That time I decided to get fit

.. otherwise known as that time I nearly died on the Inca Trail.

In 2008, my friend Ciarán and I booked a 3 week holiday to Peru; 3 weeks jam-packed with adventures. We planned to visit the Amazonian jungle, the Inca Trail & Machu Picchu and throw in some white water rafting for good measure. While I was fairly certain that I needed to be fit (and get fit), I also knew that people in their 70's regularly hiked the trail, so I said 'how bad could it be?' and 'i'll be grand'. Famous last words.

We first visited the jungle surrounding Iquitos and besides acquiring food poisoning, or 'runny bowel syndrome', this was by far my favorite part of the holiday.

Oi, come back with my sunglasses!

SEE, it didn't take me long to mention bowels again, did it? To save you time in future from reading all the boring parts, I think I will highlight the bowel mentions in green so you can just scan it and fit the best parts right away.. you're welcome ;) Anywho, I had more bathroom trips than were appreciated by my companion or the lodge staff. FYI: experiencing food poisoning with someone should be the gold standard for any enduring friendship/ relationship.. it ain't purty!

A few days later we landed in Cusco to acclimatise for the Inca Trail, at which point I found comfort in peanut M & M's and McFlurry's (very cultural I know)

We set off on the trail super excited for the adventure..

Haha.. I just found this on my Facebook..the caption reads ''if only we had know what we were letting ourselves in for''

Two hours later.. I had an 'uh oh' moment (no, I hadn't pooped my pants); I was totally unprepared and unfit. By the second afternoon, I was at the back of the pack, thinking 'if there was any way I could turn back I would!'. Seriously, this was one of the most beautiful places I had ever seen and I all could think about was the relief of when it would be over!

So my point in all of this is.. how pathetic is that? For someone like me who loves animals, nature, outdoors and the possibility of seeing the most pretty places in the world. The thought of letting a lack of fitness hold me back from enjoying them was a game changer. I vowed to get fit when I got home.. I also lost about 10 pounds on that trip so I was off to a head start and I kept rolling from there.

I was definitely not a fit teenager and rebelled against encouragement to exercise so if you're like me and were a later starter for fitness, then I think it's worth remembering your turning point ..thinking of the reward of a gorgeous view from the top of of a mountain, for example, will help get you through the times when you really want to give up.

I now love exercise (as you may have gathered) and I often still need to push myself to do it, but when you've got a half marathon to train for (or any goal for that matter) then putting in the legwork will make the race as fun as possible.. I can't go to Napa, running through vineyards and rolling hills and willing it to be over! Not gonna make my Inca mistake again.

Without further adieu.. I present to you my workouts, which includes running.. whoop whoop! Before I get started, you gotta sing this one with me.. Paolo said it right ''Hey, I got my new shoes on and suddenly everything's (nearly) right''. It's a toe-tapper.

Working out (hope this isn't snooze-worthy  for y'all at this stage):

Mueller Park

Mon: 30 min elliptical, abs
Tues: 1 hr on the bike.. 15 icky miles
Wed: Gillian Michael's DVD week 4 (major ouch on the arms)
Thurs: Run to Mueller Park (4 ish miles); love this place; threw in an ab burner for good measure
Fri: 35 min elliptical, abs (nope, no abs of steel yet)
Sat: Off... or does Beer Olympics count??
Sun: Run to Mueller, 2 laps of lake (4.5 ish miles); 2 rounds of booty burner, abs



To sum up that week, I was easing back in to running nicely and my new shoes were the star of the show. Check out these babies. Thanks to Daniel at Texas Running Company for helping me find the right ones.

plenty cushioning

 

The past week: 
Mon: 1 hr elliptical
Tues: 25 min 'sexy arse' treadmill walking workout (keep your sniggering to yourself, thank ya!), Nike Training Club arm definer
Wed: 4 mile run with Austin Runner's Meetup Group
Thurs: Nike Training Club app 45 min 'Gladiator' workout (entered beast-mode to finish this one)
Fri: Off
Sat: 7 mile run with my Team Challenge Teammates

I was super excited for Wednesday's run with Austin Runner's Meetup Group.. about 18 of us met in a hilly area of Austin (Far West Blvd) for an out-and-back run. In keeping with my trend for TMI (too much information) I gotta tells ya that my bowels were even more excited about the run than I was. It's hard to say which muscles worked out the hardest during this workout.. but my money is on Mr Sphincter; I was in a lot of discomfort during the run and I had good reason for a swift pace (pretty eloquently put if I do say so myself).

