a few days off. I knew I HAD to do the ten miler that Saturday as I had basically taken two weeks off and had skipped the 18 miler. I found out Janelle was doing a 10M race in Littleton so I signed up with her. The first three miles she and I were averaging about 10min miles and I felt pretty decent. 

Then at around the four mile mark I told her just to go ahead as I was feeling exhausted thirsty and just out of shape. From that point on the rest of the miles were a struggle. Everything that could possibly hurt, DID. I really was kicking myself in the butt as I had spent nearly three months training and was struggling to do 10 miles. How was I suppose to do 20 the following weekend?!? I finished the race at 1:54 which wasn't the greatest time but seeing as though I hadn't run in quite a few days I was willing to accept it. Once we got home I iced my IT band and hoped everything would get better for the upcoming weekend. 


We arrived back in Atlanta and I was slated for a tough running week. Tuesdays run was a 5 miler and I was amazed at how nice it was to be at a lower elevation and in a warmer climate. My body was happy again! The next night was 10 miles and it was great. I figured my body had rested and was ready to go again! When Thursday's five miler came around I did the first 2.5 until my knee started to hurt and finally decided to call Adam to come pick me up as I wasn't going to risk doing the same thing that happened in Paris; I was going to run 20 miles on Saturday!


All week long I was anxious about this run. For those of you who know me well, it won't surprise you to know all of the "20 mile run" Google searches I did on how I should feel, what I should eat, and overall was I prepared?? The day before the run I proceed to eat pizza for lunch, mozzarella sticks for an afternoon snack and then spaghetti for dinner. Talk about a carb overload! I was bummed that night as it was med school "Cadaver Ball" and because of the run the next morning I could only dress up and have one drink. After the pregame I drove Adam and some of our friends to the Fox and I headed home for some sleep before the big day.

I woke up at 6:45 the next morning and got myself ready for the morning. I made sure I brought along my gummies as well as "Gu" as that is what will be along the course. We were leaving from Chastain Park to try and include some hills that would be similar to the actual marathon. We took off at 7:45am and Alan and I ran together with the mentality we were going to take it easy and try and keep the same pace of about 10 min miles the entire time. We stayed a little bit behind our usual group and maintained the pace. At around mile 7 I started to eat my first few gummies as well as took a salt packet. At the half way point I honestly was feeling great and continued to feel well through the remainder of the run. Certainly as we got into the 18+ range my legs just wanted to be done but I certainly wasn't feeling as I was after the 16 miler where I never wanted to run again. I managed to finish the 20 miler at around 3 hours and 40 minutes and for the first time felt confident that I could actually do this marathon in three weeks. The longest run was under my belt and it was finally time to taper.

On Tuesday I came home for a rather stressful two days at work and wasn't in the mood to run so Adam & I decided I'd go out on and bike while he ran. At first it was a great thing, I was going faster on the bike and he was struggling to keep up. Unfortunately that ended quickly! Needless to say the hills got the better of me as I have no idea how to use gears on a bicycle. I really need more practice riding a bike! Wednesday night was our eight miler and it was another good night out. I'm glad I went out and ran with the usual group at Park Tavern as they kept me motivated to just keep going.  I took Thursday off due to knee pains and ran 5.5 on Saturday followed by 3.5 on Sunday. Overall my knee is doing well but it is still struggling with the occasional pain. Last night I was able to run 4 miles without pain and today I did eight, but I do have to admit I walked the big hills as it was putting too much pressure on my knee. The moment it starts to hurt I am backing off of it because I have come to the realization that I do have a solid base, it's just staying healthy and resting my muscles so that I am strong on March 18th. With 11 days left I am definitely feeling a bit anxious and excited all at the same time. I really hope I have a good leg/knee like I did on my 20 miler rather than the bad day I had on the 16 miler. For those of you in Atlanta I have the race can be found here and I would certainly love to see your smiling faces cheering along the course :) 

Almost Half Way There!

After talking on the phone tonight with one of my best friends, she informed me that I don't update often enough, which promoted me to decide to update tonight (not to mention I'm avoiding studying for the GMAT).  

Running Update

Tuesday - 4 Miles

This week the weekly runs started to increase in milage a bit. For the past few months most of the weekly runs have been 3 miles, which I've established a pretty neighborhood routine for. Since this week included a 4 mile run I decided to run with someone else in Piedmont Park. It definitely helps to keep the runs enjoyable! Sarah and I debated all afternoon on if we were actually going to go out and run as it had been raining but finally we decided to just go for it and it was actually a pretty enjoyable run. It was great getting to know someone new and not having to run alone.

