MANY, MANY THANKS!

Only have a few minutes here, but I just wanted to say that I've never been so excited AND nervous about something in my entire life!  Okay wait, I amend that... when I gave birth to Carolina I was probably just as (if not more) excited and nervous.  This has been a crazy ride - most definitely!  Tomorrow, we take off at 9:00 a.m. on City Island.  My goal is to finish.  I have a feeling that I will be walking that last mile or two, and probably limping at that, but I just have to keep telling myself that I can do this!  Thank you to everyone who has supported us over the last six months of our training and thanks for your contributions to Gamut on our behalf!  See you on the other side!

Eat and run.

We're turning into the home stretch now. Training is going well, and after a long run last Sunday at Wildwood (three 3.1 mile loops) all feel confident.

As the squad has been easing into longer and longer runs, hydration and nutrition on the go has become more and more important.

The trick with running and food is finding something that’s easy for your body to absorb mid-stride. When your heart rate is up and blood’s being shunted to working muscles, the last thing your body wants to do is deal with a four-course meal. Or shrimp bisque.

Here’s a homemade energy bar recipe I made last weekend for the Wildwood run. Melissa and Alexis wanted the recipe up - which I'm happy to share in the hope that I'll be able to sample their versions in the future.

Ingredients

2 cups nuts (I like to combine cashews and almonds)

2 cups dates (pitted dates, or the “rolled” cylindrical date bits from the bulk food aisle)

4 tablespoons coconut flakes.

Dried fruit to taste

You’ll need a food processor.

1. Grind the nuts finely.

2. Add the dates and coconut to the nuts. Continue to blend/grind. The ingredients mass will begin to form into a dough-like substance. If it’s too dry to form together, add a small amount of water while blending.

3. Add some additional fruit and blend. I’ve had luck with cranberries, dried strawberries and dried blueberries.

4. Place the combined mixture into a small flat dish (like a 8X8 baking pan) and press into a firm layer with a spatula.

5. Refrigerate if desired.

6. Cut into bars.

Easy to make, easier to eat!

We all look forward to next Sunday. I've even gone so far as to preregister for the race today (which for a last-moment guy like me is a pretty heady development - I am exceptionally bad with preregistering.)

I've never looked so forward to April fools day.

Long time no blog...

So it's a little over 2 weeks until the big race and I am super excited!

I just realized that I haven't blogged about my training at all...

And now it's time for a breakdown...

[History that may or may not be important...but I feel like it explains why I wanted to do this race] A few years ago I was having some health issues, so I went to an awesome homeopathic doctor. I then became somewhat obsessed with organic living and completely changed my way of life. I watched nearly every documentary about food (Food Matters is amazing and I totally recommend it), read a few books on raw living, and then proceeded to read every ingredients list on not only my food but also my deodorant, face-wash, etc. I highly recommend the book What's in Your Food as a reference of additives and if they're good or not.

ANYWAY! Long story short, I did all of that plus used some of the p90x DVDs as my exercise and I lost 50 pounds! When I heard about the Run for the Arts, it was the summer of 2011. I had all of this momentum going from the weight loss and exercising and I thought, "That's almost a year away! I can train for that!" So I apparently did, since we are almost there and I just ran 8.2 miles last weekend!

So we have been training for 8 months and I went from freaking out over running a mile, to freaking out over running a 5k, to freaking out over running a 10k, to now where I'm freaking out over running 10 miles! But thinking back to where I began and looking at where I am now really blows my mind. I feel like a completely different person. I have grown-up a lot and have become a very positive and easy-going person. Who knew?

I have grown to love running SO much that after the April 1st 10-miler, I will be running in the May 6th Pittsburgh Half-Marathon! Our amazing trainer, Charles, has kindly agreed to help me prepare for those Pittsburgh hills! I know that none of us on the Gamut Girl Squad couldn't have done any of this without Charles. He seriously is the absolute best. Soooooo for a tribute, I'd like to share some Trainer-Charles with everyone....

Whenever Charles sends us an email regarding running, the subjects of his emails are HI-larious. So here are a few jems...

Gamut Always Loves Sweating (G.A.L.S.)

Charmingly Hopeful, Absolutely Fabulous Exercisers (C.H.A.F.E.)

Now I Concede Everyday Gamut Always Maxes Sassiness (N.I.C.E.G.A.M.S.)

Gamut Is Rad Ladies Racking Up Neon Shoes (G.I.R.L.R.U.N.S.)

Ladies Always Running Properly (L.A.R.P.)