OK, I know I'm disgusting but I'm trying to set an example about being open and honest about these things and issues such as these are common among runners and especially among Crohn's and Colitis Sufferers (I'm only blushing mildly while writing this). I still am amazed by how many of those with Crohn's disease are runners.. seriously, hats off to them.

Speaking of which, I'm still trying my bestest to raise money to help those people... and many of you are too! Thank you to those who recently donated: Mary T(-shirt) O'Connor, Edel O'Connor, Lizette O'Connor, Uncle Tim O'Connor, Adarrel Fisher and Rajashree Deshpande.. I am now up to 53% of my target!! I only have a few weeks left to reach my target so if you can donate please do so soon and right here at my fundraising page.

Remember: I will be sending you a pair of earrings or barbecue rub for donations over $20 (covering costs myself) and for over $100 I will (temporarily) tattoo your name on my arm and dedicate a mile of the race to ya; I've got 6 miles left to cover! If you want to see what kind of earrings I make please check out previous posts; I can custom-make too so just tell me what you like!

For events, I have one trick left up my sleeve.. a kickball/ barbecue party! Check out my poster!

.. and Hailey has even offered to bring her massage chair to give 5-10 min massages for donations! I'm sure it'll be a lot of work organising it next week but I'm really looking forward to it.


Over and out for now my friends!

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Stubborn as a Black Donkey

There are a lot of saying and phrases we use at home in the O'Connor household and it wasn't until I started using them in conversation with people outside the inner circle that I realised we were probably a bit weird (in a good way). Here's a little of Toorsaleen lingo decoded:

• As tired as a tinker (or ten)
• As thirsty as a badger (we've got the inside scoop.. badgers get EXTREMELY thirsty)
• Like a ram in November (figure that one out for yerselves ;))
• As stubborn as a black donkey

Now, the last one might have been reserved especially for me and was used quite often by my mother. The source of this stubbornness (Coffey VS O'Connor)  is still a source of debate, and while I didn't agree at the time.. I think mamma MIGHT have had a point (don't tell her).

I could give many examples and break myself down here.. but in this case, I know that I pretty much ignored the signs that minimalist running wasn't for me. I felt my foot was 'quare' before I even hit the road.. but no, I had to finish what I started. I had to carry on with what i'd written on my fridge to get done that week. This breed of a fool hit the road a week after a painful treadmill run, hence epic foot malfunction.

You see, I read the book Born to Run (great book by the way) which preached that running barefoot was how our ancestors ran and they had a lot less injuries than modern runners. It was therefore the only way I wanted to run. My body doth protest too much.

So while I could go on a while here's my lessons for trying something new: get advice from someone in the know, listen to your pain receptors, don't be as stubborn as a black donkey when your body isn't cooperating...CAPISH?

With that, I tried to run on Sunday of last week and did 7 miles (RED SIMPLE.. I know). So, I got a bit of a telling to by Mr Man and Mr Man's brother. Here's what Adarell (personal trainer) said to me: 

Be careful with your injury. It doesn't sound good. I know about wanting to finish what you started but your injury is sounding pretty serious. Even if you don't run 7:30 miles we will still be proud of you. I always tell my clients when it comes to injury, the first step is rest (to stop doing what causes pain). Of course I get all types of excuses like, "if I stop I will get fat" or "its not that bad" or my favorite "professional athletes or professional actors and actresses work out all the time so if I want to look like them I have to keep going". To that last point I always say if you are getting paid for your fitness or for your looks then by all means proceed. But conventional wisdom is to stop and let the body heal. So please take care of yourself. You are young and fit and have many years of physical fitness exploits ahead of you. There is no need to rush it now. 

Thanks Adarell, I needed that.

And since then I haven't run.

Here's what I have done:

Fri: steroid injection

Sat: Total body conditioning class

Sun: 7 mile run

Tues: elliptical 30 mins & 15 min ab burner (Nike training Club app.. love this app; get it, it's free)

Wed: Gillian Michael's DVD week 3

Thurs: Elliptical 1 hr

Fri: Abs

Sat: bike.. 1 hr of torture! 

