Double blah

Hm, blogger seems to have changed their "Blog This!" window...

Anyway, I did my 30-minute run yesterday at around 1 pm -- weekday runs seem to keep getting later and later. I was tired and ploddy and my sinuses were stuffed up, making it another blah run, but I did it.

Now, I'm checking the weather for this weekend, wondering if I should do my 8-mile run on Saturday or Sunday -- it's supposed to be slightly warmer on Saturday and possibly slightly less likely to rain. But, weather being weather, I don't think it'll make that much difference. I keep thinking that, with the worst of winter yet to come, it's inevitable that I'll have to run at least once in the cold and rain and possibly even snow. I really wish they hadn't decided to make the slower runners start at 7 am for the group runs -- I'd have liked to try driving down to LA to run with the group, but not if I have to be there at 7.

I was really hoping that posting the link to my donation page on my main website would drum up a donation or two, but so far, it hasn't. Which leaves me with $800 of my commitment to cover. I can do it, but it sure would be nice to get a few more donations. I don't know where, though. I think I've hit my limit.

Blah

Have been feeling very tired and down since Christmas... no real reason, I don't think, just post-holiday blues, I guess. It was hard to get myself out there today, but I did my 30 minutes at 2:3. I am determined not to miss a run, whether it's a maintenance run or a recovery run or a mileage-increasing run, unless I absolutely have to. It would be cool to be able to go to the marathon knowing I did every bit of training on my schedule, and run the best marathon I can.

Week 16: Twenty miles

Merry Christmas!

Yesterday's run went really well. I started out early (early for me, meaning 8:15 am) because I wanted to get finished in time to have lunch with my mom, get home, shower and change and wrap Christmas presents, then head back into town to go out to my brother's for Christmas eve.

I used the 1:3 run/walk ratio, started out with five miles around the house, then had a Zone drink (grotesquely sweet, but it had the protein & carbs I wanted), then headed out to mom's house. The weather was gorgeous -- mid-60s, sunny, light breeze, perfect for running. I felt great the whole way. I used my iPod about half the time, keeping it turned low enough so that I could hear my watch beep. Except when, near the end of my run, the iPod decided to play "READY STEADY GO", which forced me to turn it up loud and play it twice. Heh.

Arrived at my mom's at about 12:30, refilled my water bottle and used the bathroom, then headed down to the park for my last six miles. I don't think I slowed down much at all in the last miles. I continued to feel fine -- used my caffeinated GU at about mile 16 for a little lift -- wasn't even breathing hard on my walk breaks. I felt as though I could have kept right on going when I finished at 2:15 pm.

Total run took just about exactly six hours, including the two bathroom breaks at 5 and 14 miles. Which averages out to 18-minute miles, or about 17 if you subtract the 15 minutes for the breaks.

Woo! One more long run done.

Aargh!

After driving all the way into the library -- a 15-mile round trip, thereabouts -- and futzing around getting my donor message updated, re-typing the changes because the copy I'd uploaded to my web space for easy access didn't word wrap and I didn't know if it would work right if I just copy/pasted it, I got home to find a BIG STUPID MISTAKE in the message. Which I couldn't fix, because I didn't want to drive all the way back into town to change ONE WORD in the text.

Sigh. I'm meeting a friend online in a little while, so I'll ask her to make the change for me. But how frustrating! ::kicks stupid web page that doesn't work on Macs::

So I ended up wasting most of the afternoon trying to see if I could fix it using my old, old computer (don't even have a working browser on it any more, I discoverd) or my PalmPilot (the simplified browser won't run the javascript). Came very close to skipping my Thursday run, but the thought that I haven't missed a run yet and I don't want to start now finally got me out of the house at around 3 pm. Heh. Frustration makes for lots of energy.

So, run done, message updated (except for ONE STUPID WORD, which will be fixed in about an hour, I hope), donation page linked from my website, check!

A memorable run

I totally forgot to log my Tuesday run. But I did do it! Honest!

And now, I head into town to go to the library and use their computers to update the message on my donor page, since their updating app doesn't work on my Mac, and it doesn't seem that the website person I emailed my message to is going to update it any time soon, and I want it done! Now! Because I have at long last decided to link to it from my web sites, and I want something other than the fairly lame generic message on it.

Week 15: Nine miles

It was a sleepy run today, in cloudy weather -- but fortunately, only a few drops of rain. I ran at the park, with my running watch and iPod. I turned the iPod volume down and managed to hear most of the beeps. I missed one run interval altogether, but other than that, I did all right.

For some reason, I was very tired and low-energy today, and glad it was only a short run.

Run silent

Ran without the iPod again today. Thirty minutes, it was a run, not much to say about it.

In addition to my run today, I did some work outside, chopping up some branches for the fire, and bringing more firewood up onto the porch. I feel that I need more upper-body work, but the lymphedema in my left arm makes it difficult. I have to find a balance between strengthening my arm and overworking it. Maybe I should schedule in a "yard work" day on Thursday, and spend at least an hour a week gathering kindling, chopping branches, etc. That would complement the housework day on Tuesday, with laundry and cleaning and such.

Quiet

I decided to do my maintenance run today without the iPod. Sometimes, I just like the quiet. Plus, I wanted to be able to hear my watch beeps and not have to watch the seconds count down. In order to wear my watch on my wrist and not have to worry about static electricity, I cut a small square of rubber from a roll that I have (why do I have a thin sheet of rubber in a roll? I don't know) to put under the metal case. It seemed to work fine.

The new watch counts Reps when using the interval timer, which makes keeping track of a whole run easier. When doing a 2:3 interval, one rep is 5 minutes, so a 30-minute run is 6 reps.

It was nice to have the beeps of the watch telling me when to run and when to walk. I was able to let my mind wander, and think complete thoughts without being interrupted by "How long have I run? Is it time to stop yet? How many seconds left?" and constant watch watching. It made the run go by much more quickly.

Perhaps I'll retire the iPod, or at least try turning the music way down, so I can hear my watch better. Maybe I can do something like running for an hour with music, then an hour without on the long runs. Or save the iPod for the last hour or so, when I need a boost to finish.

Week 14: Eighteen miles

The plan this week was to run to my mom's house (to fill my water bottle and use the bathroom midway through the run), then to the park to finish the run. It wasn't until I got up this morning at 7 am that I thought about it and decided to run four miles here around the house first before setting off to mom's. I started at 8:30 am -- with my new watch, iPod, wearing a nylon/flannel track suit my mom gave me years ago -- and ran a little over an hour, then took a break to drink a protein drink and call my mom to let her know I was on my way, and hit the road at around 9:50 am. I think my break was about ten minutes long.

I ran -- I hardly like to say "ran," since at 1:3, I'm walking more than running -- from here, down Dennison to Valley, and down Valley to my mom's. Pretty straightforward. Running along Valley past Curry wasn't as bad as I thought it would be -- between getting stronger and getting used to running in town, I felt fine. Slowed up a little on the last mile up Valley to Golden Hills Blvd -- uphill, bumpy shoulder, lots of traffic -- but arrived at Mom's at around 12:26 pm.

Took another ten-minute break for water and bathroom and emptying the rocks out of my shoes, then it was off to the park for my final five miles. The 1:3 interval was relatively easy to keep up. I finished at just about 2 pm. Subtracting 20 minutes for my two breaks leaves me with a time of 5 hours and 10 minutes for the 18 miles, or about 17.22 minutes per mile. Yay! Barely any slower than when I was doing the 2:3 interval. And this time, I was supposed to be doing 17-minute miles.

I had two GUs along the way, one at about 10 miles, and one with caffeine after I left mom's house. On a longer run, I might want something to nibble on at the four-hour mark, but for today, I was fine. For the 20-mile run, I'll probably take a Clif Bar along, just in case.

All in all, it was a good run. I feel like I'm figuring out all the little details about what/when to eat and how much to drink and so on. Even though it wasn't terribly cold today, I'm glad I wore the track suit instead of my usual CoolMax-type running clothes, which tend to be really cold in the wind.

Eighteen miles down, eight more to go!

New watch!

I went to the Copeland Sports in Bakersfield yesterday, and not only did they have the watch I wanted (Timex Iron Man Triathlon 50-lap Sleek), it was on sale for 30% off! Yay!

I tried it out on my run this morning. My biggest question was, would I be able to hear the beeps over the music on my iPod? The answer is yes, if I'm paying attention and the music isn't too loud.