Gamut’s Gyration Goddesses for Jimmie Jingle’s Jams

Susquehanna Squaw Squad Superchargers

Girls Achieving Mobile Uber-Training

Gamut Indomitable Raaaaaaaacer Ladies Society (G.I.R.L.S. )

Mamacitas Vamos Vamos Vamos

Jaunty Princesses Track Team

Maids of The Morning Mist Pristine Athletic Endevours Association

A Month of Running Adventures!

I can’t believe it’s been a month since I last posted…  Time is flying by and as of today, there are 20 DAYS until our Capital 10-miler Run for the Arts on April 1^st!

When I last posted, I had run 6.2 miles in the gym because there was really bad weather that day.  If you’ve been following our training, you know that we try to run a long distance once a week to build ourselves up for the big 10 mile run.  I wish I had been a little more diligent with my blogging, so you could get detail on the last four weeks in a more timely manner, but I’ll try to summarize the long runs in this post.

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 19 – 6.4 miles

This was a run with Charles, Bri, Carolina and me.  We ran from Strawberry Square, around City Island, back across the bridge, down to PennDOT, over to Steelton, back up to downtown, over to the Capitol, and back to Strawberry Square.  It was a difficult run for me.  The weather was not too bad, but my back was really hurting as I recall. 

Carolina had to pull out early in the run and walked about 4 miles.  I’m hoping that she will get a chance to make a blog post about her journey, but I will tell you that she had a very difficult time with our winter training and was suffering from extreme fatigue that was not normal for her.  The Friday after the 2/19 run, we found out that Carolina has MRSA and has had it since the 5k Jingle Bell run we did back in early December.  Because it was untreated for so long it really wore her body down, and she is on a separate training now as part of her recovery plan.  Not one to give up easily, she has decided that she is going to walk the 10-miler on April 1^st, and I’m so proud of her!

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 25 – 7 miles, Wind, and Goose Poop!

On this day, none of our Girl Squad were available to run, and Coach Charles was under the weather with a nasty bug, so I knew I was going to be on my own.  My goal was 7 miles and Charles gave me the route of Strawberry Square to Riverfront Park, north on the exercise path up to where it ends (Vaughn Street in Susquehanna Township), then turn around and come back.  I knew I would be running this solo and mentally prepared myself for this, but when the day came we had crazy wind that day with some gusts up to 50 mph! 

Charles met with me before I went out to give me his runner’s watch and talked to me in length about not feeling bad if I couldn’t complete the 7 because of the extraordinary weather conditions.  Something deep inside me must have clicked that day.  I just really wanted to make that 7 miles, and I didn’t care if I blew away in the process.  Thank goodness for the iPod and ear muffs and gloves!  The wind coming off of the river was ridiculous, and there were many times when I thought, “What are you doing? Are you crazy?”  Sometimes the wind was so strong that I thought I was running in place instead of moving forward.  Eventually, I made it to Vaughn Street.  I thought that when I turned around that maybe the wind would be at my back and help me along, but nooooo… that was not the case.  The wind was now coming off of the river and pelting the right side of my body instead of the left.  I played a little game I call “Dodge the Goose Poop” to pass the time.  Riverfront Park in Harrisburg is beautiful and the perfect place to run – it’s practically flat with a nice paved path to follow.  However, there are an abundance of geese in some areas, and they leave lots of little presents on that paved path.  You really have to watch where you step!

It took me 1 hour and 34 minutes to complete my windy 7 miler.  That night I performed in A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM at Gamut, and some of the Titania fairy movement was a challenge, but all in all I felt I had accomplished something amazing and that made me feel great!

SUNDAY, MARCH 4 – 7.5 miles

As you may or may not know, I live in Millersburg, which is about a 28 mile commute to Harrisburg.  A few times I have gone out and run on parts of Route 147 between Millersburg and Halifax.  Knowing that I had a 7.5 mile goal coming up, I clocked the miles from my house one day on my work commute and 7.5 miles fell directly at the Sheetz convenience store in Halifax, so I decided that would be my next run.

Clark and Bri were just getting back from the Shakespeare Theatre Association conference held in Orlando, FL, and I picked them up at the airport on Sunday morning.  On our way home, Clark dropped me off at the Sheetz, and my goal was to run home from there.  To make it a little more interesting Carolina and her boyfriend, Jeremy, decided to walk 5 miles on the same route.  So Clark dropped them off 2.5 miles down the road.  Carolina and I wondered if I would eventually catch up to them on my run.  Now the proud owner of my own running watch ($6.98 on sale at Target), I ran 20 minutes at the beginning and then clocked 2 minutes walk/3 minutes run the rest of the way.