Sun: 30 min elliptical & Booty Burner (love this too)

I'm gonna chance a 3 mile run on Wednesday and test out the foot.

In other news, I had a very successful fundraising event last week! I hosted a bake sale on UT campus on Tuesday. It was a lot of work.. I got a great local coffee shop to sponsor coffee; J.P's Java, thanks a mill. I had so many friends that helped with the baking, I am so grateful to all you guys. Jackie, Aileen, Mikaela, Meredith, Sylvie, Nancy, Larissa and Laura all baked up a storm. Laura even arrived at the building right before it got started with pecan chocolate chip cookies right out of the oven (QUICK, wipe that drool off your keyboard!).

Gluten-free almond cookies I made.. yum yum in my tum

My grand total was $345!!! Big success! Another great thing to come out of this was that I now know so many people in my department too :)

On to my next event now.. I'm very excited about this one.. It's gonna be a kickball party/ barbeque on May 25th. Austinites mark your calendars! Fundraising is a lot of work so when it's something fun, I know I will enjoy the organising process and it will be worth the work; kickballers sure know how to party.

kickballers in their usual attire

I'm now up up $2020, wohooo, it's been a good week! I've still got a lot to raise. $3330 is the absolute minimum I need to raise. $4500 is the ideal target.

BIG thank you to those who donated most recently: Tricia Sheehan, Amanda Coffey, Nuala & Dinny Coffey and Alessandra Rossi!

You too can support The Crohn's and Colitis Foundation of America here. Our very own Team Challenge runner Michael Ginsberg ended up in hospital this week with an obstruction; he's thankfully home now. The poor guy has had a rough few years with Crohn's, and he's just 29. If you still need convincing as to why we need answers as to the cause and cure, please read this .

Have a great week people! P.S. please share the weird saying in your family, surely we're not the only weirdos? 

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Fashionable footwear

Let me present to you the very latest in footwear fashion!

Sexy eh?! Hobbling around in my bootie with over a week now.. getting used to it, apart from the ordeal of climbing stairs.. I look like John Wayne or a duck.. ya gots to spread 'em wide to climb a stairs at any reasonable speed!

I started writing this post last night and I was feeling rather frazzled after a ''character building'' type of week but today all I can think is.. what a difference a day makes! Lots of positive things are happening again.. and good news on the foot front is one of those things!

I had an MRI scan on Monday night (8PM..wierd) and I was anxiously awaiting results all day yesterday and today. So, the fracture they found last week is a really old one and not a concern anymore. AND I don't have another fracture.. I have inflammation that was basically caused by the barefoot running I tried out..remember teenage mutant ninja turtle feet? Yup, if you're thinking of barefoot running, don't!

I talked to the podiatrist about it last week and he says that if you grow up barefoot and that is all you know then running that way won't be a problem since you develop the muscles necessary to support yourself from a very young age. While some people can handle starting as an adult, the vast majority of people can't and get injured like me. One guy i met during the week quoted his doctor as saying, ''barefoot running? I love it! It makes me lots of money!''

I'm getting a steroid injection on Friday, new shoes that will completely stabilise me and I should be back running in a few weeks (fingers crossed!) In the spirit of Team Challenge and those who run while needing to poop 20 times a day (Crohn's sufferers), I'm not going to let this setback stop me! If I can't run in July, I will bike 13.1 miles (a few times), do it in a wheelchair, something! Fear not, I will shed blood, sweat and tears for the cause!

The running and training is really only a part of what I'm doing, and to be honest, the fundraising part of this is a lot more work than I anticipated. Working in research, it has taught me that you've gotta try a lot of different angles and often repeat the process over and over.. but eventually something works and it is delightful!

I will have a few events for fundraising, like the bake sale I am having next week in my department at work. I have applied to many, many places for donations of giftcards.. and relative to how many I have applied to, with little success. I have giftcards from a local supermarket (HEB), movie tickets and ice cream voucher's (Amy's.. the best!) - not too shabby I guess!

On Sunday, with my bike (the damn car was out of action) and my fighting spirit, I took off in search of local businesses willing to sponsor. If at least one of the ten places I tried will help out on some way, then I'll be happy. So for now, I'm gonna keep trying my best and organise some great events that people would pay money to go to anyways, so my friends won't just feel obliged to attend.