Wednesday - 5 Miles

The midweek runs have continued to be at Piedmont Park which is a perfect location for me to meet after work. This week we changed up our usual course and ran from Park Tavern to Piedmont then up to 26th and turned around. It was great to change the scenery and have more of a down hill on the way back! Also as we started off the run I passed my usual boot camp group, which just started back up!  Oh how I miss my workout group and can't wait to go back in March!! Kim Fleming with Keep It Moving Fitness helped me to get into pre-marathon/wedding shape and is an excellent personal trainer!

Thursday - 4 Miles

Although I've learned to enjoy running outside when it's cold, the one thing I struggle with is rain and humidity. That night I had gotten home late from work and by the time we had eaten dinner and had time to digest food it was already approaching 8:45. Normally I would have just said screw it, ate some dessert, and gone to bed; however, in this case, I realized that skipping runs would not benefit me in the long run and would probably hinder me. Up until this point I've been relatively injury free and have come back accomplishing more and more mileage so I stuck to the plan, got my lazy butt up and went to the gym. Lately gym running has been a bit of a struggle as especially since I get tired and bored. When you're on the treadmill your pace is clearly set and you know how many minutes are left to go. There's really no way of speeding up the process. The most recent app I've used on my phone is Rounds (it's more so for Power Hour), however it has played a great role in terms of my music ADD running brain. It helps me take my mind off of running as its changing the songs on my iTunes every 60 sec. While listening to music is my normal gym routine, I mixed it up by watching Revenge on Hulu. Some how the intensity of the show got me through all 4 miles in 40 min exactly. It was honestly one of the first times I had ran continuously on the treadmill without needing/wanting to stop. As always Thursday night runs end in excitement knowing that Friday is always a rest day!

Saturday - 12 MILES!!

Waking up early for a run Saturday morning has finally started to feel routine for me. I finally have gotten smart enough to set aside my clothes the night before which allows me to sleep in until the last possible minute the next morning. Since we were back at the church it was a closer drive so I didn't actually get out of bed until 7:20 for our 8:00AM meeting time. I had my usual piece of toast with peanut butter and honey and then was out the door. It was a rather chilly morning but I had hoped I had adequately dressed in my tights, underarmor, jacket, and gloves. 

Prior to our run we had a nutrition clinic. She gave us the basics of what we should be eating, how to plan out our meals, and if/when we should be eating on our long runs. My dad and I had talked about this the previous week and we decided I should probably start integrating food into my runs, especially since they're starting to be 2+ hours. Despite this advise, I didn't bringing a source of "food" (a power bar, cliff shots, gels, etc.) because no one else was doing it yet on the runs. If they weren't, I probably didn't need it either...or so I thought. 

After the nutrition clinic we warmed up, did some stretches and were finally out on the road by about 9AM. Mary and I had started off the run together at a fairly decent pace and were quickly joined by the large crowd of "fast" runners. We managed to keep on pace with them and we noticed it was great being able to run with a larger group and interact with no people. I started to realize that I was doing more listening than talking, just to keep pace, but for me that was still enjoyable. It allowed me to not think too much about the run and get to know the other runners. We ended up running with a group of about 12 people and it was nice because for some of the splits people had the ability to run faster or slower but we'd all end up back together by the time we'd reach the next water stop. For the most part I felt good about the run, up until about mile 9 or so. 

While Atlanta has many big hills to overcome while running, I've learned there is usually the reward of an equally sized downhill after each one. I had used this mentality when attempting to conquer said hill on mile 9. Apparently I was running faster than normal because one of the girls even commented "Wow look at Colorado go you're really picking up the pace for this hill". I could see the hill and knew that reward of a downhill was oh so close. Little did I know that this hill on Jett Road had it out for me. It ended up being a quick downhill (less than 0.1 of a mile) and then an entirely different hill. In total it was a 1.12 mile climb and I was struggling by the second half. For the first time since week 1, I had to stop and walk for a good minute or two to catch my breath and refocus myself. Once I took this breather I got myself going again and struggled through it. We hit a water/Gatorade stop after about half a mile and the Gatorade was just what I needed in terms of an energy level. The last 5K ultimately was a struggle as my pace decreased and it became harder and harder to keep myself going. It wasn't as if it was because I was out of shape at this point, but it was more so that my body had run out of food supply to keep gathering energy. Since it was already 10:30, I had been running for more than 90 min and I hadn't eaten in just about 3 hours. At this point I realized that for all long runs going forward bringing a bar of some sort was crucial. In the end we completed the 12 mile run with plenty of water stops along the way and had a time of 2:06.

