Welcome to my Team In Training home page.

(Below is my mini journal of my weekly training that gets updated periodically.)

I am training to participate in the 2009 San Diego Rock n Roll Marathon as a member of The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society's Team In Training for the Greater Los Angeles Chapter. For the past two years, I participated for this event first as a regular participant and the second time with Team In Training. Because of an amazing and exhilarating experience, I am returning once again to run for a great feeling of achievement and for a great cause. All of us on Team In Training are raising funds to help stop leukemia, lymphoma, Hodgkin lymphoma and myeloma from taking more lives. I'm completing this event in honor of all individuals who are battling blood cancers. My mother, Josefina Lebardo, recently battled adenocarcinoma, cancer along the lining of her uterus. I am grateful to say that she was victorious with her battle against cancer and is healthy and well today! We need your support to help us cross the ultimate finish line... a cure! Help contribute to a great cause and be a part of a team of heroes in saving lives.

Please make a contribution to support my participation in Team In Training and help advance the society's mission. Any amount you contribute is a very generous amount.

If you are unable to contribute, I ask humbly to please forward my website to at least 5 people you know that are able to support me.

I hope you will visit my website often. Be sure to check back frequently to see my progress. Thank you for your support!

02/08/09 - 3 miles. First practice of the season! Started at pace group 3 which averages about 10:15 - 10:30 per mile. Feels good to run again, especially when it is along Venice Beach...

02/15/09 - 4 miles. Run felt pretty easy. Contemplating on moving up to pace group 2 that averages 9:45 - 10:00 per mile.

02/22/09 - 5 miles. My birthday was on 02/21/09 and was celebrated the night of 02/20/09. I decided to do this to make sure I can make the Sunday morning practice. I ended up getting sick after practice.

03/01/09 - 7 miles. Still with a cold lingering, I decided to move up to pace group 2. Run was a bit more challenging but still finished strong!

03/08/09 - 8 miles. The team ran along Marina Del Rey for different scenery. This was a nice run and also was something environment for a change. Still along the beach which was beautiful.

03/17/09 - 10 miles. I was snowboarding in Mammoth for the weekend and ended up missing the team practice. I did make up the run on Tuesday after getting back from a nice weekend vacation in Mammoth. I did my make-up running around the Rose Bowl. Such a nice place to run, but hilly!

03/21/09 - Help hosted ABPC, America's Best Pub Crawl along 3rd Street in Santa Monica. So many people came out to support. It was awesome!

03/22/09 - 8 miles. We ran at the Santa Monica Mountains. It was beautiful! The first half of the run was about 90% uphill the whole time. Once at the top, it had such a great view of Santa Monica and LA. It even rained but was hardly noticeable. Coming back down the mountain was so easy since it was mostly downhill. I would love to do this run again...

03/28/09 - The Old Agoura Hills 10K Race (6.2 miles). People were not kidding when they said that this run was a beautiful one. Although the route was challenging due to all of the hills, I was still able to finish just under one hour!

03/29/09 - 12 miles. I was concerned about doing this run since I just did a 10K a day before. We ran along Venice Beach and then up San Vicente. This run felt pretty easy. How? All of the hill training has been paying off and making me stronger and breathing better. But this run will definintely go down in the books. The food that I had eaten the previous day wanted out. There were no public restrooms nearby. I will leave it as that to the rest of this story. If you want to know details, ask me. =)

04/05/09 - 13 miles. Ran north on Venice Beach along Ocean and then east on San Vicente. It was a beautiful day to run. The cold ocean water was offered as a method of healing and recovery after a long distance run. It is supposed to simulate an ice bath which is the best method for recovery. I prefer an ice bath so I opted to not dip in the ocean water. I'm also a bit of a priss when dealing with sand. Haha...

04/12/09 - 10 miles. We tapered back and this was our recovery run. However, I must have eaten something really bad the night before because I was winded, feeling weak and dizzy during the run. After the 1st mile, I already broke out a heavy sweat. I already knew something was wrong. I did push through the practice and finished though, but it was pretty much a struggle all the way through. We did get to run around a nice but not-so-nice hilly residential area of Santa Monica which started and ended at Shutters at Venice Beach.

04/19/09 - 15 miles. Due to a prior night of celebrating a friend's birthday, I had to take it easy on today's run. I decided to run with Group 4 which averages a pace of 11 minutes per mile. This decision turned out to work out really well. Run was nice and steady. We started at Shutters, went south along Venice Beach and back. Then we went north on Ocean, up San Vicente, and then back to Shutters. The major factor of this run was not the mileage. It was the 90 degree weather. I sure tanned but am grateful I wore sunblock!

04/26/09 - 17 miles. Awesome weather, awesome run! We ran in the same place, along Venice and San Vicente. About 10-11 miles into the run, I had to fall back to a slower pace group because I had pains from breaking in new shoes and the remaining soreness from Wednesday night's track training. I decided to go with this because I am being very careful with not getting injured. I need to be 100% for San Diego RNR Marathon!

05/03/09 - 12 miles. I actually did not run with the team and made up the run on 05/05/09 and ran around Pomona/Diamond Bar. I now have shin splints in my left leg. First time ever having this and it sucks! I've played soccer for a long time, flag football in college, 2 full marathons, 2 half marathons and some smaller races here and there and now I get it? Well, I bought a calf sleeve and it really helps.

05/10/09 - 20 miles. Happy Mother's Day! I'm not gonna lie. This run kicked my a$$. We pretty much ran to the getty on Venice and then to Wilshire on San Vicente and back. Not much sun out because of overcast, thank goodness. Once I got home, I ate while watching a disappointing Laker game (just thought I'd mention this) and then I gave myself an ice bath. What an experience... I've done it before and the rewards for healing pay off.

05/17/09 - 12 miles. Easy run. Santa Monica had overcast so there was no sun making us bake during our run. Finished early enough to catch the Lakers take Game 7 against the Rockets. It was a good start to a day!

05/24/09 - 8 miles. The last practice run of the season is our traditional costume run! It was such a fun run, especially seeing and hearing the reactions of the locals to our costumes. Running along Venice is awesome! Wanna see pics? Come see our Flickr set here! http://www.flickr.com/photos/westsidelatnt/sets/72157618651992713/

05/31/09 - Race day at San Diego Rock N Roll Marathon! 26.2 miles.