20 Miles Accomplished

This Saturday, along with my running team, Team In Training, I completed 20 miles. And I feel GREAT! That was such an amazing thing, to run a full 20 miles. I never though I would be able to say that I did such a thing... or even wanted to. This run was easier than the 16 miler and the 18 miler, and I am not entirely sure why. I felt good throughout the whole thing, well up until about mile 16 or 18, I can't remember. Around that time my right hip (which has given my a lot of trouble on other runs) started to hurt a little but it was completely bearable. The last 2 miles were tough but I got through it.

Oh, and let me not forget to mention that at mile 3 I was stung by a bee in my arm. Poor bee flew right into my sleeve. And ow. I stopped, flung the bee away, took out the stinger, and thought about turning around and going back to the first water stop that was right around the corner. But that would have been the easy way out and since I'm not allergic to bees, I just kept going. And yes, it hurt, but not for long. Just an interesting thing to tell people when I say I ran a full 20 miles. haha.

So, getting back to the run, when I finally finished, in the 95+ degree heat, I felt incredibly nauseous and my legs ached. I finished 2nd from the running group so I didn't see anyone. The only thing I could do was find a shady spot next to our meeting spot and almost curl up into a little ball. I felt horrible. I was dehydrated. Someone from the team found me (and saved me!) and took me over to where the rest of the team was to meet. She gave me salt (ew) and I rested. After about 5 minutes I started to feel MUCH better. I had not realized how out of it I was.

So after a few more minutes I went home, took a nice 10 minute ice bath (thank goodness for those!!) and grabbed some food while I ran errands with the boyfriend. I must not have had much water to drink while we were out because around 2:00pm I started getting a headache. This lead to the worse headache I have ever had in my life. And it stayed with me until Sunday afternoon, despite my drinking water. Although, on Saturday I know I did not drink enough, which will never happen again now that I know the consequences... Ug. So, water is definitely my friend. ;)

All The Generous Donations

I wanted to add a little onto my post from yesterday...

ALL of the donations that I have received for my Team In Training fundraising have been generous. I feel blessed and truly thankful for each and every donation and each and every person who has sent their kind words, wished me luck, or added encouragement for my coming marathon!

I will be running 20 miles this weekend, tomorrow, and this run is dedicated to all of those people for their kindness and support!

Until tomorrow...

:)

A VERY Generous Donation

Today was the last official day for my Team In Training donations to be submitted. This morning I was a little worried because I was still about $500 away from my goal- after figuring in some last minute checks that I submitted via snail-mail. So I was completely taken aback when I got an email from Angie at Rock Bottom Brewery...

A couple of months ago I had a fundraiser at Rock Bottom Brewery. All of the proceeds from their Beer Tapping (releasing a new beer) would go to my fundraising efforts. The new beer being tapped is $1 a pint for one hour. Well, that was a fantastic event with a HUGE turnout! It was especially great because I got to see a lot of my friends that I have not seen in a while.

Anyway, I just got the donation from the company... $2,000. My goodness that made my day! I am now way over my fundraising goal and that much more will go toward helping those with blood cancers. I feel blessed for being a part of this amazing group, TNT, and helping the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. And now my stresses of not being able to raise enough are gone.



(These pictures are from the event... I'm announcing the event from the bar!)

Great way to ease into the weekend! Tomorrow's Friday!!! Everyone have a superb rest of your days.

Have your cheesecake and eat it too!

Even Better Than The 'Real' Thing
These raw cheesecakes are amazingly close to the flavor and texture of a "real" cheesecake but without ANY of the guilt! Seriously!

These cheesecakes are loaded with vitamins, minerals, healthy fats, raw nuts, dates, lemon, unprocessed honey, sea salt, vanilla, and fruit. I cannot begin to describe how tasty these are and actually good for you too! Especially after a long, hard run! You have all earned it!

If you are interested in purchasing one or two or even three (hehe!) then please let me know! I have two flavors that I'll be making:

Lemon Cheese with Berry Sauce

Strawberry Cheesecake

*Whole cheesecake (Serves 10-12+) $60
*Half (still pretty big cake!) $30

ALL proceeds goes to my fundraising efforts! (Last minute! Eeeek!)

If anyone is interested in helping me reach my goal for The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, Please check out www.runlorirun.org

**Hopefully you live in the SF/Santa Cruz/Bay area or Near Sacramento, CA... cause I can only deliver so far... :) **

18 miles done!

Well, yesterday, Sunday, I successfully completed 18 full miles of running. My total time was 2 hours, 51 minutes. And according to my amazing Garmin watch, I burned over 1850 calories! WOW! I love that watch!



