Hi, I'm Sammie Baime, and I am running the Nike Womens Marathon

to kick cancers ass!

(my ass-kicking pose comic-book style. photo credit: icomic)

Welcome to my Team In Training home page.

A number of people in my life have been affected by cancer as far back as I can remember. There is no way to describe what someone battling for their life goes through and it is because I cannot begin to relate on that level, that I fight for the day where the world will be cancer free. With team in training and your help, we can be one step closer to finding a cure.

I am not one to be called physically fit, but I am going to do this crazy, yet beautiful marathon because I can. Because there are people out there currently battling Leukemia who do not have the options I have.

When I am not training, I am bonding with friends or working at my incredible job! I started in February as the marketing assistant for SHN ( Broadway in San Francisco, for those not in the area), and everyday I fall a little bit more in love with it. We just had Hugh Jackman perform at the Curran for 2 weeks! Right before one of his final performances, I got a chance to get a photo with him. :)

( He was super nice! Photo Credit: Mr. Herbie Raad)

I run for family and friends who have suffered from cancer (not just Leukemia). There are more than a handful of you, and I love you all very much.

I run because you never know what might happen, and I think everyone’s body should be pushed to their limits at some point.

I run for the people I have not met, but should not have to fight the battle of cancer alone.

I run because one day with the money we raise, there will be a cure!

(Me at mile 12 of the Napa to Sonoma 1/2 marathon. Not so sure I'll have that same smile at mile 24 of Nike... :) Photo Credit: me)

Please make a donation to support my participation in Team in Training and the Nike Womens marathon and help advance LLS's mission.

I hope you will visit my web site often. Training starts May 28, 6 days a week, and I could not be more excited!

Thank you for supporting me!!

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

TRAINING BLOG

6/1/2011

Happy June everyone! I have not slacked off on my training yet! Last night was out first buddy run at Lake Merrit where our schedule said we would run 1-2 miles, but the team was feeling super excited and most of us did a 5k ( 3.1 miles) which is 1 loop around the lake. Surprisingly it was not too bad! It is absolutely disgusting out today. Tons of rain, so I am happy to be going to the gym tonight. I hope it doesn't rain on race day in October. On another note- In my first weekend of fundraising, I hit over $500! Thank you to everyone who has donated already! Your support means the world to me!

6/2/2011

Mondays and Wednesdays are cross-training days, and after listening to the rain all day yesterday, I was very happy to head over to Crunch. I got on a stationary bike and biked for 18 miles. I thought my legs would be in hurting, but really all the pain came from the bike seat. For those of you who are doing the AIDS Life Cycle next week ( there are many participating. I specifically know one person. My colleague Sean Ray who is doing it for the 6th time which is incredible), YOU ARE ALL AMAZING! I don't think I could ever bike for that long! Another quick update- I have been officially diagnosed with bilateral wrists tendonitis, but I am starting physical therapy and hopefully in a month I will be able to do things like bowl, throw a softball, or maybe even a push up!!! I am very excited that after 6 years of having wrist problems, I am going to be able to start using my arm muscles again! Tonight is our first coached track workout, and I'll have to skip the pushups for now, but I promise to do extra stomach crunches! Go Team Bay Side!

6/6/2011

Happy Monday everyone! I hope you all had a great weekend! This weekend was packed with information and getting down with my outdoorsy self. The weathermen were wrong about rain ALL week which was a lovely suprise. The only time it did pour this weekend is (of course) when Team Driven and every other TNT group decided to train outside Saturday morning. It was totally fine! We only stayed out for 2 miles, and then we took a crash course in prepping our bodies for a marathon( Marathon University). Of course after learning that I probably just got super lucky last year with not dying during my half-marathon ( I did not train very well), I plan to be super diligent throughout this whole process because I a) don't want to get sick and b) don't want to hurt myself. Tom and I are also planning to buy bikes, so we went bike exploring yesterday. Tom wants a mountain bike, and I am looking at hybrids. We are each considering 2-3 bikes right now, and will hopefully be going for our first ride together next Sunday.