My friends and family in Ireland have been very supportive.. my Dad is organising a cycle to raise money! Thank you all so much. Special shout out my aunt and uncles, the Coffey siblings.. Dan, Jerry and Mary. Terri Mantia and Joanne O'Sullivan too, thanks a bunch! Your money will do great things for Crohn's and Colitis sufferers.

Please donate if you can: http://www.active.com/donate/napaSTXA13/atxHOConn1


Here's the workouts I've done in the last week or so..
Monday: OFF
Tuesday: Step and Sculpt (love this class but my foot doesn't)
Wednesday: 20 min elliptical, 20 min bike, 10 min abs
Thursday: Dynamic strength (happy feet!)
Fri & Sat: OFF
Sunday: 30 min elliptical, 20 min bike, 15 min Nike Training Club 'arm definer'
Monday: OFF
Tuesday: Step and sculpt
Wednesday: 30 min elliptical, 20 min bike & planks

Look what arrived today.. a canvas of Toorsaleen (home) for my wall :)

Speaking of which, I've saved my best news of the day 'till last.. flights booked for July! Mr Man and I are coming home!! I'm so excited, lots of happy occasions to celebrate and I'm even getting a bit weepy now at the thoughts of cuddling my nephew for the first time :)

Yeeeeeee-hoooooo!

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Let's Talk About Poo

Now, hold on, before u click the x on this window, let me explain why I want to talk about poo and where it comes from (yep, where poo comes from). I’m gonna talk a little bit about something that’s directly related to my fundraising cause but affects us all.. poo problems! Bear with me, I know it sounds disgusting but please keep reading!

Since I signed up to run a half marathon for Crohn's and Colitis, I definitely feel it is my duty, in a way, to talk about the conditions and explain to people why it is a worthwhile cause. While part of this is make people aware that I am fundraising for a cause that is worth supporting, another side of it is to get people talking about bowel issues.

I want to increase awareness of bowel-related diseases, regardless of how small the community of people who read this. I work in health sciences research and it is part of my job to be aware of the latest research that's published. I never see Crohn’s-related research published. If it’s taboo to talk about problems down yonder in the poo pipes, then there just isn't awareness as to the scale of the problem  among a population of people, hence the lack of research. 1.4 million Americans suffer from Crohn’s and Colitis, it’s a huge problem and clearly worth researching. The Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation of America (CCFA) is doing great things to change this, pumping $180 million into research thus far, all raised through fundraising.

Here's the other thing: It bothers me when people say they're having stomach problems, when really, they are referring to poo problems. I know I might be considered a little on the vulgar side (especially by American standards!) but your stomach is just one component of your gastrointestinal system, an organ in your abdomen, and why should we be so embarrassed about calling a spade a spade (Americans get that expression, yea)? Granted, I won’t cause a fist-fight over it if you don't tell me about your bowel movement while I’m eating, the time and place should be considered ;)

Going for a number 2 is just as natural as feeling hungry and eating. But here is my point to all of this…Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis are progressive conditions with symptoms becoming more severe and less responsive to treatment over time. Nobody knows the cause OR the cure. If people talked more about their poo problems then maybe we would understand more about the disease progression and early symptoms. Maybe people would be more descriptive about what the ACTUAL problem is, instead of a doctor just fobbing them off and telling them to eat better. As with many diseases, early diagnosis and treatment is going to be vitally important for improving patient outcome.

Sooo, let’s start a facebook page about where we post pics of our dung every day will we??!! Who’s on board?! JUST KIDDING!!! But seriously, I hope what I said above made some bit of sense and you can all relate to the ability to have a good poo so please help out those who can’t!

My fundraising page: http://www.active.com/donate/napaSTXA13/atxHOConn1

Here's what I've been up to the past week, prepping for the half marathon:

Sunday: 4.6 miles in 37 mins in a lovely neighbourhood, not mine obviously! Not too shabby considering my foot was hurting a bit

nice spot for a run

Monday: 40 mins elliptical & abs

Tuesday: 'Step and Sculpt' class at the university (UT Austin) gym

Wednesday: 5 miles on treadmill, tempo run

Thursday: off

Friday: 'Vinyasa' yoga class at the UT gym

Saturday: 3 mile Team Challenge group run

Sunday: Capitol 10K in 47:31, oh yeaaa!