My other question was, where should I carry it? I put it around my wrist, but over my jacket cuff, where it was fine for most of the run, but then it slipped down so that the metal case was touching my wrist, which is not good, because I'm prone to shorting out watches with static electricity. Sure enough, the watch stopped soon after. I banged it and it started again, and from then on held the watch in my hand by the rubber strap, and it was okay for the rest of the run. On long runs, I can loop it around my belt, but if I wear it around my wrist, I'm going to have to insulate it by putting something underneath the case. Or put it in my pocket, or something. But if it's in my pocket, I probably won't be able to hear the beeps well enough. Hm. I have some thin sheets of rubber here somewhere, I can probably rig up some kind of insulation for the case.

Anyway, have watch, have new shoes, am all set!

New shoes!

The shopping expedition on Sunday was only partly successful -- I didn't find a running watch, but I did find another pair of shoes exactly like my happy red shoes, except black. I wanted red ones! But I figured I was actually lucky to find the same style in my size at all, let alone in the same color. I ran in them this morning, and they were very comfy. I can tell that they're more comfortable than my old shoes, which are clearly wearing out. I'll use the new shoes for my maintenance runs to break them in, and save them for the marathon.

Today's run was fine, as usual. I got up early today, but waited until after 11 am for my run, to see if it would warm up a little. It was pretty nice by the time I actually ran -- sunny, no wind, probably around mid-50s. I hope it's like that on Sunday when I do my 18-mile run!

Week 13: Eight miles

I did my long run a day early this week, because of the planned trip to Ontario Mills tomorrow for Christmas shopping. A mere eight miles! I did about 11-1/2 loops at the park, and walked the final 1/2 loop for a cooldown. Whole thing took about two hours and 15 minutes, right on pace.

It was a good run, no problems, except that it was C O L D!!!!! I don't think it got much above freezing all day. I knew it was going to be cold, and wore my cotton exercise pants, running shirt, and hooded sweatshirt -- but it was still just barely enough. I should have worn my sweatpants, too. I had planned to, but decided at the last minute that they might be too warm (and they might have been, if the sun had come out, as it was forecast to) and changed to the cotton pants. But it was cloudy and windy and probably a good 10 degrees colder than the weather forecast said it would be, so BRRR.

It was my first long run with my iPod -- way cool! I listened to "Common Threads," Green Day's "American Idiot," and Linkin Park's "Hybrid Theory." I had wondered, if you set it to play the songs in order instead of randomly, whether it would start from the beginning each time, or pick up where it left off last time. Answer: it picks up from where it left off. That's cool, that way I'll get more variety in my music.

Afterwards, I went to mom's house for lunch. We'd been planning to go out to lunch, so I brought a change of clothes so I could shower and put on street clothes when I was done. We ended up staying in, but I was glad to be able to shower and change afterwards, anyway. Wearing sweaty running clothes all afternoon gets uncomfortable and cold.

I'm going to shop for a running watch and possibly a new pair of shoes tomorrow. I might see if I can find some cold-weather running clothes, too. It's only going to get colder for the next couple of months.

iPod!

I got my iPod yesterday, loaded it up with seven hours of music, and tried it out this morning on my maintenance run. Whee! I put it on shuffle for the 30 minute run, and was treated to songs by Green Day, Marilyn Manson, Korn, and others while I ran around the house. The sound is great, and the iPod weighs practically nothing. It's kind of weird for me to hear the songs all mixed up like that, when I'm used to playing whole CDs, but it was fun. For the long runs, I'll probably use the option to play the songs straight through rather than the random shuffle, but for only 30 minutes, it's kind of fun not to know what's coming up next.

It was a great purchase! I'm glad I got it.

I'll be doing eight miles this weekend, while the gang in LA does 17. I got an email from our site rep saying that the five slowest pace groups should show up at the site at 7 am to get an early start -- yikes! That won't affect me now, but if they continue starting the slower pace groups an hour early for the long runs, that kind of puts a monkey wrench in my plans to try driving down to run with the group for the 22+ mile runs. Getting up at 5 am to get there by 8 am would be bad enough, but getting up at 4 am to get there by 7 am? I dunno. I need to email our site rep and find out about that.

Also, for the 17+ mile runs, we are supposed to slow our pace by another minute, and subtract one minute from our run interval. So, I should be doing 1:3 instead of 2:3. Which means I really need to get that timing watch now -- I can manage 2:3 on a regular watch, because it divides up neatly into 5-minute intervals, but trying to keep track of 1:3 will be pretty much impossible, I think. I don't know whether I'll be able to hear the beeps with the iPod on, but at least I'll be able to see the countdown timers and know whether I should be running or walking.

This Sunday I'll be going to the Ontario Mills Mall with my mom for some Christmas shopping -- I'll see if I can find a sporting goods store there and pick up a watch and possibly another pair of running shoes while I'm at it.

I haven't been mentioning much about my fundraising lately. That's because there hasn't been much to mention, sigh. I have gotten a few more donations from friends -- I expect to have a total of about $750 in donations and sales by the time my credit card gets charged for the balance, so I'll end up paying $750 out of pocket. Which is kind of scary, but more or less what I expected when I started this. I should be trying harder to raise money, but... bleah.

Tuesday bluesday

Well, I had a little adventure today as I went out for my run.... I'd decided to run down the road a ways and back, instead of around and around the house, so I intended to bring my keys and lock the door -- except I forgot my keys. Locked myself out of the house. Took about fifteen minutes and a bit of climbing and jumping to get back in (I climbed into the attic from the garage and out the door from the attic into the sunroom), and by the time that was done, I didn't feel much like running any more. Plus, it's been cloudy and windy and threatening to rain all day, so I just did 30 minutes around the house, as usual.

I felt very ploddy today, but I did get my 30 minutes in, so all's well.

Week 12: Sixteen miles

Another long run down -- and I'm only ten miles short of a marathon!

It was a good run. My pace was about the same as last time -- I averaged just over 17 minutes per mile -- but I felt better. Didn't get so tired at the end. I didn't feel like I was slowing down in the second half, but it took about 15 minutes longer than the first half, so I guess I must have.

I got kind of a late start -- I ended up sleeping until 9:20 this morning, and didn't get out the door until ten minutes to 11:00. Oops! It was clear but cold -- probably around 45 - 50F the whole time. The sun was nice, but the wind was bitey cold. I wore my black running pants and shirt, which are warmer than my usual running outfit, and kept my hooded jacket on for the whole run. At least it wasn't as cold as yesterday! OMG, it was freezing all day yesterday, with high winds and clouds. I went out yesterday morning to attend the opening of Red Apple Road, walked about a mile and a half up the road and back, and nearly froze. Yikes!

Anyway, I planned a route that was 14 miles altogether from here to the park, then added a mile around the house before I left, and a mile around the loop in the park when I got there. Mom came and met me at Valley and Curry to refill my water bottle, as she did before. I drank a soy protein drink with coffee before I left, so I had some energy and a bit of a caffeine jolt to keep me going. Then I had two GUs along the way, one after about two and a half hours, and one at three and a half hours. The second GU was also a caffeinated one. I think the caffeine helps keep me going, although it doesn't make me any faster, it makes the run feel easier.

I think for the 18 and 20 mile runs, I will run from here to mom's place, so I can take a break to get water and use the bathroom at the halfway point. Then probably just run from her place to the park to finish the second half.

Mom drove me back to her place for dinner afterwards, and then drove me home -- it was after dark when I got home! It's been a long day. But I'm happy with my run.

Happy Thanksgiving!

My run is done!

I'm thankful that, despite all my health woes over the past couple of years, I'm still able to run and train for another marathon.

I'm thankful that I'm able to use the marathon as an opportunity to raise money to help people with AIDS/HIV.

I'm thankful for my family and friends, who support me in my training.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Another Tuesday

I didn't do my update yesterday, but I did, in fact, do my Tuesday run -- 30 minutes at 3:2. I had company staying for a couple of days, but am pleased that I still got out there and did my run, not using the excuse of having a house guest to get out of it.

I've been thinking of increasing my midweek runs to 45 minutes instead of 30, but this week -- what with guests and Thanksgiving -- is definitely not a good week to start it. So, tomorrow will be 30 minutes as usual. Maybe next week I'll try doing an extra 10 - 15 minutes per maintenance run.

I haven't really thought about my route for Sunday. If I don't get around to measuring any new roads in my truck, I'll just do a repeat of the 14-mile route, with two miles tacked on around the house before I head off.

Week 11: Seven miles

The seven-mile run went pretty well. I actually got up a bit early this week, and was at the park ready to run at 9:30 this morning. I did ten loops, about an hour and 54 minutes, right on track. I even checked my time at the halfway point -- five loops -- and saw that it was about 57 minutes, so I could compare my total time and see if I was slowing down any in the second half, and it came out pretty darn close to exactly 57 minutes for the next five loops, too. Afterwards, I had lunch at mom's and came home to do housework. I've got company coming tomorrow, and Thanksgiving here on Thursday, so have been spending the last week or so getting the house in order. One unfortunate result of that is that I've been very stuffy-headed, having stirred up my allergies with all the dust. But the house is clean now, so I hope my head will clear up.