Now.. I am going to make a confession.. yesterday I was suppose to run for 20-30 minutes as part of my training schedule ( after bike shopping, we went out to dinner) and decided to take a nap before going to the gym. The nap lasted about 3 hours, and the gym totally closed while I was sleeping. I am admitting this, because you are kind enough to even be reading this, and I am already letting you know right now that besides for my 50 minutes of cross training tonight, I will be doing that 30 minute run beforehand (Cross my heart and hope to die). :)

6/9/2011

This week has been a bit intense. It's my first week of physical therapy for my wrists and it takes about 80 minutes to get there from home. I kept my promise and did my 30 minutes run and then my 50 minutes on the elliptical back on Monday. Ran 3.1 miles Tuesday, Wednesday I was at physical therapy for my wrists tendonitis and it was a 90 minute session so that covered my upper extremities strength training, and today I did more physical therapy in the am followed by a 2 mile run in the evening. Running after being awake already for 14 hours was not an easy task. Tonight we learned that one of our honorees went back into the hospital and I knew I had to try to push through the run. My pace was slower than Monday or Tuesday's run. I am down about my timing tonight, but I am hoping I can just blame the whole, being awake since 4am thing...We have a 4 mile run Saturday and I am looking forward to proving to myself that I was just overly exhausted tonight.

In other news, as of this morning, I am over $2000 in fundraising. I want to thank each and every one of you for donating! Knowing that you made an investment in something I care so much about means the world to me. This run is for all of you as well! I am thinking if I can hit $2400 by next week, I will raise my fundraising goal! Once again- thank you everyone!

And in non TNT/LLS news- tomorrow Tom is supposedly getting the results of his PE. It's about time!!

6/13/2011

Really quick update. I ran 4 miles on Saturday and it went great! Sunday I went for an 8 mile walk with my friend Lauren, and tonight I have physical therapy and then 50 minutes of cardio for my cross training session. I am feeling a little tired, but couldn't be happier. Tomorrow morning one of my amazing running buddies- Sandy is picking me up at 5:40am so we can do a quick 5k (3.1 miles) around Lake Merrit and I still get to work on time!

I am officially less than $50 from my minimum goal so I decioded to up my goal. I had a minimum goal in mind in order to guarantee that I run the full marathon, and now that I am so close, I know that I have to keep fundraising. It means so much to me that so many people out there have taken the time to read this and donate even just $1. Everything counts. From the bottom of my heart- thank you everyone!

6/16/2011

Training is going well this week! Saturday we are running 6 miles, and I am hoping to work on my pace. Tonight we had circuit training so we ran, did squats, crunches, pushups ( I just did more crunches since I can't put pressure on my wrist), more squats, ran some more, then supermans, crunches, 1 leg squats, then run again and did the first set of activities all over again plus the second. It went pretty well, and now I am feeling those squats as I sit on my couch. In other news, Billy Elliot opens in less than 2 weeks and the office couldn't be busier! The boys are flying in and doing a bunch of performances and interviews all of next week. Since we have some events at night, all my training will be happening in the morning, so extra shots of espresso will be necessary!

Till next time!

6/20/2011

The 6 mile run went alright! A teammate of mine, Laura really helped keep me on pace and motivated to just get through it. Then Sunday, my good friend Emily who is running the Disneyland Hald with me in September drove out to Rockridge and we ran Lake Merritt together. Overall a successful weekend a training. My wrists are still hurting a bit, but I am trying to not be on the computer as much when I am not at work. This weeks challenge, besides for the 8 miles on Saturday, will be to get in one more 6 mile run,at least two 3 miles runs, 3 physical therapy sessions, all while my cousin Adam is visiting, working overtime, and because I really needed a super challenge, on antibiotics which make me sleepy. I'm a little nervous mainly due to the antibiotics. I just read a great t-shirt on cafe-press " you think running is hard? try chemo"... anytime I think this week will be tough, I'll just think of that and put things into perspective.

A photo from our 6 mile run!

6/26/2011

It's Saturday! We ran 8 miles today! I took some photos during my journey today. It's been a crazy week. At work we called it Billy week, because the 5 boys playing Billy Elliot were here all week to do PR/marketing/and group sales events. We had a lot of fun with the boys, but there was a lot of overtime, and many early runs, meaning I had to wait till today to update. I followed the schedule perfectly this week and I am now less than $600 away from goal #2. Thank you all so much for your support!

