Week 4!

90 minute run at the rosebowl! our crew which consisted of myself, megan, rudy and ass coach chris probably covered easily over 10 miles of ground with our "twilight crew" (we have now added mr jacob black to the equation, played by ass coach chris) the rain only played peek a boo a few times to cool us off so overall it was perfect running weather! our trail this time was awesome and super scenic. one lap around the bowl then headed down to south pasadena, said whats up to some horses, archers, doggies, some kids playing baseball, the occasional duck or 3, and tried our best to avoid sprained ankles through pitch black dark tunnels!! we had some pretty cool conversation got to know a little about each other every step of the way! this run was tough but rewarding! after we all finished up we headed to the brookside restaurant and had a nice little brunch followed by a "doc smith" clinic. we told them what hurts, and they gave us stretches/solutions to fix it. i dont have much pain while running but my hips are kind of weak...which is WEAK so i have to do some "3 touch" stretches or something 2 times a day! (today was day 1 and i did both sets and im sore from them!) megan on the other hand basically needs to go buy new legs! haha so im keeping an eye out for some new ones for her! next week we finally start doing runs for mileage and not just time which is exciting! next week is 8 miles then we are having a super cool bbq after! i cannot wait! GO TEAM! :)

3 weeks in...

Practice Week 3: At bonelli park in san dimas we ran 80 minutes in the pouring rain! it was so great!! we also had quite the inspirational speech before our run and a sweet hydration/gear clinic after our run as we were all soaked cold and tired! my shoes spent the rest of the day getting toasty in front of the fireplace at home after being put through about 8 miles of wet asphalt! ...and the forecast for week 4's practice at the rosebowl says rain rain and MORE rain! its going to be great! :)

Practice Week 2: pictured above megan, myself, and edward cullen aka rudy are in the midst of a 65 minute run around pasadena! megan had a slight ankle sprain 4 miles into it...clumsy as usual but she pushed it out! you might be asking why do we call rudy edward cullen, well during this run we went a little off route onto a trail and he was leading the pack and a huge branch was blocking our way, edward sprinted ahead of us grabbed the branch effortlessly and threw it with much force into the woods. it was amazing, so if you do not know the story behind edward uprooting a tree/branch then you might not understand and for those who do, now we have called him edward cullen for that reason alone! there you have it! after practice we had a letter stuffing potluck/bbq at the rosebowl all STINKY! its just ok though!

Practice Week 1: the moment we have all been waiting for! our very first practice, it consisted of a quick 3 mile run around the rosebowl! in the picture above we have adam fist pumping and leading the pack while me and megan receive high fives from our favorite (and only) tranny in training, CJ! (boobs and all) this practice was a pace assessment to see what interval training times you will start with. it was a great and fun first practice! afterwards we had snacky snacks waiting for us back at the picnic tables and were spoken to about shoes! gotta keep your feet sweet! GO TEAM!!!

TNT facts!

FACT: we are not allowed to run with headphones of any kind....NO MUSIC all you are allowed to do is talk amongst your running buddies, listen to yourself gasp for air, hear the pitter patter of everyones steps, hear the birds sing, the leaves shake, and the wind blow!

FACT: san gabriel valleys TNT will raise a quarter of a million dollars alone for the leukemia and lymphoma society

FACT: i go to bed a little after 10 every friday while most are out partying and drinking and will not drink any liquor usually 2 days before a run (if ANY at all)...i get up before dawn on saturdays!

FACT: at team in trainings season kick off i passed out due to what i like to call....pure excitement/dehydration! then proceeded to run a half marathon the next day...smart??...not so much!

FACT: if you ever see a team in training "runner" walking its not due to laziness or lack of effort we run on interval training! for instance if you run 5:1 you shall run for 5 minutes and once that time is up you walk at a brisk pace for 1 minute and so on and so fourth! :)

thats all i have for the moment! happy hump day!

Life is not a race its a MARATHON!

The reasoning behind this BLOG: recently i decided that i am going to follow in my wonderful mom's footsteps and embark on a 26.2 mile journey with team in training (TNT). you might ask what TNT is?? well team in training is a charity sports training program. they prep you for an event of your choice whether it be running a half marathon, full marathon, 100 mile century bike ride, or a triathlon! and while surrounding yourself by amazing coaches, mentors, and teammates you are doing it all in hopes of finding a cure for blood cancer one mile at a time, literally! once you choose your event (mine is the san diego rock n roll marathon) you raise a certain amount of money (i must raise 2,500 dollars) which goes to the leukemia and lymphoma society as they try to advance in finding cures for blood cancer. all of my life i have been pretty active with sports, i never saw running as anything other than punishment on one of many teams. after finishing up with playing ball in college i needed something to keep me in a shape that wasnt a circle so i started running with my very best friend megan! we started out small with 5ks and 10ks then kept climbing the ladder and completed 2 half marathons (13.1 miles) but this year i decided to join a team where running is not only your main concern for fitness but your outlet for stress, guilt, extra energy, happiness, sadness and most importantly to find a CURE! (and i dragged megan with me!!) the reasoning behind what some of you might consider madness, is back when my cousin brenda was 11 years old in the prime of learning how to put on make up and how to wash away cooties from boys, she was diagnosed with APL (Acute promyelocytic leukemia ). while i was only about 8 or 9 at the time i was quite unclear on my older cousins diagnosis, but i know, til this day the effect it had on my family. about 10 years ago my mom participated in the san diego rock n roll marathon as a member of team in training in honor of my cousin. i was only 12 at the time she participated so i was really never clear on what exactly she was doing, but now that im older i am so PROUD of what she did, i understand everything that she went through! (and now i must beat her time! ;) haha) she has told me time and time again that running with TNT was an absolutely AMAZING experience and that i should join! so now im here, 22 years old with a cousin in remission since 1997, and im running to save lives from this HORRIBLE thing we call leukemia! i have seen what kind of pain something like this can put a family through not to mention the pain one must go through with the disease!!! and honestly i just want to help out any way that i possibly can! joining team in training has really changed my whole outlook on life, i have already met some outstanding people and heard even more amazing life changing stories. every saturday i wake up early to lace up my asics (running shoes) to join my fellow teammates who all have a story of their own. but as we take that first step on a what seems to be endless array of miles we all take it for ONE reason! its a beautiful, inspiring, motivating, emotional, crazy roller coaster of events and its only the 4th week. i cant wait to see what the future holds!!!