It's hard to believe that my half-marathon race is only SIX DAYS AWAY!!!!
Yesterday, I ran 6 miles with the team, after which we had our send-off celebration. The Wilmington Chapter of Team in Training has raised approximately $100,000 this season!!! It's incredible to think of all of the research and patient care assistance those valuable funds will provide.
We also received our team jerseys yesterday. This is what all of the team members will wear at our races this weekend. Luckily, it is supposed to be quite warm (71 degrees). Bandit, my mini schnauzer rescue, is also very excited, as he refused to get out of the frame of the picture.
This is a close-up of the back of the jersey. You can see the logo of my magnanimous employer, Dosher Memorial Hospital, who graciously donated $1000 on my behalf. In the rectangle on the bottom you can see my dad's name under the "In Memory of" section. This was done courtesy of a generous donation by Howard Eye Associates, for which I want thank my incredibly supportive husband Michael. And heartfelt thank yous to everyone who helped me raise nearly $3800.00, thereby earning me the right to wear the jersey at all - Janice Gottsman, Akemi & Kevin Gottsman, Kendra & Dave Clark, Hope & Chad Bernota, Brad & Lisa Narron, Patti & Michael Motley, Ashley & Mike Lewis, Candace & Jamie Hobbs, Stephanie Wilson, John Howard, Mary Louise Howard, John Carver, Elizabeth Walker, Mike Martz, The Phillips family, and everyone who purchased cakes or beadwork through my fundraiser. And of course, thank you to the countless people who have offered valuable words of encouragement, wisdom and support.
It's hard to believe that the race is only 8 days away!!!!! I want to take this opportunity to again thank absolutely everyone who contributed to my journey, either financially and/or with moral support. From the bottom of my heart, I am eternally grateful. I know that I could not have made it this far without all of the encouragement I've received.
I have officially entered "taper mode" so my mileage will decrease as race day approaches. I ran 8.5 miles on Saturday, 5 miles on Tuesday and 6 miles yesterday. Tomorrow, I will run 6 miles with the team, followed by our send-off party!
Eight days and counting.......
It's hard to believe, but my race is only 4 weeks away! Which makes now a good time for me to adjust the original goals I set for myself when I started this journey 5 months ago. I initially set a very lofty goal of a 94 minute finish time, knowing that I had a very steep hill to climb that would keep me extrememly motivated. I know that if I continue training beyond January and can stay healthy, that I will eventually accomplish this goal. Unfortunately, it isn't going to happen for this race, and that's okay. I know that I would have been much closer to my goal had I not suffered a stress fracture, and I also know that I did absolutely everything I could to reach my goal. A more realistic goal for me would be a finish time of under 2 hours (roughly 9:10 a mile). When I ran this race 10 years ago, my finish time was 2 hours and 39 minutes. Provided the course hasn't changed to include running up Space Mountain, I'm confident that my 32 year old self could dust my 22 year old self by a solid 40 minutes.
Last week, I was at my mom's house in the foothills of Tennessee. Although, after having run up and down and up the roads in her neighborhood, I'm inclined to rename this region the "foot mountains" of Tennessee. I logged approximately 25 run miles during the week, which were extrememly challenging but ultimately very helpful fitness-wise.
This week, I ran 8.5 miles on Monday, 6.5 miles on Thursday and 12 miles with the team yesterday, for a total of 27 miles. The 12 miler yesterday started at 7 am, when it was 31 degrees and still dark. This is the longest distance I have run thus far, and I can't claim it was easy or fun, but I'm thankful I was able to complete the distance.
I also want to again express just how thankful I am for all of the support I've received over the past 5 months. Wishing everyone the Merriest of Christmases.
I officially graduated from physical therapy, and I've been able to run several times per week over the past few weeks. I did have a small flare-up 2 weeks ago, when I made the mistake of running 12 miles over 2 days, but I've been relatively pain free for about 10 days. Last Saturday (Nov. 24), I was able to participate in my first team run in almost 2 months! It was a chilly and hilly 8 miles, but I was grateful to be back running with the team and feeling good. I've been battling an upper respiratory infection this week, so I was not able to run with the team in the bitter cold yesterday morning, but I did run 9.7 miles on my own in the afternoon once the weather warmed up a bit.
For this post, I decided I would talk about what I take with me when I run long distances. My husband took this picture in our driveway right as I finished my long run yesterday. I don't consider myself photogenic even on a good day with proper lighting and make-up, but this photo is terrible on a whole other level. So just ignore that bit.
I've got great news to report on both the training and fundraising fronts this week. Thanks to a generous contribution from Howard Eye Associates, I have reached my fundraising goal!!!! Michael graciously donated 10% of all of his optical sales for the month of October! I am eternally grateful for the generosity of all who donated. It is a wonderful feeling to have met my goal this early, but it is more incredible to think of all of the patient support and research that will be funded your generosity. So again, THANK YOU!!!!
I am continuing to undergo physicial therapy for my knee, and am cautiously optimistic that I will be back to 100% very soon. Last night, I was able to run 6.5 miles in about an hour, even in the rain and wind. It truly feels great to be able to run longer distances and I can feel my leg getting stronger every day. Last week, I was able to run a total of 12 miles and bike approximately 60 miles. I will still be alternating between biking and running for the next few weeks, but I will gradually be increasing my running distance as I decrease my biking distance. On Sunday, I rode my bike from my house on one end of the island, to the lighthouse on the other end of the island and all the way back, for a total of 23 miles. Daylight savings has provided an extra challenge, as I leave for work before the sun comes up, and have about an hour of daylight after I get home. Running in the dark has never been my favorite, as it exponentially amplifies my klutziness factor. My cross country coach in college used to joke that I needed a foam rubber bodysuit for 5 a.m. practices..... but it probably wasn't a joke. It seems like rocks, tree branches and cracks in sidewalks line up in my path when they see me coming so I will have to take extra precautions as I run more and more miles by the light of the moon. And by "extra precautions," I mean a miner's headlamp and head to toe reflective clothing.
This morning, I got up at 6:30 a.m. to run a few miles before heading off to the mountains for a few days. Running uphill puts less torque on the lower leg bones, so my next few runs in Western North Carolina will essentially be a vacation for my tibia, although not for the rest of my body. My plan is to run as far and as fast and as high up as I am physically able, and then walk back down. We'll see how it goes.
I found this gem of a photo while digging through the attic.Judging from my mouthfull of braces, I think this is from my junior year in high school. Except for the baby face and dental appliances, I look pretty much the same. Oh, and the lack of a brace on each ankle, a taped left knee and 16 years of age.
Thank you again to everyone for their continued moral support as I continue on my journey to January.
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