Let me tell you about my 8 mile run. I was terrified. I was rediagnosed with MRSA, so I am back on the super fun antibiotic Cipro. One of cipros side effects is that it tightens your tendons, so I was worried if I did something stupid, I was going to end up with a torn tendon. Another fear was just doing 8 miles after not running that much in over a year.

My final fear which I conquered today was falling. I have been worried since the start of my running ( even with the half marathon last year) that if I fell and landed on my wrists ( my both wrists have tendonitis and I'm in physical therapy for 3 times a week), it was going to be the most painful thing ever. Well today, that fear was conquered.

At mile 6 I tripped and landed on my knee and my upper arms (sort of) and my wrists were fine and my knee swelled a little but it didn't hurt and instead of stopping to clean up, I decided I wanted to finish my run. So I ran the 2 final miles, and then decided to take a beautiful photo because it's official.. I am now bleeding to kick cancers ass!

I hope everyone has an amazing Saturday! I am going to go nap because tomorrow I am working a 10 hour shift at Pride. If you are coming to pride, come stop by the SHN booth on Grove at Larkin.

6/30/2011

Excuse me, but where did June go? It's been another crazy week. Pride was a ton of fun, but I cannot lie.. I did not end up training after the day was over. My legs were tired after standing for 10 hours.. I kept wondering if that could count as cross training.

Monday I went on the elliptical for 50 minutes and I did over 10,000 strides equalling 6 miles.

Tueday I ran with Annabelle ( I may be spelling her name wrong.. Sorry!) 4.1 miles around Lake Merrit

Wednesday- I decided to make Wednesday my rest day this week and I'll train Friday.

Today- We did circuit training with coach Al. We are now up to running hills then doing sit ups,push ups ( well no push ups for me, so extra sit ups), supermans and crunches, then run more hills. It was not the easiest workout, but I'm happy it's over. At 11:50pm tonight I will be on a flight back to NJ.

I will miss the nice cool weather of CA, especially when I am running in the humidity tomorrow.

And finally- yesterday I hit $3000!!! I am only $2000 away from my ultimate go. THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH!!

Selling time- Not sure if you noticed on the top of this page, but if you donate between now July 6, you will be entered to win a gift certificate to First Crush in Union Square. Their food is awesome. :)

7/5/2011

Happy Belated Birthday America!!! I am leaving NJ in 2 hours, and I will miss my family very much, but I am ready to get back to training with team driven. It's been lonely running by myself. For my 8 mile run I did have to put in headphones just because it was a long way to go with no noise, but cars.

I ran Saturday, Sunday and today. 3 out of the 5 days in humid NJ... I wish I had done 4.. but there is no time for "should of, could of, would of"

Tomorrow I will either cross train, or go participate in the lululemon Wednesday 5mile run after work.. :)

Hope everyone is doing well and has a great 4 day work week!

7/12/2011

The rest of last week was super busy, so I apologize for not writing sooner. I ended up flaking on exercising Wednesday due to exhaustion. Thursday we did hill training which was hard while we did it, but then after I felt like we all could have done more. Friday was the mandatory rest day, and then Saturday was the brutal 10 mile Lake Chabot run. It was up and down for 8-9 miles and then the file mile was just downhill. TNT said we were all ready for it, but I must be honest.. Even with managing to train 5-6 days a week every week, I so did not feel ready. Meaning: I need to step it up. Time to start working on my core and muscle building. I made a promise to myself and now publically to you that beginning yesterday, I will now do stomach crunches everyday and I am going to attempt to do some squats. This is besides for the strength training I do every Monday and Wednesday.

Let me share with you some stuff from last week: Tom and I went to the Giants game and Tom caught the foul ball which was pretty damn awesome.

Foul ball caught right before the epic 10 mile run! ( photo credit: Me)

LAKE CHABOT

A view going downhill from lake chabot( photo credit: Me)

We ran up and down these for about 9 miles. Honestly- It was miserable. I whined the entire time. I am happy to report I was still standing when I finished..but did I feel out of shape. Of course Coach Al says this isn't a hill, just an incline. ( photo credit: Me)

7/21/2011

I have been sucking at posting! I am sorry!! I have been working, training, and sleeping. That's about it!!