It's been 3 weeks since I hurt my left foot, and I didn't run at all for 2 weeks. :ast Sunday I tested it out, and while it hurt a bit to run on it, I could manage a decent pace on it. I had just a week to go to the 10K so I figured I could manage it! The treadmill was fine on Wednesday (I'm getting to the point of the details, promise), and I was pshyced for Sunday! In all honesty, I hardly slept Saturday night (the circling helicopter all night and the treat of a mass murderer on the loose didn't help either), with nerves and excitement! I ran with three great gals: Jackie, Stacey and my Team Challenge bud Aileen! 

Left to right: Jackie, me, Aileen and Stacey

There were 17,500 runner yesterday, what a buzz! All in all, my foot felt fine and I was really happy with my time! It wasn't easy, actually it was tough. I guess my fitness has dropped in the hiatus; I thought my head was going to explode it felt so hot! I couldn't believe I bumped into a running buddy at mile 5, when I was really needing it, he delivered me a high five and we vowed to maintain the pace! I did 7:39 min/mile and according to the website 20th in my age group, wohooooo! worth the pain! We were all delighted with our times so a great day out for all the gals!

I already had had a podiatrist appointment made for this morning. I thought about cancelling, but I went anyways.  And what do ya know.. I have a stress fracture...and I am now the proud owner of a very sexy bootie (note: bootie not booty) for at least 3 weeks! The best (worst) part is that the fracture isn't even where the pain is so I could have a second one, further up my foot, so for an MRI I go. I can still bike, and exercise, but no running... balls, balls, and more balls! At least this means I can try out every exercise class at the UT gym.. and I'll still go support our runners on a Saturday morning, find a way to make use of myself!

Please 'like' and 'share'my posts if you know of others who might like a read or who would like to support CCFA.

A huge thank you to Eimear Plower, Michelle Dennehy, Brigid O'Connor (mother hen of the O'Connor household) and Anne Golden for donating this week xx

Runners, any tips on maintaining cardiovascular fitness while injured?

Have a good week y'all!

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Trip to the Windy City

Howdy y'all.. man I really love saying that but I would feel like a fool saying it in real life! So howdy y'all! Hope you've had a good week!

I'm a bit all over the place so I'll give y'all a recap on what I've been at since I went on my trip! On Friday, I headed for Fort Wayne, Indiana, where Mr. Man is at.  On Sunday, we caught an early train to Chicago and checked in to our hotel. We were starving for lunch and upon the advice of my foodie buddy Rob (check him out at The Food Buzz), we headed to Lou Malnati's to sample Chicagos famous deep dish pizza.. it was mmmm good! 

Later at the hotel, food coma set in for Mr Man so I hit the gym.  0.7 miles into a run on the treadmill I realised deep dish pizza is not the best running fuel.. funny that! So I stopped and did 20 min hills on the bike followed by 15 min elliptical. Major stomach issues after but I was well enough to eat at a delicious tapas restaurant a few hrs later.. You have to check out cafe-Ba-Ba-Reeba if you visit Chicago, delicious! I love food, so tapas and tasting as much as possible without the danger of exploding suits me damn fine! 

Tuesday started off with a workout at the hotel gym. I ate yogurt beforehand so after nearly seeing my deep dish pizza for a second time on Sunday, I decided to hit the elliptical instead. Knocked out 30 min. So glad I didn't run.. An hour in to touring around town a bit later and my left foot was hurting at every step. Insert sad face here. I did make it to the top of the Sears tower though (now known as Willis tower)!

note the fool lying down.. and the other fool wearing slipper-like shoes in Chicago.. lucky I didn't lose a toe!

By the way.. it was so cold in Chicago.. I know you may have no sympathy for me since I was practically around in bare feet. But even if my foor wasn't sore, there was no way I was running on the lake, like I had hoped. W had planned on a walk there one day and within a block of the lake the wind got too much to bear and I begged for us to turn on our heel! Total wimp now that I'm living in Texas... have the lagging jacket ready for me when I go back home in August!

Anyways on Wednesday I worked on abs a bit.. Working on my plank. Those things are boring as hell but apparently effective. First thing I did was call to book a doctor's appointment. The fear is that I may have a stress fracture (my totally uneducated guess), since I haven't run in 12 days and its worse now and I'm kinda getting worried. Best to let the doc do his thing and figure this out. 

