Week 4 - Tuesday and Wednesday

Ugh! It was so hot on Tuesday. 90 degrees and I waited until the afternoon to get my 1 hr of running in. I started to head to Spring Lake (the intent was to do two laps there), but quickly realized that it was too hot to run at 2pm. And I couldn't wait until later since I needed to drive to Sac that evening. Thus, I went to the gym and put in an hour on the elliptical. Not the same thing, but maybe it was good to give my joints a rest anyway.

Wednesday I should have been flying to Chicago, but the flight was overbooked. So I took my free roundtrip voucher and am flying out Thursday morning instead. Thus, I got in my 30 minutes of cross-training this evening. Love the cool Delta breeze evenings in Sac!

Week 4 - Sunday and Monday

Sunday was a beautiful day, and Joe convinced me to train with him at the Petaluma Aquatic Center. It was a cross-training day for me, so I figured swimming was a good way to do some non-impact working out.

On Monday, I had my 1-hr Pilates lesson with Ava, followed by a 30-minute run on the treadmill. Whew!

Week 3 - Thursday and Saturday

Whew! It was a crazy week and I haven't been good about posting. However, I have been good about keeping up with the training. On Tuesday, I ran at the Silver Lake reservoir in Los Angeles, where I was staying with my dear friend Jen. I returned from Los Angeles in time for intervals training at the Petaluma track on Thursday evening. It involved sprints training, lunges, butt kicks, push-ups, intervals, etc. Basically, the purpose of Thursdays is to help increase our speed (which I need!). Thursdays kick my booty! I was definitely feeling those lunges on Friday and Saturday.

Saturday was our long run. We met at Shiloh park in Windsor at 9am (Joe and I carpooled since he was also training there with the triathlon group). After some tips from our coaches, we ran 6 miles. Thank goodness for the water and Gatorade station! It was warm out, but a really beautiful route. Pretty awesome to be running through the vineyards in Sonoma! Following the run, we had a potluck breakfast where some of the honorees spoke. It was very inspirational-- reminds us of the reasons we're doing this that go beyond ourselves. Plus, it was just really cool to hang out, eat yummy food, and get to know the fellow runners better. Go team!

Week 2 - Saturday

This post is delayed because I have been in Los Angeles as part of my college reunion. However, I am happy that I managed to get in my 5 miles on Saturday. Unfortunately, the football field/track was being used by several high school football teams (and I didn't relish hanging around in my workout wear), so I started out running inside on the eliptical. Not the same, but there were no treadmills. At least I was able to finish up on the track.

I'm super tired from all the visiting and sleeping in foreign beds. This post will remain short and uninspiring.

Week 2 - Thursday

Today was a busy day as I came to Sac and am headed to Los Angeles tomorrow. I was bummed that I had to miss the first coached track runs, as I'm definitely wanting that extra help for increasing speed. But I did manage to get out and run for 40 minutes (only stopping for 5 minutes when my phone rang and when I got my headphone cord tangled up). I have to keep reminding myself that little by little, speed and endurance will improve.

Heading to L.A. tomorrow! Looking forward to doing the 5 miles on Sat on our gorgeous track! And hoping to do some successful fundraising.

Week 2 - Tuesday

Today was a 3-mile run. I headed back to Finley Park since I am familiar with that 3-mile route. It was a lovely day with a cool breeze and lots of families hanging out in the park. I can't wait until that day when running becomes effortless (I have a feeling I'll be waiting forever!). Or at least until I get faster!

But it's done. We'll see how Saturday goes when I have to add another mile. Oy vey!

Week 2 - Sunday/Monday

This is a post I meant to add for yesterday. Sunday was a cross-training or rest day. I was feeling fine after the group run on Saturday, so yesterday I walked up to my gym (about 10-15 walk), worked out on the new funky cross-between an elliptical and stair machine, and walked back home. It was lovely outside, and I was on the trails between my apt and the gym. Can't wait until the blackberries start growing! Yum!

Today's training is to run for 20 minutes, so I'll probably just run on the trails again. Then this evening I have my Pilates lesson in Petaluma for an hour.

Last week I logged 12 miles. Hard to imagine that in the not-so-distant future there will be times when I run that in a day! :)

Thanks for the support to all who have donated! It means so much to me and keeps me excited about this adventure!