Another result of the housecleaning is that I came across a couple of Runner's World magazines I hadn't gotten around to reading, so I sat down to check them out and got myself a bit inspired again. Lots of good advice, and mainly encouragement that everyone has bad days (weeks?) and runs that don't go well, and eveyone gets discouraged every once in a while, and there are ways to get your enthusiasm back and make your runs go better.

So, I decided to get myself an iPod Shuffle so I can listen to music while I run. I think that will help keep me going, especially on the long runs here in town, when I'm running by myself. I'm also going to go ahead and get myself a running watch, so I won't have to be constantly watching my timer to figure out when to run and when to walk. I've already ordered the iPod. I haven't decided about the watch yet, whether to order it online or try to find a sporting goods store in Bakersfield or something. But soon.

I've also decided to make my own schedule for the next month or so, and do 16, 8, 18, 9, 20 mile run. So next week, it will be 16 miles!

And round some more

Bleah. Tired, depressed, still having digestion problems. What's the deal? I'm starting to dread my runs, instead of looking forward to them. Am I reaching my burnout point? Is this all the farther my body can go?

Well, anyway, I did my 30 minutes today. This weekend is seven miles, so that shouldn't be a problem. I noticed, though, that our schedule calls for another 7 mile run next week, and 17 miles the week after that, December 3/4. That's the weekend I'm going on an excursion with my mom to Ontario Mills for Christmas shopping, and I'm not keen on the idea of running 17 miles the day before. I checked the schedule, and it looks like they've moved around some of the long runs to avoid having them on holiday weekends. Which makes sense, since a lot of people will be out of town, but I won't, so I'm thinking of rearranging my own schedule to do 16 miles next week, 8 the week after, then 18, 9, 20. Then I'd be back in sync with the AIDS Marathon. Trouble is, that has me doing 20 miles on Christmas weekend. I could do it... but I'm not sure how well it will work.

Guess I've got a couple of weeks to think about it. I'm doing 7 miles this weekend, anyway, for sure.

I got an email from the AIDS Marathon saying they hadn't received my recommitment form yet. I mailed it a couple of days before the deadline, and they should have it by now, but I suppose it could have gotten lost in the mail. In the back of my mind, I'm thinking, if they don't get it, I'll just drop out. Sigh. This is a lot harder than any of my previous marathons. I wish I were close enough to LA to run with the group.

Well, I'll stick with it as long as I can.

Round and round

Still had a bit of a tummyache today (which leads me to believe I might just have picked up some sort of mild stomach virus or something, because the popcorn I ate Saturday night wouldn't still be bugging me on Tuesday), but I got my Tuesday run in. My shins and hamstrings are a bit sore from Sunday, but not bad. Nothing like the 10-mile run, which I keep telling myself whenever I start to feel disappointed that the 14-mile run didn't go better. It was Better Than the Ten-Mile Run. That's my new mantra. As long as it's better than the 10-mile, I'm okay!

Week 10: Fourteen miles

Whew! Okay, it was long and got pretty tiring at the end, but it was done, and in fact, it went pretty well.

I started out this morning at 10:13 am from my house, feeling pretty good after a good night's sleep. I was horribly tired and bad-tempered yesterday, and remained worried about doing 14 miles today, but was relieved to find that when I got up this morning, while still somewhat grumpy, I did feel strong and awake enough to do the run.

So off I went. I ran down my road to Highline, where I made the first change from the last time I did a long run through town -- I kept going up Dennison instead of turning on Highline. There was a frontage road along Dennison all the way to the high school, where there was actual sidewalk, so it was easier than running on the shoulder along Highline. When I got to Dennison and Valley Blvd, which I figured was about six miles, I called my mom on my cell phone to have her come and meet me at Curry, my halfway point, to fill up my water bottle. Which she did. So I had plenty of water the whole way, another advantage over the last town run.

I turned right on Curry and ran to Tehachapi Blvd, then left on Tehachapi past the Kmart, then turned left on Mountain View to head back towards Valley. Partly, this was to add another mile to my run so I'd have less to do once I reached the park, and partly it was to avoid running on the part of Valley where there was no sidewalk or bike path. It worked pretty well -- I still had to run up Valley to Tucker and beyond, but until they open Red Apple Road, there's no other way to get to the park than Valley, so I had to come back to Valley eventually for part of the way.

Running up Valley Blvd was hard -- uphill, uneven shoulders, lots of traffic. It's where I really ran out of steam last time. This time was easier, but still no fun.

When I reached Golden Hills Blvd, I turned right, then made a detour to my mom's house to use the bathroom before heading down to the park. I ate a bowl of popcorn for dinner last night, and it was working its way through me, until I decided I'd better stop. That was a relief! My mom's couch was tempting, but I passed it by and hit the road again for my final four miles.

Mom walked with me for a little ways to show me a better way to get to Woodward than going down Golden Hills Blvd. Just one block over, on Angel, was much less traffic on a little residential street. When I started running, she headed back to her place to finish something she was cooking, and I continued to the park.

Along the way, I smashed my left big toe for the third time on this run -- first, I tripped on an uneven part of the sidewalk on Valley, then tripped again on uneven shoulder, and now I bashed my toe right into a big rock! Ow! Fortunately, I'd cut my toenails short before the run and my toe wasn't banging against my shoes, so I was fine for the rest of the run, but my toe is still sore. I hope the nail isn't injured and it heals up before next week's run.

I was pretty dog-tired by the time I reached the park, but still managed to do four loops for my last three miles. I'm sure I slowed down some, but I did keep up with my run/walk intervals right to the end. I finished at 2:18 pm. Subtracting five minutes for the pit stop at my mom's makes it just about exactly four hours for the whole run. That's just over 17 minutes per mile. A little slower than I'd like, but I think I was keeping my pace pretty well up until the last three miles or so, which is where I really slowed down.

When I was done, Mom, who'd come down to the park and walked a loop herself, drove me back to her place, where I did my ab work and stretches and had a yummy late lunch, then hung out for a while until she drove me home.

I feel pretty good now. I was really hungry by the time we ate, but I had two GUs and most of a pack of Sport Beans along the way, and it seemed to keep my strength up. I'd probably have done better if I hadn't eaten that popcorn last night. I'll have to remember not to do that any more.

All in all, I'm pleased. I wish I could stick to my 16-minute-mile pace for the whole run, but the important thing is that I finished it without getting overly worn out.

Counter-clockwise, again

I was feeling kind of depressed and tired this morning, and really didn't want to run, but I did it anyway. I considered running down the road for fifteen minutes and back, instead of around and around the house, just to break up the monotony, but settled for running counter-clockwise around the house instead. The run went fine, although I didn't feel very energetic. I stuck to 2:3 most of the time, except for a couple of intervals where I did 3:2 by mistake. Heh.

I'm feeling a bit apprehensive about the 14-mile run on Sunday, after how hard the 10-mile run was, even though I've figured out why the 10-mile was so hard and thought of ways to avoid those pitfalls this time. I'm still not really looking forward to it. I hope I can stir up some enthusiasm before Sunday.

Clockwise

I did my maintenance run with a 3:2 run/walk ratio again today, but I ran clockwise! I'm just so unpredictable!

Cloudy and coolish today, good running weather. I ran between doing loads of laundry. I am so industrious today!

Week 9: Six miles

This is the point where we start alternating long runs with shorter recovery runs on the weekend, so today was only six miles. I ran at Meadowbrook Park for and hour and 40 minutes or so, then finished my last lap walking, so I ended up doing nine laps altogether.

I noticed that I was doing laps fairly quickly, so I timed one, and it was 10:52 -- not quite eleven minutes. Either I was running way too fast (doubtful) or the laps are not 0.8 miles, as I'd thought. I suspect they're actually closer to 0.7 miles. Which would help explain why my 10-mile run was so hard -- the week before, I was supposed to do 8 miles, but that was the week I forgot my timer and had to estimate my distance by laps. I ran ten laps, thinking that would be around eight miles, but if each lap is only 0.7 miles or less, I really ran no more than seven miles. Which means that when I did my ten mile run, I was increasing my distance by three miles or more. I do remember that I began to run out of steam after about seven miles, so that would make sense. Today I did nine laps, and I was only doing six miles.