Tonight - 3 Miles

I had set out to do a gym run today after dinner as its rather rainy and humid out. Unfortunately by the time Adam & I reached the gym, the treadmills were all taken. Normally I would have waited around, given the "I'm watching you and I know you've been on longer than 30 minutes" stare until someone got off; however, impatiently Adam decided that we were going to go running outside at 8:30PM instead. I was initially reluctant (he might even use the term whiny) as we tend to run at very different speeds and I feel as though in terms of a work he doesn't get much out of it. Needless to say it ended up being a great night out and as he put it "a lovely date night run".

Fundraising Update

On Saturday we held our team Silent Auction. The venue ended up not being the most suitable for bidding so they decided to change it to a Facebook Silent Auction. The items can be found here. Unfortunately the album wasn't created as public so people who are not friends with the coordinator cannot directly comment. With that being said if there is anything you'd like to bid on please send me a message and I will gladly do that for you. The bidding will be open until Friday at Midnight and there are some really great items! If you live out of town and end up bidding on something I can ship it out to you as well! 

While they haven't been officially added yet, it looks as though by the end of the silent auction process I will have achieved roughly $800!! At which point I will only need $200 to achieve my goal! Every little bit helps and if you can donate to this great cause I would greatly appeciate it!!

Thank you to Mike Spewak and Yolanda Davis for your donations this week!!

Running Towards Double Digits

Thank you to everyone who has donated so far through my page and through the Silent Auction!!  

Carolyn Benyshek

Jill Laverick

Kassandra Mirabal
Concourse Athletic Club
Athletic Club Northeast
Sun in My Belly
Genki Sushi
Noche
Decatur Hot Yoga & Pilates
Atlanta Hot Yoga 
Keep It Moving Fitness

I am 38% of the way towards my fundraising goal and would greatly appreciate anything you can do to help me reach the finish line!  

The power of your money

$2,000 - the cost of a patient's co-pay for a 30-day supply of a cancer drug

$1,500 - the cost of a patient's co-pay for 3 weeks of chemotherapy

$800 - the cost of a patient's 1 month co-pay of medical costs

$300 - the cost of 1 round of radiation treatment co-pays

$250 - the cost of 1 IV therapy session co-pay

$42 - the cost 1 anti-nausea pill for a person in treatment

$5 - the cost to sent an info packet to a newly diagnosed patient 

 Donate to help fight Leukemia & Lymphoma

 

Now onto the part you've been waiting for...a recap of the past three weeks of training.

Week 6              Long Run: Six Miles             Total Week Mileage: 19

Looking back on this week I don't think there were too many highlights. We ran the six mile course in 1 hour and 11 miles and it was a nice peaceful run. Some of the homes in that area of Buckhead are spectacular and definitely a great neighborhood to run through. With six weeks completed my aches and pains are surprisingly minimal. Even though my legs or various muscles may hurt at the beginning of the run, I'm quickly learning that if I just keep going they eventually disappear and I can keep on going.   

The good news is that my parents are not only coming down the weekend of the race, but also doing it with me! We signed my dad up for the marathon and my mom is going to do the half. It'll be a great family running weekend :) Now hopefully Adam won't have to work in the hospital that weekend and will be able to cheer us all on!

Week 7              Long Run: Eight Miles             Total Week Mileage: 19

As many of you, I love sleeping in; thus, getting up for Saturday morning runs is sometimes a bit of a struggle. This week was no different. We had changed locations to the river and of course I left the house at the last possible minute. By the time I arrived for the run it was already 8:15 and the group (and my usually running buddies, Leanne & Mary) had already taken off. Since we had never ran this course I figured I would run a little faster to catch the group (they were only about 5 min ahead of me). Needless to say I was running way faster than my normal pace. I quickly caught up but still hadn't find my running buddies. I kept running at this faster pace and soon enough started running with this girl Corey. We started chatting and it was nice having someone to run with. We had a great conversation and next thing you know I'm continuing at this faster pace (she later informs me she was on the XC team at Georgia Tech). We hit the 4 mile turn around and as we start heading back I see Mary & Leanne behind us, indicating that I really was running way faster than normal. Oddly enough I felt great during the run and was able to hold a conversation through most of the run. The only bit of a struggle was the final hill while trying to keep a conversation but I got through it. In the end we finished that run (including the water stops) in 1 hour and 20 minutes. Compared to the previous weeks I really increased my team and was rather proud of myself. I wasn't sure if this increased pace was something I was going to keep up with but it was a great feeling.