Week 1 - Saturday Group Run

Yesterday was a Rest Day and this morning was our first Group Run. I woke up at 6:40am to carpool with Joe at 7am to the Finley Center in Santa Rosa (he was training with the triathlon group at the same location). Our run got started around 8:15. I was a little apprehensive at running with the group (I haven't run with people since the 10K in November), but it went pretty well. I met some great gals!

This morning, I ran at a 12 minute pace; my goal is to get down to 10 minute miles for the marathon. Running outside is so much nicer!! And it's pretty cool to have the course all set up and just be able to run without paying attention to mileage or directions. Although we're not allowed to use ipods with the Team in Training runs, so I'll have to get used to that. I always run with my ipod indoors or outdoors.

I'm going to try to start remembering to bring my camera to group runs! Hopefully I'll be able to start adding some more interesting photos to this blog!

Day 3 - 3 miles!

Well, I managed to do the 3-mile run on the treadmill at my gym today. It's my first 2+ mile run since my back problems in the winter. Running on the treadmill is so tedious, but I wanted to be able to keep careful track of the numbers to get an idea of my pacing.

I really don't like running. Especially not indoors. I'm just begging the numbers to click over faster. And my face turns an unearthly shade of red when I run. It's not cute. :)

I'm curious to see how Saturday morning's coached run on the track goes. I figure, it's gotta be better than the treadmill! And I'm assuming this gets easier with practice, even though I'm sure my red face won't go away....

Off to get some lunch and then head to Pilates! I have to keep stretching everything to avoid any lower back calamities!

Day 2 - 30min X-Train

Today is 30 minutes of cross-training. I went to the gym and did 30 minutes on the stair-master. Few things in life make me sweat more than climbing stairs, and I figure it's good training for the hills in SF on marathon day. Day 2 complete!

Fundraising!

I have committed to raising $2500 for Team in Training. This seems pretty daunting, but I think of it as $5 that could have gone to coffee or fast food. :)

If you want to make a donation, you can click on this website. Every little bit helps, and a colleague of mine who works in virus research has reassured me that the money really does go to research and helping patients and families.

http://pages.teamintraining.org/rw/nikesf09/gkellough

Marathon Training - Day 1

Today I ran around Spring Lake (I think it's about 2.3 miles). According to my training, I'm supposed to run 2 miles in 30 minutes. No problem with that. It was a beautiful run! Perfect weather and beautiful sunny skies. I think I will go back and rent a kayak or paddle boat to hang out on the lake. It looked so peaceful. And it's great being able to run during the day midweek, as it wasn't crowded on the trails at all. Yay for Day 1!

Team in Training

I've decided to participate in Team in Training this summer. There have been a few motivations for getting involved with this organization. 1) A friend of mine from Occidental College passed away from leukemia this fall. She had been a Comp. Lit. major, had studied in Paris, had played rugby with me at Oxy, had gone off to grad school... lots of shared experiences. And she seemed like such a healthy, vibrant woman that it really hit home: if it can happen to Erica, it can happen to anyone. So when I heard that Team in Training's Nike Women's Marathon in San Francisco raised $15Million for the Leukemia Society last year, I thought it would be something great with which to be involved and a way to honor Erika's amazing life and courageous battle against leukemia.

2) The other motivation was this has been a pretty rough year for me personally. Relationships have failed, and my career isn't stable. While I absolutely loved teaching at Sonoma State this past year, my position was cut for next year due to the state's terrible budget problems. The possibility of picking up classes somewhere nearby looks slimmer and slimmer, and I'm just not willing to pick up and relocate again. Thus, in trying to focus on the positive, I figure this is the perfect time to train for a marathon! I'm paid through the summer, I don't have dissertations to write or classes to prepare, and I have plenty of time to put into the training. No excuses! Plus, the structure of the training and the physical exercise will help prevent me from slipping into depressive abyss that haunted me in the fall.

So, this is the plan! I'll be blogging my marathon training as I go to keep track of this amazing journey and share my training stories with friends and family. Feel free to check on how it's going and offer advice and/or encouragement.

And here's a video link to a video Erica and her sister Jaci made. I encourage you to check it out and consider being a donor:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DYUFB542Iak