I measured the distance between my place and the park in my truck, and it was 9.9 miles. I also drove down Valley Blvd instead of Highline, and it seems to be a better road for running -- more sidewalks, paths, bigger shoulders, and slower speed limit so less worry about traffic. I could run from here to the park and then do another four miles of laps to get in my 14 miles next week. Or I may measure some other routes. I've got a week to figure out my route for next week.

Anyway, I felt pretty good today, and felt as though I kept up a good pace. For six miles, I should be able to!

My fundraising total for October was within three or four bucks of the amount needed to bring my total to $500, so I just contributed the whole amount. I think I should be able to scrape up another $500 sales and donations this month, which will leave me with only $500 more that I'll need to come up with on my own. Not bad.

Counter-clockwise

I did my second maintenance run today this week instead of yesterday (Thursday), because I spent two hours yesterday digging dirt to repair my driveway where it got washed out in the rains last month, and I figured that was enough exercise for one day.

Just to shake things up a bit, on today's run, I did a 3:2 run/walk ratio, instead of my usual 2:3, and also ran around the house counter-clockwise, instead of clockwise! What a wild and crazy person I am! Heh. The 3:2 was no problem on such a short run. I might even try to extend my maintenance runs to run more of the time, just to keep them interesting.

It's starting to get windy and cold. I haven't had to run in the rain yet, except for a few drops, but I'm sure it will come at some point. I'm still thinking about driving down to LA to do some of the really long long runs with the group. Maybe at 18 or 20 miles I'll try another one. Now that I've been there once, I shouldn't have to leave quite so early. If I can actually sleep until I need to get up -- instead of waking up at 2:00 AM and lying awake until 5:00 AM wondering if it's time to get up yet -- I should be ok. Well, we'll see. I've got some weeks to think about it yet.

I forgot to mention that I took advantage of the hotel's high-speed wireless Internet in SF to make reservations at the Wilshire Grand in LA for the weekend of the marathon. The Wilshire is the official marathon hotel -- supposedly a short walk to the start and finish areas of the marathon -- and they had a special marathon rate, which was still spendy but not too bad for a big city hotel. I'll drive down Saturday afternoon so I can go to the Expo and pick up my race packet, get a good night's sleep and walk to the race in the morning, then head back to the hotel after the marathon to rest and recuperate for one more night before heading home on Monday. Should be a nice little mini-vacation.

Home again

Boy, I really didn't want to do my maintenance run today. Still feeling kind of tired and icky from my trip and eating strange vacation food and such. I had to speak firmly to myself to make myself go out and do it! Fortunately, it was just a short, midweek run, rather than a long one. The run itself didn't feel bad, although I didn't have much energy. It was motivating myself to get out there and do it that was the hard part!

So, I managed to do maintenance runs the day I left and the day after I got back, and a long run while on vacation. I'm pleased that I'm keeping up with the training and not letting things get in the way.

Week 8: Twelve Miles

So, I'm in San Francisco for the weekend for a con, and decided to take the opportunity to go and run with a group in my old city, and it was so great! The Rosa Mota group is fairly large here, plus there were several other additions (besides me), so we ended up with a group of eight people. I talked most of the time to a woman who's ordinarily with the 13 minute pace group, I think, but who was running with a slower group today because she had a cold. It was great having someone to chat with the whole way. Really makes the run easier.

We did the loop around Lake Merced, up and down Sunset from the Park. I think our group went out a little too fast -- and my running pal and I ended up trailing behind for much of the way -- but we never quite got left behind, and they did try to slow down to stay on pace. I was kind of sore and tired for the last few miles, but the run was not bad on the whole. I'd been a little worried, after how hard the 10-mile run was, but I guess it was the difficulty of the route I'd taken that slowed me down so much, because 12 miles was no problem. Whew.

So now I'm back at the hotel, and feeling fine. Yay twelve miles! Nearly halfway there.

Thurdsay on the road

I did my run Thursday morning, then hit the road for San Francisco! And, have already forgotten everything about it except that it Was Done.

Tomorrow, I get to go run with the gang in SF at Golden Gate Park. Yay!

Tuesday in the fog

This is the first time I've been sore after a long run, and I was still sore today when I did my maintenance run. But getting my legs moving helped work the soreness out, and I did my 30 minutes with no problem.

The weather is starting to get cold, finally. It was foggy and there was a chill in the air. I ran in my sweatpants and tee-shirt, and it took about 12 minutes before I was warmed up enough not to feel the cold. And, hm, I just realized I didn't do my ab work and stretches after my run. Oops! Just totally spaced it out. Oh well. But I can't get up now, I have a cat stretched out across my lap!

Week 7: Ten miles

Made it to double digits! Yay!

This week I ran from my house to my mom's place -- 9 miles by my truck's odomoter -- with an extra 15 minutes around the house before I started out to make the extra mile.

This was the first time I've had the chance to run distance instead of time, so I could see how I was doing on keeping my pace. The first six miles or so were right on pace, but once I hit Highline Rd, things started to get difficult. There's not much of a shoulder on Highline, so I was running through a lot of stiff, prickly weeds and uneven ground at the side of the road. It was also uphill most of the way. I started slowing way down, skipping run intervals just to keep going. I picked up the pace a little at Tucker, but ended up walking the last mile up Valley Blvd, and it was really hard. I even got kind of dizzy when I stopped to wait for the light to cross to my mom's place.

But I made it! Mom and a couple of her neighbors were out by the side of the building, waiting for me, and cheered me in. That was kind of wacky and fun. I rested a bit on mom's couch, then did my ab work and stretching, and mom fed me lunch and drove me home.

The whole run took about 3 hours, which averages out to about 18 minutes per mile. I'm a bit disappointed -- I'd hoped I could maintain my 16-minute-mile pace for the whole run -- but I made it, and that's the important thing. Next time, I'll try going down Valley Blvd instead of Highline. Should be less of a hill, as well as better sidewalks for running.

This was also the first time I increased my total mileage by two miles in one week. Up till now, it's been one mile a week. We increase two more miles next week, to 12 miles. But next week, I'll be running in San Francisco, with the group up there. I'm looking forward to running in my old city.

Sun

I didn't get out of bed until 10:30 am, then futzed around and didn't do my run until after 2 pm. Yet, I did my run, and felt pretty good, too. I generally do better exercising mid-afternoon than morning. Why doesn't anyone schedule marathons at 2 pm? Ah well. (Yes, I know, at my pace I'd be running until 9 at night.)

I feel as though I was lazy today, but I did do my run. Morning, afternoon, whatever.

I didn't have chocolate (except for my usual mini Peppermint Patties), but instead, I had curry rice. OMG it was good! I used up my allotment of fat for the next three days, but it was worth it.

Rain

In fact, it wasn't raining when I did my 30 minutes today. But it had been raining, and the driveway was muddy, and I had to pick my way carefully through the brush that had been washed down the gully and over the driveway, and find the parts that weren't squishy and slippery. But I did it. Six weeks, and I haven't missed a run yet! I deserve chocolate.

Week 6: 8 miles

The weather report called for possible thunderstorms and showers today, so I'd considered doing my run on Saturday instead of Sunday, but then I figured, what the heck. In the first place, the weather report is often wrong, and in the second place, I'm going to be training all through the winter -- I'm doubtless going to be running in rain and cold and snow at some point, so I might as well just stick to my schedule and do it.

The weather turned out to be not so bad. It sprinkled now and then, but didn't even rain enough to get the dirt wet. It was mostly cloudy and the wind was cold, but I wore my sweatpants and sweatshirt and a cotton tee-shirt (all the things they tell you not to run in) and they kept me warm enough.

What was a problem was that I ended up not bringing my timer watch along. I'd tied a shoestring around my belt to hang it from so I wouldn't have to carry it in my hand the whole time, but when I grabbed my belt to head for the truck, the shoestring and watch fell off and I didn't notice I was without it until I got to the park. It would have been a good 45 minutes, minimum, to drive back and get it, so I just ran without it. Which was... challenging, to say the least. I counted strides to estimate minutes for my run/walk ratio, and counted laps (by eating one jellybean per lap) in order to run ten laps total. I'm not sure if I ran the full two hours and eight minutes (although it must have been close -- I think I arrived at the park at around 10:45, and I ended my run at around 12:53) or the full eight miles (but ten laps should have been near that), but I got my run in, and it was close enough.

Thursday, Thursday

OMG I am tired and brainwiped and useless today. And yet, I trudged around the house for half an hour. Go me.

The last of my current eBay auctions closed yesterday. And again, I'm of a mind to give up on auctions. Even though yesterday's auctions went well -- all the items sold, and a few for good bucks. But it's so tiring and stressful. One of the people who bought one of my mom's pieces of jewelry isn't happy with it. I told her to send it back and I'd refund her money, but haven't heard back from her yet. It upsets me when people think they've gotten a bad deal from me. I worry about it for way longer than I should. After I get yesterday's items all paid for and mailed off, I think I'll hang it up for a while again.