8-Mile Run Course

The Wednesday run was at Piedmont Park again which I thoroughly enjoyed because its much closer to the house! Since it was in-between Christmas there were only a few of us out there. Of the marathon group I was one of the only women out there so internally I felt as though I needed to keep up with the guys to make sure I didn't get left behind. Once again I ended up at a faster than normal pace but it felt great. We finished the 5 miles in 50 minutes. I started to realize maybe this "faster" pace was actually a pretty normal pace for me, I just needed to push myself a little harder.

Week 8              Long Run: Eight Miles             Total Week Mileage: 19

Saturday morning we were back out at the river for the same course as the previous week. Leanne and I ran that course and I was happy to be back at my "normal" pace and taking my time. We ran the same course in an hour and thirty minutes and for some reason I felt worse than I had the previous week. I quickly started to realize that by the end of the run I was having some aches in my legs that I hadn't been experiencing in the past few weeks. I started to question if by slowing down I was changing my strides and just needed to keep going harder. In the end I realized that I need to speed my pace up a little bit but not tremendously.

The week's runs were pretty normal. Tuesday was rather chilly so I made sure to get my three mile run in during lunch. Wednesday's five miles were at Piedmont again. We managed to run the course in roughly the same time as the previous week and I left feeling great. Thursday I added some more hills into my three mile run to give myself a little more of a challenge. Everyone keeps telling us how hilly of a course the actual marathon will be so I try and incorporate them in when I can. Luckily our neighborhood is full of them, which has made the Saturday, rather flat courses much easier.

Saturday, January 7 - Long Run: Ten Miles 

The day had finally come for double digits. I had felt confident about the two previous weeks so thought that this week shouldn't be too bad; however, psychologically the notion of TEN miles seems much more daunting than eight. 

The Team in Training group before the run. I'm the little dot, two to the left of the woman in the yellow jacket

Since we were back at the river, we were all pretty familiar with the course. This time we just had to continue out on Columns Drive for an extra mile then turn around and come back the same way. It's amazing how far we've come because I felt great through almost the entire run. During our last water stop, about a mile from the end, we took a longer than normal water break and prepared ourselves for the last hill. That extra few minutes of walking and stretching was the equivalent of taking off painful high heels after a night of dancing then putting them back on to go home...IT WAS initially PAINFUL. My legs started tensing up a bit as they had already gone nine miles and were tired. Once we hit the hill I just went full force up and was surprised how much energy I still had left. After an 1:55 of running I had completed my first double digit run and survived! 

Today I woke up and definitely felt rather sore. Our Sundays are suppose to be 3-4 miles or cross training. For the past two months I've used Sundays as an extra rest day. I'm starting to think that today I might actually follow what's on the calendar and try and get rid of the lactic acid sooner so that the recovery for this week comes faster. This weeks runs consist of four, five, and four followed by 12 miles on Saturday. The mileage is quickly growing but some how my legs keep up with the challenge and just keep going :)  I never thought I'd actually say this but I'm starting to really enjoy running.  

College Bowl Pool

 

As part of my fundraising efforts for Team In Training, I am inviting you to join my private College Bowl Pick 'em Pool called TNT Bowl Pick 'em.  The pool is being hosted on a website called officefootballpool.com.  We’ll be collecting $10 for each entry that will be broken out in the following manner:  $5 to support the Leukemia Lymphoma Society, $4 to the prize pot (1^st place gets it all), and $1.00 to cover the website cost.  It’s a worthy cause and a great way to have some fun this bowl season.  I appreciate all your support and I ask that you please help me by doing the following:

1.  Please make sure to copy and paste my name (Kimi Coy) in the pool website text box labeled "Supporting" when registering each of your entries.