I also haven't mentioned the fact that I have a 10k a week from Sunday.. Hence the fear! I'll happily back off the running beforehand but I really really wanna do it! 

Capitol 10k is a huge one on the Austin running calendar, with approx 25,000 people running it every year. I joined Austin runners meetup group in January and there are a number of my Saturday morning run comrades running it too. Since I started CCFA half marathon training I can't run with them anymore (group runs also on saturdays) so I'm looking forward to seeing them again. A great friendly bunch.  Because the group is so big there's always 2 or 3 of us around the same pace so I'm hoping to have someone to run with. I also convinced my friends Jackie and Aileen to sign up sooooo.. the after party is gonna be too good to miss out on it!

Chicago had been a great trip; the past few days have been a welcome break from pushing my fitness and healthy eating. Back on the wagon I go! 

Thank you to all who have supported my goal so far to raise $4,500 for Crohn's and Colitis. By the end of May, I need to commit to running and therefore meeting my fundraising target. This is because the flights and hotel needs to be booked at that time. Sooo (trying really hard not to sound like a money-grabber) if you were thinking of donating, then it would be great if you could do so in the next few weeks. If you weren't or can;t afford it then no worries obviously. 

I have a few tricks up my sleeve to do some fundraising events in the next few weeks.. possibilities are a movie night, a barbeque, a bake sale and a raffle.  I also accept donations in the form of bright ideas! 

Just to remind you what it's like to have Crohn's disease, read the latest post from Ali, a Crohn's sufferer/ runner/ editor-in-chief of a magazine.. what a gal. I really didn't realise Crohn's was this bad.

A special shout-out to Jackie Ahmad, Tom Kane and Victor Trevino and Mike Murphy for your generous donations. If you would like to donate please do so here.

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Pucker up!

This week, South by Southwest (SXSW), the music, film and interactive festival hit Austin, as did close to 250,000 people! Quite crazy for a city smaller than Dublin. St. Patrick's Day (note: not St. Pattie's Day) fell on the last day of both SXSW and Spring Break, so with all these people around, my brain got to thinking of fundraising possibilities.

Lots of people wear the t-shirts 'Kiss me I'm Irish' but they're not the real deal like moi (!), so cheesy as it is, I decided to make the most of being REALLY Irish in America on St. Patrick's Day and offer kisses for donations from a real Irish girl. Once the idea was hatched I checked with a few friends who agreed that while it was a little nuts, I had nothing to lose (clearly dignity doesn't come into it).

A few friends agreed to chaperone so I wouldn't feel like a total prossie, and off we set for Sixth Street, aka Dirty Six. It's a dirtier version of Temple Bar in Dublin, a classy spot, just where we belonged for the task at hand.

me and my pimps

kisses for everybody!

After gaining some dutch courage in the form of Guinness and the like, I was ready to start smooching! We did the rounds of lots of bars and it was actually good craic (Irish word for fun, not cocaine). Most people were very receptive and generous. I only kissed one guy on the gob; rather he smacked one on me before I had a chance to turn my head! Quite a few guys gave me donations to kiss their girlfriends and.. wait for it.. I HAD to kiss two girls on the lips. I couldn't get over how soft their lips were (well this was in comparison to kissing big hairy beards for an hour earlier.. but still). Men always get the better end of the deal ;) The other amazing discovery from the day was how many guys wouldn't donate because they had girlfriends/ were married.. really, come on!

So after an exhausting afternoon of sipping, chatting and dishing out the smackeroos, we counted our donations.. $160! More moneys for Crohn's and Colitis research! A huge thank you to my friends Jackie, Mikaela and Tom (who brought listerine for me too!). I couldn't have done it without your help and I'm lucky to have friends so generous to this good cause.

Oh yea, I'm training for  a half marathon!
Fitness week:
Monday: 40 mins elliptical and 15 min Nike training club app 'abs burner'
Tuesday: treadmill 7.7 miles in 1 hr 4 mins.. Tempo run.
Wednesday: Gillian DVD 'week 3'
Thursday: 35 mins elliptical and 10 mins abs
Friday: Off
Saturday: Team Challenge group run, 4 miles
Sunday: 30 min elliptical and 15 min Nike training club app 'abs burner'

I'm transitioning to barefoot running.. you know wearing shoes that make you look like a teenage mutant ninja turtle.