Tuesday, Tuesday

I kept almost forgetting to run today! It's my brother's birthday, and my mom and I are going to his place later today for dinner, and I've got eBay items to package for mailing, and work to do on my website, and the fact that it was also a Maintenance Run day kept slipping my mind. But I did get out there and do it, so all is well.

Sold three of five magazines I listed last week, for a total of $11.75. I should try to get some more magazines ready for next week. I keep deciding to give up on eBay sales, then I keep changing my mind. Oh well. Maybe I'll take my laptop over to my brother's today and try out his satellite Internet connection. I'm sure he wouldn't mind if I went over there to work a couple of times a week, at least until the Java Café reopens.

Week 5: 7 miles

Once again, I went to the Meadowbrook Park near my mom's house for my run. I did nine and a half loops, for about an hour and fifty-five minutes or so altogether. I think it may have been closer to 7-1/2 miles than 7, but good enough. The run was not bad at all. The weather's cooling down a bit, so it was probably around 65 F with clear skies, perfect running weather.

I went to my mom's for lunch afterwards, then checked the mileage on the way home -- it's exactly nine miles from her place to mine. Next week, I'll do eight miles at the park again, but the week after, when we're scheduled to to 10 miles, I think I'll run to mom's. I'll have to add an extra mile somewhere -- probably just run around my house for 15 minutes, then head on down the road! I think it will be more fun to actually go somewhere on the run, rather than just running around in circles.

When we get to 18 miles, I can run to her place and back!

Thursday run

Did my 30 minutes. It's getting very easy to do the maintenance runs now. My pulse barely hit 100 after I was done. Which is a good thing, because I'd be in trouble trying to run increasingly long distances on the weekends if less than two miles was still wearing me out!

Got five more eBay listings up yesterday, for jewelry donated by my mom. The plan was to go to the Burger Spot in town, where they also supposedly have free wireless Internet, but I was foiled again! I could see the network on my Airport, but it wanted a password to log in, and nobody there at the restaurant seemed to know what it was. Somebody told me to log in as "Guest," but that didn't work (wonder if I should have tried it in all caps? hmm). So I ended up doing them at home again, which was just as well, because I had to re-take a couple of the pictures, and do more measurements of some of the pieces, and so on. It ended up taking me about two hours.

I decided not to try to do five more tomorrow. I don't really have the time -- I have other things to do, and besides, I've already made $150 this week selling DVDs on Amazon.com. Woot! All my X-Files DVD sets sold, as well as a set of Yoga DVDs I don't use. So I'll just consider that my sales for the week.

Next week, I plan to dig my old aquarium stuff out of the garage and clean it up and take it into the pet store in town. The woman there already said she'd buy my used equipment. I have no idea how much she'll pay, but I'm hoping to get at least a couple hundred bucks for my 75-gallon setup -- I paid about $1500 for it originally, and it's all still in good condition. I've also got the wet/dry filter I had in my 150-gallon tank before I bought the Eheim II Pro. So that will be my sales for next week. :) I'm still going to list stuff on eBay, but I need to start looking around for things I can sell in other ways, too. I'm just not making enough money for the time and effort I'm spending listing things on eBay.

Today I also sent for a box of 24 packets of GU, so I'll have them when I start doing the longer runs. This week, seven miles!

Tuesday run

Run/walk: 30 minutes

Today's run was a piece of cake. I barely felt like I'd got started when it was over! Yay! I'm really getting stronger, even though sometimes I don't feel like it.

eBay auctions are back up! I listed five magazines yesterday. I'd prepared the photos and descriptions and planned to go into town and do the listings at the cafe, but unfortunately, when I got there, the Java Cafe was closed while new owners take over. Argh! The sign on the door said they'd reopen in mid-October. I'm hoping the food's better when they reopen. I'm also hoping the new owners keep the free Internet. I guess I'll just have to wait and see.

So, I did the listings at home, with my pathetic 21k dialup. It took an hour and a half to get five listings up! What a frustration. I still haven't decided what to do for tomorrow's listings. I have more magazines I could try to sell, but they take so long to write up descriptions for, I was hoping to do something easier this time. I've still got some of my mom's jewelry, but I need to get with her to write the descriptions. Maybe I'll take some pieces and laptop into her place tomorrow and do the listings there. At least I can get a faster dialup at her place.

Meanwhile, today I've listed some DVDs with Amazon.com Marketplace. Decided to sell my box sets of X-Files Seasons 1 - 3. I'll never watch them again, and it looks like I can get some decent money for them. Also listed a couple of others. I went through all my DVDs looking for stuff I could sell. You'd think as rarely as I watch any of them, I'd have more I was willing to part with! Oh well. If the X-Files boxes all sell, I'll get over $100 for them.

Week 4: 6 Miles

This week's LA runs were cancelled due to low air quality from the huge fires down there. But I decided to go ahead and do six miles this week anyway. Our air's just fine up here in Tehachapi. :) I don't know how they plan to make up the skipped run, but I figured if I stayed on the original schedule, we'd match up again eventually. And, I want to do the 12-mile run with the group in San Francisco when I'm up there at the end of this month, so it would be better to stay on their schedule for now.

Anyway, the run went fine. I went to the park by my mom's house and ran loops there. I did eight loops plus a bit to get in my one hour and thirty-six minutes. I wore my new red shirt and tried out a few "Sport Beans" -- jelly beans with electrolytes. I only ate three while I was out on the course, but they sat in my stomach okay. I think I still prefer GU, but the jelly beans do have the advantage of being less sticky and messy.

This afternoon, I plan to write up the descriptions of five magazines to post on eBay tomorrow. I've had my week off, and it's time to start selling things again. I plan to take my laptop into town and do the actual listing using the Java Cafe's wireless Internet connection. That should save a little time.

New shirt!

Run/walk: 30 minutes

I got my latest cholesterol results yesterday -- 203, down from 230! Go me! In celebration, I went to the grocery store and bought: sushi (mm, sushi), smoked salmon (mm, salmon), ingredients for tabbouleh (healthy ingredients but a bit more olive oil than I like to consume on a daily basis), and a new running shirt! Yes, we have clothing at our Albertsons grocery store. Just a few pieces, but my eye was caught as I passed the deli by a brilliant melon-pink women's running shirt, so I went over to check them out. The almost-flourescent pink was tempting, but I don't really like the cap sleeves they put on women's shirts, or the snuggish fit. But they also had one brick-red large men's tee-shirt-style shirt for $9.99, so I bought that, and ran in it this morning, and I love it! It's so soft and slinky and floppy and red! It matches my new red shoes!

Ahem. Well, anyway, new shirt, cholesterol down, and I've started taking ginkgo biloba to help my chemo-shredded memory, and it seems to be working really well -- not only clearing away the brain fog, but increasing my energy, lifting my mood, and even draining my sinuses. I hope it's not just a temporary thing! Because, omg, I almost feel like a real person again!

Running round and round in circles

Maintenance run: done

Check for $141.10 to AIDS Marathon-LA for September auctions: done

Mmm, endorphins...

Week 3: 5 Miles

For once, I actually went over to the park by my mom's and ran there, instead of just thinking about it. It went pretty well -- I stopped off at mom's first, and she drove us over to the park. She walked around the trail once and then sat in the picnic area watching the kids play baseball while I kept on going round and round and round.

I used the 2:3 run/walk ratio and ran for about an hour and twenty-five minutes total. I didn't count my loops around the trail, but it was probably six or seven. I'd figured that the loop was around 0.8 mile, so five miles would be six loops and a bit. Anyway, five miles at 16 minutes per mile is 80 minutes, and I was out there for about 85 minutes, so that should have covered it.

Anyway, it was a good run.

Maintenance 2

Run/walk: 30 minutes

Okay, that's done. Whew. Caught up for the week, now I can rest up for Sunday, and five miles. I felt stronger today than yesterday, after a good night's sleep.

My last five auctions closed, giving me a total of $141.10 for all the items I've sold this month. Not too bad. Of course, that doesn't count eBay and Paypal fees, and excess shipping charges for the early auctions that cost more to mail than I thought they would. If I were making tons of money, I'd deduct fees before handing over the money to the AIDS Marathon, but since I'll end up covering the quota myself anyway, I might as well go ahead and put those extra bucks in now.

Maintenance 1

Run/walk: 30 minutes

This was my first chance to do my maintenance run this week -- I was in Utah Sunday through Tuesday, and then I was too busy and too tired to run yesterday. Today wasn't all that easy, either -- I had to go into Bakersfield this morning to get blood drawn for lab work, and I had to be fasting, so I didn't get a chance to run until after I got home, at around noon -- and I was still hungry and tired. I only did the 2:3 run/walk ratio, but I got it done.