       

2.  Invite as many people as you can to join the league and have them paste my name under "Supporting"!

How's It Work?

• Participants pick the winning teams from a list of all the bowl games starting on December 20th.
• The entry with the most correct picks wins.

 

PAYMENT DEADLINE AND METHOD:
Try and get all payments in by December 20th but we can wait for checks in the mail.  Payment can be made in one of the following ways:

1.  Give cash/check to a Georgia chapter Publix Full Marathon TNT member (Kimi Coy)
2.  Paypal:  https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=XVT8T9QCD9DDY
3.  Send check payable to (he's the TNT member managing the site and payments):
     Kevin O'Rourke
     808 Greenwood Ave #101
     Atlanta, GA   30306

INSTRUCTIONS FOR JOINING:
Click on the link below and you will be guided through the process for joining this pool, including registering on the website if you haven't registered before. 

Click here to join my pool: 
http://www.officefootballpool.com/pools.cfm?poolid=80110&p=2&pwd=yt4j8g

If you have any questions about the pool rules or format, please write me back.  If you have any technical problems joining my pool, please let me know or contact the website.  If the above link doesn't work and you need the Pool ID# and Pool Entry Code (a.k.a Pool Password), they are shown below:
 
Pool ID#:  80110
Pool Entry Code:  yt4j8g

Thanks for all your Support!!!

Building Base Milage: The First Month

Well I never thought the day would come where I would come back from a three mile run thinking, "Wow that was it? I felt like I was just getting warmed up" Here I am now in almost in week six of training and I am surprised with how well things have gone. I'm sure many of you thought I had already given up, but with wedding season it was hard to get everything accomplished and update everyone on my progress. Now that we are building up in mileage I hope to start updating at least once a week. 

http://pages.teamintraining.org/ga/Georgia12/runkimirun

Here's a recap of the first five weeks of training -

Week 1              Long Run: Three Miles             Total Week Mileage: 12

Going into the first GTS (Group Training Session) I had mixed emotions. I was nervous because I didn’t know what I was getting myself into, I was afraid of everyone else in the group being in much better shape than me, and yet I was excited for the challenge I was about to begin. The morning started at 8AM and the first hour of introduction was both encouraging and inspiring. We got to personally meet Megan and learn more about her struggles with cancer. It made me want to go out and single handily find a cure for cancer.

After the introduction it was time for us to head out and run three miles. I quickly found my running buddy Leanne and it was nice getting to know someone new while running. After about 1.5 I was exhausted! I finally had to stop and walk for a bit. I kept thinking how in the world am I going to do 26.2?? I continued to run walk for a bit and finally the three miles were over. While I enjoyed the company of new people I wasn't sure if I would be able to do this.

The following week it was time for two mile runs to get our bodies use to running and build a foundation. Adam was really excited for my new running adventure and wanted to go out and run with me. During that run he told me the most important marathon piece of advise to date "SLOW DOWN". I was trying to run 8:30 min/miles and would quickly tire out. I needed to find a comfortable pace where I could continue to talk the whole time and keep running the entire time. This dramatically changed my runs and made me excited for week 2.

Week 2              Long Run: Three Miles             Total Week Mileage: 8

The GTS Saturday morning run was another three mile run that I was actually excited about (well maybe I was more excited about the fact that as soon as the run was over it was time to pack and head home to Colorado). Nonetheless, I was excited for the morning and ready to go. We once again had an hour team meeting prior to running, this time it was on wearing the proper running attire and shoes. The most important thing they stressed "Cotton is Rotten". After college I figured workouts were really the only chance I'd get to wear my many DG t-shirts but I was wrong. It was off to Target for some new attire.

The Saturday run went quickly for Leanne and I. I was impressed with the slowing down method and I felt as though it was one of the first times I had ever run three continuous miles without stopping. It really was a great feeling. After that we headed out to Colorado for wedding week. While I didn't get as many runs in that week as I should have I did have two good running days. The first, my dad and I did a short one through the neighborhood. Regardless of being a Colorado native, five months at sea level really made me feel the altitude.  The second run was the Briargate YMCA Turkey Trot 5K. Both of our families and some of the wedding guests all gathered together and did the race together. It was a great experience.

Week 3              Long Run: Three Miles             Total Week Mileage: 9

Since the wedding was Friday night my long run on Saturday didn't quite happen. I had intended on getting out there at some point, but by the end of it all I was simply exhausted. I took the weekend off and started again with the normal schedule that Tuesday. I was able to work from home all week so it was great getting in lunchtime runs.