Anyway, I ran 13 miles on the Los Gatos Creek Trail from Los Gatos to Campbell and back then around Los Gatos until I reached the 18 miles (according to my watch). The last 3 miles were rough... very rough. The pain in my hip made it hard to keep a decent pace but overall, it was a good run. When I got home I immediately filled the bath tub with ice cold water and sat in it for about 10 minutes. Amazing how great that feels after a LONG run. Then I ate. And ate. And ate (in that order). Thank goodness for burning lots of calories! I love food.

My nutrition for the day went something like this:

AM- Pre-run
1 cup quinoa with a mixture of chocolate hemp protein, maca, agave, dates, and carbo powder

During the Run
3 packets of homemade gu
lots of water

After the Run
Recovery Smoothie made with-
1/2 banana
1/2-1 cup frozen blueberries
maca
spirulina
blue-green algae
chocolate hemp protein
coconut water
dulse flakes
flax seed
dates
ice

About 2 hours after the smoothie I made a Chickpea & Quinoa Crust Pizza with red peppers, onion, cauliflower, topped with cheesey nutritional yeast sauce (recipe adapted from THRIVE, the best book ever). And a leftover spinach salad with avocado. It was good. :)

From there I proceeded to keep nibbling every hour or so on various things. Raw chocolate, some left over recovery smoothie, some coconut ice cream, guacamole... And LOTS of water.

Throughout the rest of the day I massaged and rolled out my legs and hips since they were sore. Overall, pretty good Sunday.

Oh no... one month left...

Well, today is Friday, Sept. 11th 2009. Exactly one month from today I will be in Victoria, British Columbia running, well done, with my marathon! I could not be any more excited and nervous! Tomorrow is our Team In Training (TNT) long run of the week. 18 miles (more on that later).

So, with only 4 weeks left, and only 2 weeks left for my fundraising, I'm sending a shout out to everyone: I am running a marathon in honor of those battling blood cancers! In doing so, I am raising money for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, $3,800 to be exact! I'm almost there but am still a couple hundred dollars away from my goal. Pleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeease check out my fundraising website and make a donation (of any kind! All donations are 100% tax deductible!

www.runlorirun.org

And now, back to the training part...

We will be running in Monterey, CA tomorrow morning. And again, I am nervous. Recently, since the runs have gotten longer, my hip has been hurting around mile 10, 11, 12. By the time I got to mile 14 on our last long run of 16 miles, I though I was going to fall over with pain. But I walked for a mile and pushed through all of the hurt, running the last mile back to "home base."

It was a great sense of accomplishment, running my first 16 miles ever. But yes, the pain was still there. So, tomorrow I know the hip pain will come back. And when it does, I'll be doing my best to suppress it. (Any suggestions on hip pain would be GREATLY appreciated!!!!!!!)

Well, in closing for today, I wish everyone a fantastic Friday and an even better weekend! I'll let everyone know how I did on the long 18 miles. ;)

-Bye!

The Young (but MIGHTY) Coconut

Behold, the young coconut. Truly a Superfood. There are so many amazing nutritional qualities held inside this hard shell. Take a look at this:

The coconut has its own natural water filter that takes almost 9 months to filter each liter of water. The water travels through many fibers being purified where it is stored away STERILE in the nut itself.
This coconut water is pure and clear and is one of the highest sources of electrolytes known to man.
Coconut water is identical to human blood plasma which makes it the universal donor. Plasma makes up 55% of human blood. By drinking coconuts we give ourselves a instant blood transfusion.
Coconuts in their young stage of growth are the most health enhancing.
Coconuts are a great blood purifier.
Coconut water is also used as an intravenous fluid in some developing countries where medical saline is unavailable.
Many peoples lives have been saved in 3rd world countries by the coconut IV.

(thanks youngcoconuts.com)

And those are just facts about coocnut's water! And then there is fat-burning Coconut oil...
Provides a nutritional source of quick energy.
Boosts energy and endurance, enhancing physical and athletic performance.
Improves digestion and absorption of other nutrients including vitamins, minerals, and amino acids.
Improves insulin secretion and utilization of blood glucose.
Relieves stress on pancreas and enzyme systems of the body.
Relieves symptoms associated with Crohn's disease, ulcerative colitis, and stomach ulcers.
Improves digestion and bowel function.
Relieves pain and irritation caused by hemorrhoids.
Reduces inflammation.
Supports tissue healing and repair.
Supports and aids immune system function.
Helps protect the body from breast, colon, and other cancers.
Is heart healthy; improves cholesterol ratio reducing risk of heart disease.
Protects arteries from injury that causes atherosclerosis and thus protects against heart disease.
Helps prevent periodontal disease and tooth decay.
Functions as a protective antioxidant.
Helps to protect the body from harmful free radicals that promote premature aging and degenerative disease.

And the list goes on and on.

Coconut Research Center a lot more information regarding this miracle food. Please check out their website for more amazing facts!

Oh and the dessert dishes you can make with young coconut... Mmmmm Mmmmm!

Recipes coming soon!