In the last month I left the job I loved at Schipul and am now working at Sam Houston Race Park and going back to school at University of Houston in the summer for my pre-reqs to apply to medical school. All these changes have thrown a bit of a kink in the wheel and my training and fundraising was not a priority. It’s hard to raise money for charity when you’re not making money to pay the bills.

So now I’m back on track and refocusing on Team in Training. Phew! But here’s the thing. I’m not training for a marathon for the sake of running a marathon, I’m also raising money to find a cure for blood cancer. So with that in mind, I have a goal of raising $5,500 by June 20. To show my commitment to Team in Training I need to have a minimum of $2,000 by March 27. Eek! I only have $225. I’m freaking out! Worst of all, I’m afraid I won’t get to continue and meet my goal of running my first ever marathon. Ever worser (lol) I won’t be able to help the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society raise money to fight blood cancer. I’m not going to lie…I’m really, really worried.

It doesn’t take a lot to make a big difference. Are you a numbers person? So am I. Here’s how far your donation goes:

$1,000 Will help The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society fund a researcher to find a cure.

$500 Will provide patient aid to a person with leukemia or a related cancer for a year.

$100 Will provide a patient with transportation cost associated with traveling from home to the cancer center.

$75 Will provide bone morrow typing for a family member of a patient with leukemia.

$50 Will register one person to be a bone marrow donor.

$25 Will pay for the cost of a patients chemotherapy drug prescription co-pay.

Will you please consider helping the LLS and me by donating just $10 for the cure against cancer? Believe me, your donation will not go unnoticed. I plan on having a huge thank you party for all donors (and Fayza doesn’t know it yet, but she’s gonna help me plan it. She did the very same marathon in Alaska last year that I am doing  ). But more than that, your donation is majorly important and incredibly appreciated.
Oh! And if you want to donate anonymously that’s cool too! If you want to donate, this is the place!

Here’s the route we’ll be taking:ch the higher mileages (eek!). On Saturday we’ll be running 8 miles through River Oaks and trying to avoid the rodeo parade.

Here’s the route we’ll be taking:

Yesterday we worked on our arm positioning technique when we run. We had to run for 40 minutes straight alternating arm swings for each lap around the track.  Here’s how it works (I’m quoting my coach’s email about practice):

a) Low arm swing: MOST efficient for long distance running. When we maintain a low arm swing we run with a shorter, quicker stride (less impact = less energy wasted). EMPHASIS is always on swinging your elbows backwards to assist in the propulsion of your legs forward. Cadence: the number of steps we take/minute (Goal: 180). I want you to practice this tonight. When we are running with a LOW arm swing I want you to count the number of steps you take on your RIGHT leg for ONE minute. Should be approximately 85-90 steps.

b) High arm swing- LESS efficient but more powerful. A higher arm swing leads to a longer stride. Emphasis is still on swinging your elbows backward. During Tuesday’s practice I want you to notice a SLIGHT increase in speed and effort (approximately 10%- this is NOT a lot). Notice a small change in both your respiration (breathing) and your heart rate.

I did notice that with the high arm swing I would tend to run a little faster and the low arm swing made me a little more relaxed.  It’s SO cool to learn these tips. When you’re just taking a jog around Memorial Park it doesn’t seem to really matter what your technique is but as you start getting into the longer distances being able to conserve energy here and there makes a huge difference.  Another really cool thing after yesterday’s training was that after the 40 minutes were up I wasn’t ready to quit running. I was in my groove.  I love that feeling!

This map is our running route that we did last Saturday for Team in Training. It was 4.15 miles.

And here’s the running route for this Saturday 6.04 miles (OMG):

If you’re interested in donating to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society and supporting me as I train for the Mayor’s Marathon check out my Team in Training donations page. I would love to have your support!

So the purpose of the day was to find out our running pace and to learn a few tips and tricks to keeping a good pace going.  I’ve always run the inside part of Memorial going clockwise, but today our coaches had us run the outside, counterclockwise route of the park.  I was a little worried I wouldn’t make it around being that I’ve never been able to go without stopping when I went that direction.  But I told myself to just take it slow, not try to race anyone and if I felt that I really had to stop I would.

I started out at what I thought was too fast of a pace.  I was just kinda stuck in the pack of teammates who all seemed really gung ho.  Finally, I decided to just let them all pass me because I knew there was no way I could get around the park at the pace we were all going.  So a few ladies who had done TnT before passed me and that was fine.  I figured as long as I could see them then I was doing OK. Then a weird thing happened.  After we’d probably gone a mile, they stopped for water.  I’m thinking, why do they need water so early on?  So while they go water and walked a little I passed them going my same pace.

About 5 minutes later they came up from behind me, running, and passed me.  I’m fine with it.  But then about 4 minutes later, they were still ahead of me and stopped to get water again. We’re at mile two. I’m still running and pass them as they walk along.  Again, 5 minutes later they come up behind me and pass me by.  Still fine with it but it’s getting a little awkward that we keep passing each other.  About 4 minutes later they run past me. Grr. I’m still trudging along and know I have less than half a mile to go but things are fine. At this point though, they aren’t way ahead of me. I’m right on their heels. I can’t help it though. I’m moving faster and they seem to be getting tired.  Finally, I see our coaches and mentors up in the distance and I probably about about 1/4 a mile to go.  The two ladies in front of me and I begin running a little faster. I can’t pass them but I’m not too far behind.  I see the clock when I get to the “finish line” and I’m pretty surprised.  I ran the loop in just 30 minutes or a 10 mile minute.  Not bad for my first day out!  Later on I find out that the routine the ladies were doing was 9 minute run, water, 1 minute walk.  So essentially they are running a little faster than me, but they are also breaking to walk.  It’s a good option to have and I’m glad to know that if I need to stop, I can and probably will. But I also like the satisfaction of knowing I can run without stopping, too.

So excited for my  next practice on Saturday and even more excited about my awesome poker tourny fundraiser that I’m planning which was suggested to me by my good friend Glen.

If you’re interested in donating to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society and supporting me as I train for the Mayor’s Marathon check out my Team in Training donations page. I also have an awesome Facebook group that has about 90 incredible members and is open to all!

I’ve been running for the fun of it since I was in the 2nd grade but never felt really confident enough to race. I’ve always loved running and have done a few 5ks although never anything serious.  So while other people say they are afraid of the running because they were never really all that athletic, I’m not going to lie, I was athletic.  I’m not afraid of the running part!  I’m afraid of the raising money part! What if I can’t raise $5500? That’s a lot of money!  What if people don’t want to help me because they’ve helped other people in the past? I’m scared!

My goal is to raise $5500 in order to make it to Alaska and luckily have already received my first donation (thanks Dan!).  Check out my donations website to see my progress!