Week 4              Long Run: Four Miles             Total Week Mileage: 14
Saturday it was back to GTS and once again I was nervous about the mileage increase. I'm fairly certain it's how I'm going to be feeling from here on out as each week is a mileage increase and some Saturdays its a two mile increase. We started off the session with an injury clinic. After that Leanne and I head out to add this one additional mile. We talked about our holiday season and before you knew it the run quickly ended and the four miles felt like nothing.

This week I went back to work and had to figure out when I'd get runs in. I didn't mind running at night but for some odd reason, Adam wasn't a huge fan of the idea of me running by myself at night. It was also rather rainy out so I opted for the treadmill (which use to be my favorite). The three weekday runs were miserable. I quickly realized how much I had gotten use to running outside and felt so limited by the treadmill. More than anything it became a mental challenge. While running outside I was able to forget about the time and not really think about too much. This wasn't the case and I think my style of running changed some which resulted in my ankle and hip hurting quite a bit. 

Week 5              Long Run: Five Miles             Total Week Mileage: 16

When I showed up last Saturday I had the expectation that we'd be running five miles. The coaches had forgotten to print the five mile maps and instead had printed the six mile course. They had us convinced that the six mile course was shorter than advertised and was actually more like five. Leanne, one additional runner Mary, and I set out to accomplish five/six. I was afraid my body was going to struggle, especially after the treadmill week I had had but I was able to run without any pain. We started talking and an hour and six minutes later we had completed 5.85 miles (I'm calling it six because we also had the .15 warm up run). I couldn't believe it!! I had done six miles and by the end I felt I could even do more! Next Saturday is the same course and it felt great to know how much progress I had made.

With the wedding done and base mileage under my belt it's finally time to start the fundraising portion.  Last week we were informed that Megan was having to go back into the hospital as there are indications she may not be in remission anymore. While I may struggle though each of these runs its nothing in comparison to what she is going through, especially during the holiday season. I hope to continue to raise money so that there will one day be a cure!

To make a donation visit my website: 

http://pages.teamintraining.org/ga/Georgia12/runkimirun

What Have I Gotten Myself Into...

It all began three or so years ago when I made a promise to Adam Micheal that before we got married and after each kid I'd run a marathon....I had forgotten about this said promise until two hours after the proposal when Adam quickly reminded me what I had ahead of me. He wanted something that he could cheer me on and be the spectator rather than the participant. I agreed I would uphold my promise and marathon training began. My parents had run multiple marathons, how hard could 26.2 miles really be?! 


Well the first round of training began back in January and I was magically going to transform from the girl that absolutely hated running to a marathon runner in less than 8 weeks...well life got busy and my training days decreased. I thought it would be a great idea to just increase my mileage when I did get a run in. After three weeks of "training" I had increased to running 40 miles in a week, all on the treadmill. I came down to visit Adam for Valentine's Day and decided to take an easy five mile run in Piedmont Park and enjoy the outdoors. This quickly was a FAILURE. My legs were no where ready for hills, especially after the poor training I had been doing. Within a week my IT band had completely tensed up and I could hardly even walk. I took two weeks off...which eventually turned into five months. 

I had all but given up on the idea of running a marathon until four days ago. Adam had sent me a tweet about a Team in Training event and I decided to research it a little further. I started to realize that this might be the best opportunity to complete my marathon goal all well helping a good cause. All the reviews online and through the website showed what a supportive team they were and it seemed like something I wanted to be a part of, not to mention it would be a great opportunity to meet new friends in the area. I weighed the pros and the cons and yesterday finally made the decision. I was going to run the Georgia Publix Marathon. At that point I signed up and then it all began to sink in. Not only was I going to be running 26.2 miles on March 18, 2012 I also would need to raise $1,000 for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society to secure my space in the race. Both tasks seem daunting, but after receiving an email from the TNT cordinator I realized it was all possible and I wanted to do it for the woman below. We are roughly the same age and to read about what she's been through is something that I wouldn't want anyone else to have to face. 

My marathon training begins on November 12, 2011 and I hope that you will continue to follow my progress and donate to such a wonderful cause!! The donation website can be found at: 

http://pages.teamintraining.org/ga/Georgia12/runkimirun