I'll do my second run tomorrow, and then I'll have a day of rest before doing the five miles on Sunday.

eBay auctions are going well enough -- I've raised a little over $100 so far. But it's draining and time-consuming doing all the work to list and ship everything. My final five current auctions close today. I think I'll take a break for a week or so, and think about how I want to continue with my fundraising.

Week 2: 4 miles

I was going to go into town and run in the park near my mom's house, but decided after all that I had too much to do today, so I just ran around my house for an hour and five minutes. I can't be sure I did exactly four miles, but I did 16 min/mile x 4 miles = 64 minutes, which is what they recommend when we don't have a marked-off course to run.

I used the 2:3 run/walk ratio as recommended, and it was a nice, easy run. I feel better about being able to keep up with the training now. I'm going slower than I wanted to, but I'm going the distance.

Still running

Run/walk: 30 minutes

I did my maintenance run today, so I'm back on track. I'm glad that I've been able to keep it up, even when the will is weak. I haven't missed a run yet. Go me!

I finally posted about the AIDS Marathon in my lj, and got some encouragement there, so that makes me feel better. I haven't quite crawled out of my hole yet, but I think I've got my fingers over the edge.

Maintaining the maintenance

Run/walk: 30 minutes

I didn't run yesterday -- I was too depressed, and there were too many other things going on. I'm still depressed today, but I ran anyway, using a 2:2 run/walk ratio, and it was (unsurprisingly) less tiring than the 3:2 I've been using.

I have considered giving up the marathon, but I'm trying not to. As my mom pointed out, I still need to exercise, whether I'm training for a marathon or not, so keeping up the three-times-a-week runs is still a good idea. And I might as well try to stick to the marathon training schedule for now, using the recommended run/walk ratio, and see how it goes.

If I were doing my usual Sunday long run this week, I'd just shift my schedule by one day, and do my second mid-week run on Friday, but I'm heading out of town on Sunday and must do my four-miler on Saturday, so I'll just go ahead and do my second run tomorrow. Doing them two days in a row isn't ideal, but it should be okay.

eBay auctions are going reasonably well. Out of the first ten auctions, I've sold five things, gotten paid for and mailed three, and relisted the five that didn't sell. I've also made two Amazon.com Marketplace sales. I'm going to add five more Yu-Gi-Oh! card listings today. I'm going to list my 1st Edition Ultimate Rare Sacred Phoenix of Nepthys -- that should bring in some bucks.

Week 1: 3 miles

Well, that... didn't go well.

I got everything all ready last night that I wanted to bring with me this morning. Laid out my clothes, filled my water bottle, put protein powder in a thermos ready to mix up.

Took half an allergy pill, because my head was all stuffed up from chopping weeds, and I had hopes it would help me sleep through till 5:00 am.

It didn't. I woke up around 2:30 am thinking, Is it time to get up yet? Is it time to get up yet? Is it time to get up yet?

All the way till 5:00 am, when it was time to get up. Aargh.

Still, I got up, fed the cats and fish and cleaned the cat boxes, stepped on Spot whom I couldn't see in the dark, packed up my stuff and headed out. The drive wasn't too bad, until I got to LA and started looking for the exits listed on the directions from the email. Passed Los Feliz because I wanted to get off right at Griffith Park -- only there was no Griffith Park exit. Went a good ten minutes out of my way and had to turn around and go back. Aha! There's a Griffith Park exit Northbound -- apparently, we don't think anyone will be coming to the run from the Southbound side. Still, I'd left early to make sure I'd have time for things like that, and I did finally arrive at the site while the announcements were still being made.

The run itself was disappointing. I'd hoped to get at least into the Christine Clark group -- 15 minutes miles -- which is where I trained on my first marathon, with no prior running whatsoever. I figured that, after training on my own for nearly six weeks, I should at least be back to zero -- but I wasn't. I ended up in the 16 minute mile group. And it was a hard run -- I never did hit my groove, and just kept getting tireder. I suppose I could blame it on the long drive, lack of sleep, and allergy pill (which always saps my energy), but I felt very let down. I didn't even do stretches or stay to talk to the coach, I just introduced myself to my pace group (two other women, neither of whom will be running Sundays regularly, so it's just as well if I train on my own) and headed home, exhausted and miserable.

Went straight back to bed when I did get home, and slept for a couple of hours. I'm still tired. I'm still discouraged.

But I'm not ready to give up yet. I do think I'll just stay home and do the runs on my own, at least for now -- getting up at 5 am and driving two hours each way is just too much. Maybe I'll cut back to a 2:2 run/walk ratio, instead of the 2:3 the 16-minute-milers are recommended. Or, what the heck, maybe I'll go ahead and do 2:3. The important thing is to do the training and finish the marathon, right? Not to improve my time, or to grind myself down with expectations.

And to raise some money for APLA. The first five of my auctions are closing today. The dress actually sold! Yay! And so did the Manhunter DVD -- two of the things I didn't think would sell, while the Cowboys & Indians magazine with the Viggo Mortensen article and the 6" Marik figure didn't sell. Oh well. I've got one more item to go, but I've already raised $14 today!

I've got ten things ready to list -- five more Yu-Gi-Oh! cards, and five pieces of jewelry donated by my mom, but I'm going to wait on listing them until Tuesday, because I don't want auctions closing while I'm in Utah.

Week 6 Prep, Run 2

Run/walk: 30 minutes

This is the last time I'll be writing "Prep" in my title! Starting Sunday, it will be the Real Thing -- Marathon Training, Week 1! Eep!

I still haven't got my training materials in the mail, but I did get an email from the AIDS Marathon with times and locations and directions for the timing run this weekend, so I'm okay there. The run will start at 8 am, as the runs did in SF, so I'll be getting up at the crack of dawn (or 5 am, whichever comes first) so I can leave by 5:30 am to get there. It should only take two hours, but since it's my first trip, I want to allow some extra time to make sure I can find it and park and get to the meeting area and such on time.

And, I have new running shoes! I have new red running shoes! They're Nike Air Shox, and I love them to pieces. I went to the Antelope Valley Mall in Palmdale with my mom yesterday -- it's way bigger than the Bakersfield mall -- and found these shoes at Copeland Sports, for only $80. I'd already decided I wanted Nikes -- my very favorite pair of running shoes of all the ones I've worn were Nike Air Bravermans -- and these are even better. They've got little shock absorbers in the heels! and air soles! and soft, stretchy, airy uppers! and no tongue to slip and slide and pinch! I wore them on my run this morning, and they were great. Nice and comfy and stable. I should probably grab another pair just like them, to make sure I have a spare pair when these wear out.

Now to go add some more eBay listings. Three of the cards I listed have bids on them, so that's encouraging. My mom also offered to go through her place and donate various knick-knacks and things for me to sell, so that will help. too.

Happy red shoes!

Week 6 Prep, Run 1

Run/walk: 30 minutes

I'm starting to get nervous about the timing run this Sunday... I still haven't gotten my training materials, or a call back from the AIDS Marathon office, so I'm not sure about what time I have to be there. I'm assuming it's 8 am, like it was in San Francisco, but want to verify before I head down there. But there's still time. With the holiday yesterday, there wasn't any mail, and I'm not going into town today. I'm hoping my packet will be in my PO box tomorrow. If not, I'll call or email the office again.

I now have 10 items up on eBay, and a link to my About Me page in my sidebar. I listed 5 Yu-Gi-Oh! cards this morning. I have no bids on anything yet, but it's early yet. Everything's listed for 7 days. One item has three watchers -- a copy of Cowboys & Indians magazine with a Steve McQueen cover story. Heh. It was the one item I added as an afterthought, to replace the Saiyuki manga I was going to list, but decided not to after checking completed items and seeing that it's not selling, even for as low as $2.98.

I'm going to try to list 5 items every other day. Which means I need to find five more things, photograph or scan them, then pack them up and have them ready to go to the post office tomorrow to determine postage, so they'll be all ready to list on Thursday.

Selling stuff on eBay is hard work! I just hope I can make some money at it.

Week 5 Prep, Run 3

Run/walk: 40 minutes

I decided not to go into town to run today, since gas is now around $3.25 a gallon, and I've been driving a lot this week already. So I just did my run around the house, as usual. I started out this morning feeling a bit depressed and overwhelmed by the situation with Katrina and all, and ended up slipping on some loose gravel sometime during my second interval and falling. I didn't get hurt, just some scrapes on my right arm and leg, so I just got up and kept running, and finished my run with no problems.

