Busy as a Bridesmaid

At some point my posts will hopefully occur more than once a week, but that has been impossible as the past few weeks have been crazy, this one was no exception.

My goal for the week had been to run Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday so that the weekend could be dedicated solely to being apart of Alyssa's wedding. This didn't exactly go to plan. I ran Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, then Thursday rolled around and I was exhausted. I just didn't have the energy for the final run of the week so I figured I could try and fit it in on Friday prior to the Bachelorette party. Yet that also didn't happen. This left me with only Saturday to get the run in as Sunday is the start day of each new week for my runs. Saturday was already jam packed with work, getting my nails done for the wedding and the rehearsal dinner, so the only feasible time was to run over lunch (and I did just that!). I'm only allotted approximately 45mins-1hr for lunch so instead of a 20min run/5min walk repeat, I skipped ahead to next week and ran for 25 mins. This went very nicely as it still allowed me time to scarf down food and get back to work before the hour was up.

After some very busy and exhausting few days (mind you I'm only a bridesmaid, I cannot imagine how crazy things are for a bride!) Sunday/Wedding day was here! I had high hopes of a morning run prior to all the getting ready and festivities, but I slept through my alarm and ended up having to skip the run by the time I woke up. The wedding was fabulous and I figured that all my dancing must have counted towards some form of workout, I danced until the DJ kicked us out. Plus as it is early on in the week I'm not to worried about getting all 4 runs in, I completed the first one today with a late run through Westerly, along the river. I haven't decided how I'll space the other three runs out but I have no major plans for the week besides some rest and recovery from the month of May, so it shouldn't be to hard to fit them in.

Nearing the end of the night - no one but the die hards left dancing!

Congratulations to Alyssa and Mershon! The wedding was beautiful and I'm so happy I was able to be a part of it.

J.

Slow and steady.

I made it through a very rainy and humid week last week with 4 days of running, but felt pretty discouraged at the end. By the 4th day, I was so exhausted from work that I barely managed to squeeze out a 20 minute jog. Not my best, though still better than nothing. I took the weekend off to relax and recoup.  This week is another week of the 15/5/15/5 interval, so I started off today feeling fresh and recovered.  I decided to take it even slower than my normal pace [was that possible?] in an effort to make it through the full set, as I was having trouble with it last week. Slow seemed to work quite well for me - I made it through the first set without cramping up at all, and the second set went just as well.

As an aside, I was out shopping this morning and trying on sundresses - we have a wedding to go to on Sunday! I noticed in the mirror that my calves look absolutely huge. I'd like to thank Ithaca College for being on the side of a hill, and having a job that keeps me running up and down stairs all day for those. So I decided - my legs are ready for this. Those rediculous hills and stairs have given me the base that I need. I just need to make sure my brain is in the game now :)

I think the 10K in June will be a great milestone for both of us. Until now, the longest race I've done is a 5K, so I'm looking forward to this new experience. If you want to come cheer us on, feel free! We love having our friends support us.

LLS fact of the week:
In fiscal year 2010, LLS invested $72 million in blood cancer research.
LLS receives no federal funding. Because of the continued support of you and our partners and sponsors, in fiscal year 2010 we were able to:

• invest $72 million, which includes funding for 103 new grants to researchers in academic institutions and $8 million in contracts through the LLS Therapy Acceleration Program
• support 347 research projects in the United States, Canada and 9 other countries
• provide financial assistance to patients
• sponsor scientific conferences around the country
• produce educational materials and videos
• run dozens of Family Support Groups nationwide

You can find out more about how donations to LLS make a real difference at: http://www.lls.org/#/aboutlls/researchsuccesses/.

Here's to another week of running in the rain, and looking great at Sunday's wedding!

A.

Week 5

Sunday was technically a day of rest, however instead of running I stayed active with a walking 5k in Hartford. It was just something fun to do with my parents and Shawn and turned out to be an entire day spent up in Hartford, ending with a Jason Aldean concert that Shawn had won tickets for on the radio!

Randomly through out any given week intern Sarah (even though she is no longer a intern, I still distinguish her this way from the other million Sarah's in my life) and myself will have gym dates, as long as our work and vacation schedules allow, lately they haven't. We mix it up between Zumba, Body Sculpt, Boot Camp and Spinning. This morning we met up early for a Body Sculpt class, which includes weights, resistance bands and aerobic activity for an overall body workout. After a good, hard workout, a trip to Dunkin's, and a few small errands I made my way over to Misquamicut Beach for the start of my week 5 runs. 