The weather was strange that day.  It had called for highs in the upper 40s to lower 50s, but the actual weather stayed in the 30s and was really cloudy.  There were a few times when there were little snow flurries, too.  I only had a short sleeve shirt on under my light jacket, but luckily I had gloves and my ear warmer, so I alternated wearing those when needed.  The run wasn’t too bad, but it was a little scary on parts of route 147.  I really had to pay attention anytime I saw a car headed my way and make sure that I was over as far as I could get to stay safe, so in that regard, it wasn’t nearly as pleasant as Riverfront Park.  I have thought many times that it would be nice to put in a bike trail from Millersburg to Halifax.  It would be something that both towns could enjoy and even attract some business to our little piece of northern Dauphin County.  But I have enough projects going on at the moment, so that dream will have to wait for someone else to spearhead!

As I was passing the old Engle-Rissinger car lot (about 2 miles from home), I was thinking that I probably would not catch up with Carolina and Jeremy, but as I rounded the mountain coming into Millersburg, I saw them in the distance!  That was fun, because it gave me a little extra incentive toward the end of the run.  I caught up with them, chatted briefly, passed them and continued on.  It was a little surreal, because there was a 5K run happening in Millersburg that day going right by my house, so as I was coming into town, exhausted, I was passing other runners of all ages with numbers pinned to them.  I think my time was 1 hour 48 minutes? Something like that.  The last two miles were really difficult, and I definitely had to walk more than my 2 min. walk/3 min. run pattern.  My feet really hurt.  It felt like my shoes were tied too tight, but when I stopped and loosened the laces, that didn’t really help anything.  I was kind of limping by the time I reached my house.  I was also sore for about 2 days following that run, but by Wednesday I was able to go do a small run that morning around town.

Oh yeah, and when I was done, Carolina cracked me up when she said, “Mom, you literally made a ‘Sheetz Run’!”

SUNDAY, MARCH 11 – 8.2 miles and Gamut Squad Together Again!

Yesterday, Coach Charles and the full Gamut Girl Squad were together again for the first time as a group since our run at Stony Creek on January 29.  We met at Alexis’ house and ran from there to Riverfront Park, down to the Harvey Taylor Bridge, across the bridge and back to Alexis’.  Bri, Charles, and I did the whole 8.2 miles.  Carolina and Alexis modified the run and cut out the bridge, clocking 6.2 miles.  I was so proud of us!  And it was great to be together as a group again.

The weather was perfect!  Sunny and 40-50 degrees.  I think it reached into the 60s by the end of the run.  At one point, I was running across the Harvey Taylor, and the sun was shining and my music was awesome and the sky and river were perfect shades of blue, and I just had a very magical moment that was great for my soul.

I told Charles how the week before I had run for 20 minutes and then did a 2 min. walk/3 min. run pattern.  He told me that instead of trying to run as far as I can in the beginning, to try to take it easy at the start and then if I have energy, bring it on at the end.  So for this run, we did a strict 2 min. walk/2 min. run the whole distance.  The last two miles were hard; I had to walk a lot toward the end and again, my feet were achy.  But upon completion, I wasn’t nearly as sore as the week before, and today I feel a lot better than I did last Monday when I was recovering from the Sheetz run.  It took me 2 hours and 2 minutes.  Robert (Alexis’ husband and also a former Gamut Core Company actor) was waiting for us with lots of food prepared and that was a nice treat!

Bri was in great form while she was running.  She definitely gets the gold star on our team.  When we got to the bridge she was a little ahead of me, and then she just got farther and farther away, becoming a smaller and smaller dot in the distance.  I thought, “Man, she is RUNNING!”  Charles also shared some gummy Powerade “candy” with us – a little something to give us more energy for the second half of the run.  I also love when Charles runs with us because he carries my water, and then I don’t have the extra weight of my fanny pack on my lower back while I’m running.  He is a great coach and is always looking out for each of us!

I think our goal next week is to try 10 miles.  Eeeek!!  I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I think I’m excited about it!

To date, we've raised a little over $ 1,000 for Gamut!  If you'd like to make a contribution to a great non-profit theatre in support of our running efforts, you can do so on our 10-Miler page.  Thanks for following!

Chafed! (But I ran a 10k!)