I now have one eBay auction up -- the red dress. I was a bit disappointed to find that eBay's rules have changed since my last AIDS Marathon -- we can no longer hold charity auctions without going through their charity program (which only benefits certain organizations, and requires a minimum $10 donation per auction, no matter how much the item sells for). Which doesn't mean I can't auction off items and donate the money to the AIDS Marathon, it just means I can't say so in the auction description. I deleted the About Me page I'd set up saying that I was having a charity auction and just listed the dress without mentioning the AIDS Marathon. I'll put up the other four items I've already got prepared today, and probably put up a modified About Me, saying I'm a runner participating in the AIDS Marathon, and linking to this blog, but without specifically saying that the proceeds of my auctions are going to the AIDS Marathon. That ought to be okay.

I've calculated that if I want to make $1000 on eBay auctions by the middle of November at an average of $5 per item, I'll need to list 200 items. That's... a lot of items. I guess I'd better get busy and dig up more stuff! And hope I can find some things that will go for more than $5....

Week 5 Prep, Run 2

Run/walk: 30 minutes

I did my second run of the week today, Friday, instead of Thursday this week, because I had to get up early yesterday and go into Bakersfield for a doctor's appointment. I thought I might run in the afternoon when I got home, but I was tired and icky-feeling and decided to wait until today. I'm pleased that I managed to do it, because skipping runs when I get off my schedule is something I am prone to do. Go me!

I think I'll go into town on Sunday and do my 40 minute run at the park near my mom's house, just to check it out. I'll probably be doing a lot of my long runs there, when I don't drive down to LA to run with the group.

I finally called the AIDS Marathon office this morning and found out my runner number: 5121. Yay! Now I can get started on my fundraising. I'm considering selling some of my Yu-Gi-Oh! cards as part of my eBay sale. I've gotten five CRV Ultimate Rares that I can spare. Unfortunately none of them are the ones that bring in the big bucks, but I should be able to get at least the price of a booster pack for each of them.

I also left a message for the guy with the info at the AIDS Marathon office to call me back with the answers to a few other questions I had, so I'd better post this and get off the line so I can get his call.

Week 5 Prep, Run 1

Run/Walk: 30 minutes

It was one of those days. Flies kept buzzing in my face, I kept getting rocks and twigs in my shoes. Sigh. But it was done.

I can hardly believe I'm writing "Week 5 Prep" in the subject of my posts now. I've done four full weeks of 3x-a-week running without missing a day, and have started Week 5. Go me! I think I am really and truly finally getting back my strength after my adventures with cancer last year.

So, I didn't actually call or write to find out my Runner ID yet. But I have found four more things to sell and prepared eBay listings for them. And, I've actually gotten my first contribution towards my run from my friend Czarina! Thanks, Czar!

It's unfortunate that I'll be starting my fundraising right after the major disaster caused by Hurricane Katrina. People will, quite understandably, be contributing to disaster relief (as will I), and won't necessarily have money to contribute to AIDS charities, too. At least I've been planning to do most of my fundraising through my eBay auctions. And maybe in a couple of months I can try to hit up my friends for a few bucks.

Week 4 Prep, Run 3

Run/walk: 35 minutes

Still right on schedule, I added an extra 5 minutes to today's run, and it went fine.

I got an email from the AIDS Marathon yesterday, telling me that there was going to be an orientation in Griffith Park today at 11:00 am. Oops. Maybe if I'd gotten it a little sooner, I'd have planned to go. Or maybe not. Having already done two AIDS Marathons, I don't really feel the need to go to an orientation. I'll just save my gas money and show up on the 11th for the timing run.

The email also said that they'd be handing out packets today to everyone who attends the orientation, and the remaining packets would be mailed. It will probably take them a day or two to put together the mailling of the rest of the packets, so I expect I'll get mine later this week. I think I'll call or email them tomorrow to find out my ID number, so I can go ahead and get started on my fundraising.

Which means -- getting busy and finding more stuff to sell. I've got the eBay listing for my party dress all ready to go, but haven't prepared any other listings yet. I was going to sell my unopened copy of Shonen Jump issue #1, but then I went to the Shonen Jump website and discovered that they're still selling copies of #1 for list price. Darn, I was hoping it would be out of print by now, and I could make some money on it as a collectible. Well, I can probably still sell it for $4.95, but I think I'll hang onto it for a while and see what else I can find to sell.

Week 4 Prep, Run 2

Run/walk: 30 minutes

I got off to a slow start this morning -- didn't sleep well last night, then woke up early with a bad allergy attack, took a pill and conked out until after 10 am. I didn't get out to run until 11:40, and I was still feeling a bit groggy from the allergy pill. But, I did my run, and actually, I felt good. In fact, I felt a little of that old "I can run forever" feeling. Probably at least partly because I got started so late -- I've always had more energy in the afternoon than the morning. Too bad no one starts marathons at 10 am, sigh. Anyway, I got it done. Got interrupted by a phone call while I was doing my ab work afterwards, and never did do my stretching, though. Oops. Well, I can afford to miss it every once in a while, as long as it doesn't become a habit.

Week 4 Prep, Run 1

Run/Walk: 30 minutes

As before, I walked for a couple of minutes to warm up, then did six intervals of run/walking. It was a good run -- I felt strong and had no trouble, except the darn flies buzzing in my face.

I'll stick to this 30 minute, six interval run/walk for my mid-week runs from now on, and start increasing the Sunday runs by one interval per week. I've got two more Sunday runs at home before the marathon training officially starts, so I'll do 35 minutes this week and 40 minutes next week, which should have me ready to do the three mile timing run on the 11th. Whee!

I did mail my registration form in yesterday. I'm still not entirely sure about it -- running in the winter and driving to LA for the Sunday runs are my main concerns -- but I'd feel bad if I didn't even try.

As for crosstraining, I've got more brush to clear from my place, so yesterday I got out the hand chopper and worked on the weeds around the house for maybe 45 minutes or an hour. It's good upper-body work to complement the running. I'll try to keep that up at least a couple of times a week, as long as the weather holds. I doubt I'll run out of weeds....

My diet is going well so far. I've been sticking to it without any major breaks, and I think I've lost a pound or two.

So far, so good.

Week 3 Prep, Run 3

Run/walk: 30 minutes

Actually, 32 minutes, but I'm not going to be that precise!

The real difference between today's run and previous runs was that I didn't do a five-minute warmup walk. I just warmed up for two minutes, then went ahead and started running. So I ended up doing six five-minute intervals of run/walking instead of one interval of walking and five intervals of run/walking. I felt fine -- even over-ran my last interval for about twenty seconds before I looked at my watch and noticed I should be walking. So I guess my bad patch is over.

I'm still not 100% sure about doing the AIDS Marathon. Sometimes I think about the effort and expense of raising $1500, and getting up at 5:00 AM to drive two hours to LA once a week with gas at nearly $3 a gallon (especially in the winter, with a foot of snow on the ground some of those early Sunday mornings), and keeping up a training schedule three times a week for six months, and it all seems overwhelming.

And then I think about the way I feel after a good run, and how fun it was doing the group runs with my pace group, and finally getting healthy again, and how much easier it is to keep at it when I've got a goal and a commitment to motivate me, and I really want to do this.

When I was considering my first AIDS Marathon, I looked at it this way: okay, suppose I sign up for this and work at it for a while, and find that I can't raise the money or can't keep up with the runs, and decide to drop out. What's the downside? I've contributed some money to a good cause, and gotten some exercise. Even if I don't go the whole way, I don't lose anything. There is no bad there.

So, I think I'll go ahead and send in my registration tomorrow, and see how it goes.

Week 3 Prep, Run 2

Run/walk: 30 minutes

Bleah. I guess I'm having a bad week; I did my run, but I was grumpy about it! And, as I was pushing to finish my last 3 minutes of running, I was wondering why it was still so hard, after I've been doing this for... okay, not very long now. I just have to be patient, I guess, and keep doing it.

I've also decided once and for all to lose some weight. I gained about ten pounds when I first moved here, since my refrigerator wasn't working for the first few months, and I was eating at Burger King and buying food from the deli a lot. And I haven't been able to lose it, even with all the surgery and chemo and stuff last year. (Not to mention that all my doctors kept telling me not to lose any weight, because I needed my strength to cope with the treatments.) But I'm tired of carrying around these extra pounds. Plus, my doctors have told me that losing weight might help the lymphedema in my left arm -- might even make it go away, which would be well worth the effort. I'm also hoping that the diet and exercise will lower my cholesterol enough that my doctor will quit pestering me to go on cholesterol-lowering drugs.

