30 days & $888 left?!?!!!

Hola hola.

I'd like to thank all of you for your generous donations and support during both our marathon training and fund raising efforts! I was just looking at how much is left for the fund raising page.

Looks like the most recent donation (Thanks Lauren!!!) put us over the $3K mark at $3012!!!

Strangely the difference left is $888?!?!!!! (To reach my fund raising goal of $3900!) What are the chances the numbers would work out that way?

I am a lucky person.

Also don't forget should we reach our fund raising goal, after finishing da marathon I'll chop off my hair and donate it to Locks of Love! My hair will go to a little kid who has lost his/her hair due to cancer treatment.

34 days left. I did 18 miles yesterday!

18 miles biaaaaatches!!! (3 big/6 mile loops counterclockwise in the Park) I couldn't believe I finished it. I woke up intending to do the long training run with NYRR but they started really early at 7am. The long training run is for anyone running a long race and the course is 18 miles and you do whatever length you feel like. I decided to just do the 3 big/6 mile loops to get my 18 mile run in. The benefit with the training run is that they had fluid stations along the course.

So 18 miles?!? Yah, that's insane right? Here's the breakdown:

Pre-run Banana, Water
09:05-10:10am First Loop/0-6M (Water, Fruit Roll-up thingy)
10:10-11:18am Second Loop/7-12M (Water, Fruit Roll-up thingy)
11:18-12:40pm Third Loop/13-18M (Orange Gatorade and a lot of inspiration)
Post-run Red Gatorade
Post-run Workout on the tummy and stretching

That's something like a 11:56.4 minute/mile over 18 miles.

Highlights of this run?
* Dampness. First time for me running on wet pavement. Had to be careful to not slip.
* Around mile 5 and 10 I decided to "eat and run" by nibbling on my Fruit-Rollups. I thought I'd give it a try since I saw a guy running while eating a banana. It wasn't that bad no worse than running while drinking water.
* Around mile 9 it started to drizzle and lightly rain which prior to this run was totally foreign to me. Good thing I had my orange Adidas shades with me to shield me from the rain. I was more concerned about my shuffle buzzing out which was clipped to my bra strap all exposed to the rain. So I decided to clip it on the waistband of my running shorts and protect it underneath my tank.
* Hmm around mile 15 my legs felt like they were burning. I was still amazed at how much my body could take without dying. I also thought about how to prepare myself for when I cross that marathon finish line. I heard some people cry from tears of joy... or pain. I had a semi-preview of that around mile 16. It was something like "*#&@! Why the #@^* am I doing this again? This is ^&@(ing insane!" And then I thought about my family and friends and all the reasons to push through it. That was inspirational. I guess that's why most people only do up to 20 miles before the race. The last 6 miles are inspirational.
* Post-run I felt very cold. While I ran it was hot, but since it was 60something degrees outside (similar to what the SF Marathon climate will be) I'll have to think about what to wear while I'm not running.
* Injuries? A little sore on the legs, but I feel like someone really chubby stepped on the top of my feets. Not good. Like when I curl my toes in and out like to make a foot fist the top of my feet muscles are sore. I don't think it's a show stopper though.

Now to the exciting part of what did I eat after burning 1800 calories?!? :) (I heard from my PT it's about 100 calories per mile burned.) Considering my not-so-good diet from last weekend's 15.4M long run, I tried to be "healthier" by picking up 2 Burger Joint Cheeseburgers (med. rare) w/ the "Works" immediately after my Post-run Workout. ;) Then later in the day I had a green apple. Then chilled out and watched the Bosox game (which Yankees got their butts majorly kicked after that stupid Giambi incident the night before) over sirloin steak sandwich, mashed potatoes, prosciutto wrapped greens (yum!) and beer. Oh and for dessert apple crisp pie with vanilla ice cream, Frito chips, and Reese's Chocolate and Peanut Butter Cookies. :) That was only for Saturday. Sunday was even better. I had 4 eggs (two poached, two sunny side up, sausage and porcini mushrooms sauteed in a yummy red wine sauce, black coffee, bread, 2 ice cream cones, creamy goat cheese profiteroles, soup dimplings, udon beef noodles, cheezits, veggie/potatoe chips in mango habenero salsa! Oh yea and a diet coke!

What's up for the rest of Elaine's training schedule? :)
09/23 Queens Half/13.1mile Marathon!
09/30 20 miles or NYRR ING Marathon Tune-up/18M
10/06 12 miles/2 big loops
10/12 6 miles/big loop
10/21 The Marathon/26.2! (I hope it doesn't rain!)