This week is 20min run/5min walk repeat. I have already found myself getting bored running the same few routes, although I wasn't running on the beach, the fact that I could smell the saltwater and hear the waves provided some new excellent distractions.  The run went extremely well and the course I took can be found here. 

Also as a side note - I just registered for my very first 10k! It's taking place on June 26th in Boston, I'll be focusing on this smaller goal for my immediate future and hope to continue to do more side events leading up to the marathon itself, so if you hear of any in the MA/RI/CT area let me know.

J.

A Disney State of Mind

I was unable to figure out a way to post from Disney and this is the first chance I've had to blog since returning on Thursday so I'm now very behind (on blogging, not running!).

If you are reading this then you probably know me well enough to know that Disney is my favorite place on earth. I often wonder why I didn't base my career around my love for the company and the parks, it is my love of Disney that even has me training for a marathon anyway. The few days away were pretty wonderful, in between park and hotel hopping I managed to get three runs in!

On Monday I flew in, Emily was waiting for me at my gate (the perks of being on a flight that landed a half hour after hers!) and we jumped on Disney's Magical Express bus service that brings you to the hotel. After a quick check-in and visit to our room we immediately headed back out to Epcot. We stayed in the park until almost the very end, I say almost the end because we didn't stay for Illuminations. Since it was only about 9 when we arrived back at the hotel I figured a run that evening would be better than one super early the next morning. I'm still on the 15run/5walk repeat interval so I stuck with this and ran around the three All Star Resorts (Sports, Music, Movies).

Tuesday was filled with Harry Potter, a nap by the pool and a visit to Downtown Disney and the Boardwalk hotel, in short no time for a run.

I have no idea how I had the energy to get out of bed at 5am on Wednesday to run, but I did. This way the run was over and down with and our day in the Magic Kingdom could begin. I'll spare you all the super fun details but lets just say I loved it, the new expansion is going to be amazing, the new show at night that takes place on the castle is amazing and I've already got my countdown started for when I get to run through the park in January (229 days if you're wondering).

Thursday was a day of down time because we were flying home that evening. Our only real plans were that we didn't have plans, this allowed me to sleep in until 8am and then go for my run. It had sounded like a wonderful idea, until I was actual out running and it was already hot and muggy (this is when I remember why I don't live in Orlando, I dislike hot and muggy weather) but I managed to get through both sets.

I took Friday as a rest day partially because a trip to Disney always requires some rest after and because I had tickets to see the new Pirates of the Caribbean movie (never as good as the first but still an entertaining movie - love Capt. Jack!).

Saturday's run was uneventful and ended this week of runs!

J.

Now it's personal.

While some people are off tanning in Florida, the rest of us are in rainy CT. To fill you in on my progress, last week was last week of 3 days of interval training, and now I'm up to 4 days of training per week. The book suggests that this week is 15 minutes running and 5 minute walking, repeated twice. Sunday was close - I made it through the first 15 minutes, but only lasted 10 for the second set. Today was my longest training day so far: 12 minutes running, 5 minutes walking, 17 minutes running, 5 minutes walking, 8 minute running. In the rain [booh-yah!].

Now on to the important things... the Disney marathon and half marathon benefit the The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society® - www.lls.org. Over the weekend, I found out that a friend's father was recently diagnosed with leukemia. Most people associate leukemia with kids, but it can and does affect anyone.  My heart goes out to him and his family, and it was just the motivation I needed to get through todays very rainy run. 

From the marathon's website: "LLS uses the WALT DISNEY WORLD® Marathon Weekend as a platform to create awareness of this life saving cause, as well as to raise much needed funds for research. Participants and volunteers have the opportunity to make donations to The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society directly at the point of registration or by visiting our website at runDisney.com/DisneyWorld. Each year, roughly $7 million is raised through participant and volunteer donations along with the Team in Training fundraising program. "

I know that everyone is strapped for cash at this point, as am I, so I'll try to use this as an awareness-raising event, not just a fundraising event.  As it comes closer to race day, we'll post links for online donations through the race website.

Tomorrow is a running-free day for me, and then I'll go back to the 15/5 interval for Thursday and Friday.

Cheers!
A.