So, I'm trying to stay around 1200 - 1300 calories a day, 20 - 25 grams of fat, and 60 or more grams of protein. We'll see how that works for the next few weeks, and make adjustments from there.

Week 3 prep, Run 1

Run/walk: 30 minutes

It wasn't the best run I've had. Mostly, I think, due to the fact that I didn't put on any insect repellent and was followed the whole time by several pesky flies that kept landing on my face and dive-bombing my ears. Must remember to slather self with Mosquito Magic before running. Also, my nose was kind of stuffy and I couldn't clear it no matter how much I sniffed and snorted. Ah well. Not every run will be perfect, and at least I got it done.

I went to Kmart yesterday to check out their watches. I didn't think they'd have any sport watches with more than one countdown timer, and they didn't, so I ended up buying a cheap ($12.99) exercise timer in a bright red plastic carbiner case. It worked fine, so I think I'll just use that for now and wait until the official training starts to get a new sport watch, so I can get some advice on which watch to buy.

I didn't mail in my registration yesterday, because my horoscope said not to make any commitments that day. Heh. And there turned out to be one advantage to holding onto it -- I called my cell phone company yesterday afternoon to switch to a prepaid plan, and ended up having to get a new cell number. So I was able to correct that info on my registration form.

Week 2 Prep, Run 3

Run/Walk: 30 minutes

At least, it was approximately 30 minutes, sigh. My stupid watch died on me again, about five minutes into my warm-up walk, and I had to take a break to come inside and try to find a working watch to use for the rest of the run. None of my watches works. I ended up using the little cheapo digital clock I used the first time, with no second timer, and counting loops around the house instead of minutes, running two loops and walking one.

So, it looks like I need to buy a new watch sooner rather than later. I could see what they've got at Kmart, I suppose, or try to find a sporting goods store in Bakersfield the next time I'm there. Or see if I can find some more info online. I think there was advice on watch-buying in our AIDS Marathon packets, if I've kept any of my old ones, and if I can find them....

Anyway, I've now completed two full weeks of running/walking three times a week. Go me!

One more step...

My registration form for the AIDS Marathon is all filled out and ready to mail -- all except for the stamp. I'm holding off on making that final commitment until I've completed one more week of running, which I'll do tomorrow. If all goes well, and I'm still determined to do it, I'll send in my registration on Monday.

Week 2, Run 2

Run/walk: 30 minutes

Today's run was a little difficult, due to the 20-oz Coke I drank yesterday while putting together a bookcase for my mom at her house. I was hoping I'd work the caffeine off, but it was not to be -- I didn't sleep well last night, and woke up feeling a bit ragged. But I did my run anyway, and it went fine.

Last night, out of curiosity, I clicked on my old training journal for my previous marathons at codyne.pitas.com. I hadn't updated it since December 2002, and was sure it would have been deleted by now, but lo and behold! it was still there. Of course, in the meantime, I'd taken down the pictures so all the image links were broken, and it had my old email address on it, and the quick-and-dirty Honolulu 2002 page I'd thrown up on geocities was gone so that link didn't work....

I started out trying to update the pitas.com site. I pulled the images off an old backup and uploaded them to Photobucket, and edited all the 2002 entries to link to them, but I'd archived the 2001 marathon entries and there seems to be no way to edit archive entries. So, I ended up downloading the pages, resizing all the graphics, reconstructing the old geocities site in the pitas.com format and re-editing it, and uploading the whole thing to my ratandfox.net domain. I've linked it in the sidebar here, so now I've got the journals of all my previous marathons conveniently located.

I'm still tempted to re-do the layout in CSS (the old one's in tables, and it's a monstrosity) and fiddle with the organization a little it, but for a rinky-dink little site no one will ever look at anyway, it's not really worth the effort. What I really should do is go over to the pitas.com site and make one more entry linking to this journal, so in case anyone stumbles over that one they can find the updated info. Or, you know, just delete that one, if I can figure out how...

Anyway, it was fun reading over all my old journals and remembering marathons past -- it's really getting me enthused for getting out there and doing another one.

Cross-training

The AIDS Marathon, which uses Jeff Galloway's training method, recommends doing some sort of cross-training on non-running days (except for the day before a long run, which should be a rest day). I haven't made any particular effort to do any cross-training so far, but today my mom took me to check out a park near her home where she thought I might run sometimes, and we walked the trail. It took about 15 minutes to make the loop, so I'm guessing it's around three quarters of a mile or so. Looks like it would be a good place to do the occasional maintenance run, or long runs that I can't make it to LA for.

Then, I put together a 5-shelf bookcase for my mom, which was another good half-hour of physical effort. :) So I guess I got my cross-training in today in spite of myself!

Week 2 Prep

Run/walk: 30 minutes

So, this was my first 30 minute run, at 3 minutes jogging/2 minutes walking. It went pretty well—I was starting to get fairly winded by the end, but not so much that I couldn't have gone on if I'd really tried, and that's only to be expected on the first day of increasing my workout time by 1/3, after only one week of being back at it. The post-run ab work and stretching is starting to feel more natural now.

Yesterday, I told my mom about my plans to do another AIDS Marathon, and she was all for it. I don't know why I expected her not to be, but somehow I had it in my head that she might be skeptical of my ability to start training for a marathon now, after being completely potato-like for so long. Probably projecting my own doubts onto her. She also thought that joining the group in LA for weekly runs was a good idea, despite the two-hour drive to get there. Anyway, it's good to have her in my corner.

So far, so good.

Still thinking about it...

But I seem to have started working on the fundraising already, by digging up my old eBay listing template from an archive CD and updating it with new info. I already had an item just about ready to sell—a party dress I bought years ago but never actually wore. I'd pulled it out a week or so ago with the idea of selling it on eBay, and had already taken pictures of it with my digital camera and started working on a description for the listing.

And, I got a new battery put into my sports watch today. But it still doesn't work right. I need to buy a new one, I guess. And new running shoes (although my old ones will still do for a while), and GU and stuff like that. At least I've still got all my water bottles and belt packs and running clothes.

Now, I'm thinking that I ought to go ahead and register for the marathon right away, so I can get an ID number and start putting stuff up on eBay. But I think I'll wait at least another week, to make sure my physical enthusiasm remains on par with the emotional enthusiasm. Pretty much looks like I'm going to do it, though.

AIDS Marathon-LA

I'm about three-quarters decided to sign up for the AIDS Marathon in LA, aiming towards participating in the LA Marathon on March 19, 2006. Training starts September 10, and, since there's no airfare or hotel included, the fundraising commitment is only $1500. I could probably make half that with another eBay sale, and cover the rest of it myself. I could also put up links on my lj and other websites, and get a few donations that way.

The Sunday training runs are held in Griffith Park. I Mapquest'd it and it looks like an easy two-hour drive from here. I could do some of the long runs up here, but it wouldn't be too difficult to drive down there once a week to run with the group. It would certainly be more fun than running alone, and help keep me motivated to keep up with the training.

I've been wanting to do something useful with myself for quite a while. I looked into volunteering up here, but didn't find anything that suited me. This way, I could get myself back into shape and raise some money for a good cause at the same time.

Deadline for registration is September 2, so I've got some time to think about it. I think I'll do this: If I can maintain a schedule of three 30-minute runs a week for the next two weeks and still feel enthused about it, I'll go ahead and sign up.

Third time's a charm

Run/walk outdoors: 20 minutes

Since it's summer and the weather's hot, it's easy enough to put on my running shoes and my visor and go outside to run around the house for twenty minutes. Once the runs start getting longer, I'll probably want to find somewhere else to run, but, for now, the driveway's fine. My running watch needs a new battery, and the watch I used has no second hand, so I just had to guess at the intervals, but I tried to do three minutes running/two minutes walking for twenty minutes, after warming up for three or four minutes walking. It was nicer than using the treadmill, even with the fly that followed me around and around, buzzing in my face.

So, that's one week's worth of exercising accomplished. Only twenty minutes, three times a week, but one must start somewhere. I'll do the same next week, I think, and then think about increasing time/frequency of my runs.

Oops, I did it again

Treadmill: 20 minutes

Same as the first time—only three intervals of running, about a minute each.

I'm trying to get in the habit of doing my exercise first thing, after feeding the critters and scooping the cat boxes. I'm also trying to get into the habit of wearing my pedometer, so I can try to get in at least 5000 steps a day, even on days I don't run.

Starting fresh

Treadmill: 20 minutes

I hate my treadmill. It sticks and it's hard to make the belt go. I only managed to "run" for a minute at a time, once every five minutes, three times in all. But I did twenty full minutes, got my heart rate up, and finished it up with some ab work and stretching, and a protein drink. I pretty much hated doing it, but I felt better when I was done. Go me?