Anyways, I'm pretty sure I've messed up my left foot with too much running in these babies too soon. I'll be crosstraining mostly for now, until it feels better. I'm going to Chicago for a few days next week (yipeee!!!) so I'd love to run on the lake there.


So thank you to all of you lovely peoples who donated this week. Between donations from Feng Wang (better known as Jack in the Box), Dominic, Mary Schtones (ok, she's called Mary Cody), Kevin and today it's been a great week. Dominic gave a very generous $100 so I will be running my first mile for him.. the lengths he will go to get his name tatooed on my arm ;)

Please give what you can, if you can.. earrings, bbq rub, a mile or a kiss in exchange; take your pick! Thanks to one and all.

Here is the link to my fundraising page: http://www.active.com/donate/napaSTXA13/atxHOConn1

Please feel free to comment/ mock me, i can take it! Oh and has anyone got tips for transitioning to barefoot running? are compression socks the way to go?

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Week two

It's been a busy week.. between training, working, volunteering and fundraising!

The Half Marathon is a few months away (July 21st) but I'm taking my training pretty seriously since I have a goal time in mind. I ran a 10 mile race in October and I honestly had no clue what I was capable of. I ran just over an 8 minute mile.. so for the half, my goal is 7.30 minute mile. I have no idea what the course is like with hills and whatnot but this is the figure in my head and I find it easier to stick to a plan when I have a goal in mind.  Half marathon in 1.38, it's gonna happen (if it doesn't don't remind me I said this!)

I write out a loose plan every Sunday and stick it on my fridge. Here's what I did this week:

Monday: Treadmill..... 5 miles in 41:42; focus on hills, (incline 1% for 3 mins, 3% 2 min @ 7.5) x repeats, with warmup and cooldown

Tuesday: 30 mins elliptical, followed by 15 min Nike Training Club app workout 'Arm Definer'

Wednesday: Treadmill..... 6 miles in 48:04

Thursday: Gillian Michael's DVD workout, 'week 3'

Friday: Off

Town Lake trail.. pwetty eh?

Saturday: Team Challenge Group Run: 4 mile loop of Town Lake trail.

Sunday (yet to do): easy 3 miles + 30 min Nike Training Club 'Gladiator' workout


Any of you runners got any tips for increasing speed?

I know a lot of people are very anti-treadmill, but truth be told, I don't feel very safe in my neighbourhood (I did see a dead body cycling to work one day so I have good reason!) so I'll be sticking to the gym during the week until it gets brighter outside in the mornings.


On Saturday mornings, we meet at 7:30 AM. Austin gets really hot in the Summer so that's why we will be training so early... in just one week it went from 41F (5C) to 63F (17C). Man, is it tough to get up at 5:45AM on a Saturday morning! Out 'Endurance Manager' Meredith does a great job at motivating us and yesterday before we took off, she reminded us of the reasons why we are doing this. She told us of a little girl who died of Crohn's related complications just a few weeks ago... awful. My other motivation comes from reading two of my favourite running/lifestyle blogs; Tina of Carrots 'N' Cake, and Ali of Ali on the Run. Ali is going through a pretty bad Crohn's flare -up at the moment, yet still manages to run! The money I raise goes towards helping these people suffer less....finding a cause and cure. If you can help this cause in any way then please give as generously as you can.

Thanks to Shona, Karen, Jon and Aaron who donated this week.. I have $275 thanks to you guys! As I mentioned last week, I am sending earrings to the gals. Here's a few examples of what I can make:

Clearly I'm not the gifted photographer but I hope that one of these tickles your fancy (if you're a girl that is!). The earrings are custom made, and I have lots of supplies so if you have a colour/ size/ style in mind let me know! I'm gonna get working on my bbq rub recipes for you guys this week. $20 or more of a donation and they will be on their way to ya!

For donations over $100 I will be dedicating a mile of my run to you.. your choice which mile.. an writing it down my arm.. temporary tattoo kinda thang! My arms are not stretchy so that's why it's over $100.

Thumbs up to you guys for supporting me!

Here is the link to my fundraising page: http://www.active.com/donate/napaSTXA13/atxHOConn1

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