So last weekend on Saturday, Feb. 4, Coach Charles and I ran up and down the streets of Lemoyne, the quaint town where he resides.  I never knew there were so many HILLS in Lemoyne!  We ran 5 miles together and had a lot of time to chat since it was just one-on-one coaching that day.  Our Gamut Girl Squad is a pretty busy bunch of ladies, and I was the only one available for the Big Run that we try to do once a week whether as a group or on our own.

One of our chats was about a running phenomenon known as Chafing.  Apparently, in the running world this is a problem of varying degrees of magnitude, so much so that a product has been invented to help runners through this irritating experience.  You slide this anti-chafe on to your body wherever you chafe the most and then let its magical properties go to work.  I listened politely.  I have never chafed myself when running.  I have never even come close to chafing.  The word itself even sounds a little silly when saying it over and over as I have so far in this blog post.  Chafing, chafe, chafed...

At the end of our run, sipping Gatorade and eating homemade organic energy bars (Charles should post the recipe on our Blog – hint, hint…), Charles turns to me and yells, “Presents!”  (Which he does from time to time, because he is awesome like that, and knows that every girl likes a present now and then.)  He hands me a deodorant-like container of something called “Body Glide.”  I must share with you the claims of this product:

Body Glide: the original anti-chafe balm

#1 recommended since 1996

STOP CHAFING

Use it now – no worries later

Official sports lubricant since 2001 – USA Triathlon

Technically advanced skin lubricant – NO OILS!

Help prevent/relieve chafed, chapped, cracked skin

Great for daily use

No mess or waste

Neoprene safe

Sweat and water resistant balm

Glide on easy

Feet, thighs, upper body

Exclusive plant formula – no petroleum

He gives me my present, along with three more to give to Carolina, Bri, and Alexis, and sends me on my anti-chafing way. 

Fast forward to this past weekend.  Two months ago, Charles had told us about a 10k run (6.2 miles) called “Shiver by the River” held in Reading each winter.  Carolina and I put it on our calendars, planned to attend, and have been training for it as our next big milestone on the way to our 10 mile run on April 1^st.  After fighting blizzard-like conditions on my way home from work on Saturday night, we checked the weather for the following day’s “Shiver.”  Shiver, indeed!  With winds gusting at 25 mph, the anticipated “Real Feel” temp for Sunday was 0 degrees! 

Suffering through that kind of weather was not what we had in mind, and we decided that we would still run our 10k, but we would do at the gym instead.  So yesterday, Feb. 12, Carolina and I entered the gym armed with iPods, water bottles, and sweat towels to log our miles.

I must tell you that when I run outside here in the winter, I wear long sleeves and a light jacket.  One heats up quickly when running, but it’s also been around 30-35 degrees average when I’ve been running outside.  Inside the gym is a different story.  It gets hot – very quickly.  So when dressing for running in the gym, I wear sleeveless tank-top-like running wear, because after a minute or two, the hoodie is off, and I’m sweating like crazy.

Before yesterday, the most I had run on the treadmill had been 5 miles.  Two weeks prior, the Gamut Girls Running Squad had run 6 miles on the Stony Creek Rail Trail (see earlier post), so I knew I could do the 6.2 miles, but it was mostly a matter of fighting the “Treadmill Blues,” making sure that I could stay motivated to finish, because, quite frankly, running on a treadmill is super boring.

Music helped a lot!  I don’t think I could have done it without my tunes.  Charles likes us to do a combo of walk/run which has been very successful for me.  When we are outside, he times us with a one minute walk, two minute run, for the entire distance.  When I’m in the gym, I do a two minute walk, three minute run, because it’s easier for me to keep track on the treadmill.  Hitting the 4 mile mark was fairly easy, but as I neared the 5 mile mark, I noticed a strange discomfort on the insides of my arms.  It slowly dawned on me… I was chafing!  My bare arms rubbing against my sweating torso was causing a pain I have never known.  At 5.5, it really hurt, but I was determined to finish my 6.2 miles.  I thought about that stick of Body Glide still in its plastic package sitting in its shopping bag inside my closet.  I thought about me thinking how nice it was of Charles to get it for me, but that I would probably never need it.  I thought about how freaking long a ½ mile is when your arms are burning.

Well, I made it to 6.2 miles – a 10k!  This is the most distance I have done to date.  When I was finished, the insides of my arms were bright red.  And even as I type this blog entry the day after, my arms are still a little sore.  My Body Glide is now out of its package and marked with an “M” as to not get it mixed up with Carolina’s.  It is now safely tucked away in my running bag for future use.  Lesson learned: ALWAYS listen to your coach!