Life has been super busy. The producers in London decided to close Billy Elliot early, so the show is now closing August 21. We also just announced another show by Brian Henson called Stuffed and unstrung which should be a lot of fun! It's a improv comedy show with 70 puppets. Also, Diana Ross is coming for 1 night in September. So work has been busy! Not one day has passed where I have not learned something!

I signed up for the San Francisco Half Marathon, part 2. This marathon is set up so you can do the full, the first half or the second half. The first half was sold out since it goes over the Golden Gate Bridge and it has a much earlier starting time. So on july 31, 8:30 am I will be running out of GG park and heading towards the Ferry Building. My goal is to be done by 10:30, although I'm saying this before knowing if there are hills... so I might give myself some wiggle room and say 10:36.

Training has been going well. Still trying to step it up more and more. Still lacking a little on the core training, so I am meeting with a trainer at my gym August 3. With the wrist problems, my arms are super weak, but I have no excuse for not being in shape and toned in my stomach and back. Friday is our rest day for TNT, but I think I will make it a rest day for my lower half and start going to Crunch on Friday mornings to work strictly on muscle building in my core.

Besides for wanting to lose the tummy and be in great shape for the marathon, I also selfishly would like to wear a bikini when Tom and I go to Hawaii in late October.

The last week has been a big week of self reflection. I have been setting many personal goals recently both athletically and health wise. I want to get to the doctor once a year for a physical, and not wait 7 months before my dental check ups. I also want to work on my picky eating habits. That will probably be my biggest challenge of all.

Must stop writing to go head to work! Will write more at lunch break!

7/26/11

So the lunch break thing did not happen. It is currently 7:09am and i am happy to report I that I did 12 miles Saturday and then 6 miles Sunday. Both were great runs. I got lucky- no hills.

We are still smiling after 12 miles!! Let's do 13 next week!

Yesterday I did cross training for an hour on the elliptical and 20 minutes on the bike. Then I did some weighs and crunches. I am really working to do more and more crunches. Tonight I will run 6 miles with my teammates, which I always look forward too because running alone is SOOOO BORING!!! I won't bore you with too many more workout details- just I want to be accountable, so lets get this on the record. Tomorrow I am working out from 5:30am-7am, and from 6-7am I am meeting with a trainer to focus a lot more attention on my upper half. Then Thursday is 5:50am track workout with Coach Al. Friday 5:30-7am- Strictly weight training with no cardio. Saturday- 8 mile run, and Sunday- SAN FRANCISCO HALF MARATHON!!

I am very excited for this half marathon. There is no pressure for me on this one. It will be a great training run, and I am exacited that due to properly training for the last 2 months, I will not feel sick after the race. My last and very first half marathon was a little over a year ago andI only trained for 1 month, and my body HATED me! I am very happy to not be going through that experience again for this one.

Thank you again to everyone who has donated money to this amazing cause. Cancer sucks! Your donations and comments keep me motivated every workout to give it my all.

Time to get my butt to work!!

7/29/2011

Picked up my bib! Time to run the second race of my life and the first one of 2011!

7/31/2011

JUST LOST MOST OF THIS POST!!! BOOOO =(

I will just repost the photos and then write more about the race later!

Sam and I made a friend named Kathy from Calgary!

still happy at mile 10

Some inspiration!

Some entertainment like wearing nothing but a thong under that and still getting through the race!

We got medals and Sam finished in 2:12 and I finished in 2:11. She got some killer blisters and still rocked the half! Then she left to go enjoy a cheeseburger.. I had a quick work crisis which ended in being resolved, a bottle of wine purchased, and then finally brunch at Claremont Diner!

Our Medal's are also keychains! Love it!! I mean really- what else do you do with a medal?

8/26/2011

I JUST HIT $5000!

THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR ALL YOUR SUPPORT

It could not have come at a better time. The past few weeks have had many ups and downs, and tomorrow I will be running 16 miles for the first time in my life, so thank you for the motivation.

AND I OWE YOU ALL A BLOG ENTRY

( Like 5 of them at least, but this page kept freezing the last few weeks, so I will do an epic entry this weekend!)

Once again, from the bottom of my heart- Thank you for all your support as I run my first full marathon.