And to Bri and Alexis – I have your Body Glide presents from Charles, and I will make sure you get them this week!

Help us reach our goal for Gamut!  You can support The Gamut Girls Running Squad at http://www.active.com/donate/gamut!

Back on Track!

Today we ran 6 miles!!

I am so proud of us, and I am especially proud of me!  Today, our Gamut Girls Running Squad went to the Stony Creek Rail Trail where we ran 3 miles out and 3 miles back.  This is the furthest we as a group (and I as an individual!) have run so far.  Coach Charles had us on a strict one minute walk/two minute run the whole way.  It was cold and a little muddy, but one warms up quickly when running, and there were only a few "swampy spots."  Overall, I think I liked running on a trail better than running on asphalt and concrete. Although it's difficult to track your progress when the scenery kind of looks the same the whole way, there were little bonuses like scenic water falls and friendly dogs along the way. 

This was also my first big run outside without wearing my ankle brace and knee brace.  I was really happy about that.  I've been running without them at the gym, but running on a treadmill and running outside are completely different, so I was really nervous this morning as I was deciding if I had made the right decision.  Looks like I did, because knee and ankle are both doing fine. :-)

I don't know if I have shared any of my Feet Adventures with you, but back in November, I went to a foot specialist, because I was having a terrible time.  The running was really making my right foot and ankle terribly sore - to the point where I was limping in just my everyday life.  Dr. Cohen discovered that I had one leg a little longer than the other one.  Who knew?!  He took molds of my feet and then had special inserts made for me to put in my shoes.  One has a little lift in it and makes me "even" again.  Now that I've had the inserts for a month, I can honestly say that they have helped my back a whole bunch.  I used to get a terrible pain in my lower right back about 15-20 minutes into running.  Today, I had a little bit of pain at 30 minutes, but it wasn't so bad.  It also wasn't concentrated on the right side, but more in the center.  This makes me think that the inserts are doing their job.

I would probably have less back pain if I lost some more weight, but between work and running, that's about all I can handle right now.  Losing weight is a little down on the list, although I do weigh-in every Monday with my Dad and try to make sure that I'm not gaining weight.

As far as training, Carolina and I try to run 3 times a week.  Once on the weekend is our Big Run (which up until today was 5 miles max), and the other two are usually 3 miles and 1.5-2 miles.  It's hard to coordinate our schedules to get to the gym 3 times, but we are committed to this Quest.  For example, two weeks ago we had a difficult schedule because she had midterms to study for, and I had to work late every night that week, but we still did our Big Run on the weekend, and then got back on schedule when midterms were over.  It seemed to pay off big time today!

The last 15 minutes today were the hardest for me, but Charles said that I actually had a better clocked time on the 2nd 3 miles than on the first!  Wow, go me!  So that's what's up with this 44 year old Mama.

PS - Carolina and I came home and ate homemade pancakes and Nature's Promise bacon..... mmmm...... Pancakes and bacon never tasted so good!

SICK!

I just thought I would check in with everyone and let you know how my "progress" has been.

Leading up to our 5K Jingle Bell Run in December was exhilarating!  We had some gorgeous weather over Thanksgiving, so I got outside to run 4-5 times a week from the end of November to the beginning of December.  I ran the 5K and had a great sense of accomplishment.  Yay, me!

After the 5K, I got out several times over the next week and was up to 3-4 miles each time out.  Go, me!

Then... The Crud Invasion hit.

Yes, I got The Crud.  The sickness that's been going around.  Sinus infection, bronchitis, extreme fatigue, coughing, coughing and more coughing.  I have finally recovered from The Crud, but I am now about three weeks behind in training.  Over the Christmas break, I tried to run, but found that I could really only do a brisk walk, with a small amount of running in the middle.  This has me discouraged, as I now feel that I have to start all over to get my breath back for long distance running.

Running outside is more difficult now that temperatures are sometimes in the teens and 20's, but Charles has given us guidelines for working out on a treadmill indoors.  Carolina will be joining my gym tomorrow, and we plan to work out some evenings together.  I like to work out in the morning.  Carolina does not.  But we like to work out together for the running, so we've been having difficulty finding a time that works for both of us.

We (our Gamut Girls Running Squad) are working up to running a 10K (6 miles) in mid-February at a venue in Reading, PA called "Shiver By The River."  I am nervous for getting back on track, but I'm excited, too.  I am so glad I have Bri, Alexis, Carolina and Charles to keep me going.  I think I probably would have given up if I was trying to do this on my own.  The Power of Team! :-)