I wonder...

Check out my poll, it is what I was thinking about as I was running yesterday at the gym...

5 Miles!

This Sunday Eitan forced me out of bed. It was rainy and gross outside and I said, "I'll go run 5 miles at the gym later today." He didn't buy that, and neither did I - but I was so warm in bed! Three cheers for the buddy system, if it weren't for Eitan's motivation I wouldn't have anything to blog about!

I was concerned about what I should wear to run in the rain. We got an email from our mentor emphasizing the familiar "no cotton" rule. That made sense, nobody wants to be caught in the rain in a cotton rain jacket... not that one of those exists, because that would be silly. I thought about a poncho, but was talked out of that - too cumbersome. So, I ran in my slippery pants, my training shirt, a cotton vest (I wasn't punished) and a rain jacket. I was pretty warm and dry though I sounded like a one man band as my slippery pants squeaked, the rain jacket made swooshing sounds with each swing of my arms, I gasped for air every 4th beat and sporadically cleared my throat (as you do).

All in all, a good run. I made my goal of two 30 minute runs on my own, this week I'm aiming for three.

New Shoes!

I purchased some gear today. Now I feel like a real runner, even if I don't really look like one yet. Turns out I was running in shoes that were 4 years old, it was good to replace them.

I did my 1/2 hour today, I ran outside as it was sprinkling a bit. It was nice, aside from the fact that I was wearing my glasses and couldn't see so well.

I'm still interviewing potential pants. I had a pair I thought worked, but today they betrayed me. As I was running, they kept sliding down no matter how tight I tied the waist knot. Sunday I wore some terrible pants on my long run, they kept exposing my belly and potentially more had I not worked out a system of pulling them up every 30 seconds or so. My arms were a bit sore after the run I think due to the pulling up motion, an added workout.

I raised enough money for my hat today! Thank you so much to everyone who has donated. Only $2,150 more to go..... YIKES!

A Picture...

This is Eitan after our 4 mile run on Sunday! You can be in charge of the caption, send me suggestions!

4 Miles!

Today we had a team practice and I ran 4 miles. I feel so good! I know that sounds annoying and I promise I won't encourage any of you to come run with me and become super, crazy, peppy lady (unless you want to, which of course would be lovely). I only ran once during the week instead of the 3 times we were supposed to, I expected today to be awful but was pleasantly surprised. Next week I'm running at least twice by myself, so check in for updates.

I checked out a new bathroom today. I think this blog might turn into both my running updates as well as a guide to restroom use in the Santa Monica area. The Holiday Inn is quite lovely by the way. I ran in with about 7 other women all dressed in the Team in Training jersey. I think they would have stopped one of us, but were intimidated by the large group. People in general look at us as though we are crazy when we run. I probably would too, if I were just trying to walk my dog and 100 people ran by me, panting.

One of my teamates has already raised $4,500. I felt excited that I had almost $200! This fundraising thing might be harder than I thought. Tell your friends about me and tell your friends to the their friends! By the way, I still want to get my hat... I'm almost there.

Help Me Get My Hat!

Today I had my first running injury. I came home and told Eitan that I hurt my ear while I was running, he said, "I think you are doing it wrong." I didn't actually hurt my ear as I was running, I hurt it because I jammed my earphone too far into my ear. I think I might have widened the entry way - it hurts. I might sue JT, it is his fault - I was just trying to get closer to him. The run itself was successful, I was breathing well and felt great.. just concerned about my brain leaking from my ear.

Help me get my hat! If I double my TNT donations, I get a spiffy running hat! Make a donation today and I'll think of you when I where my fancy new dome piece.

Quasimoto

Today was our first practice with Team in Training and it was great! We met in Santa Monica and I was so happy when we walked to the beach to run near the water. It was gorgeous and it feels great to know that I will make it to the beach once a week now.

I used the bathroom at Shutters (super fancy hotel right on the beach that celebrities enjoy), 'twas a lovely experience. Later, I had to use the public restroom - not nearly as lovely.

We did some serious stretching before we started our run. Eitan is probably the least flexible person I have ever met, so it was rough for him. I was giggling with him and noticed a few other people giggling behind us. One commented to me, "he looks like Quasimoto".... I laughed, and then felt the "you can't make fun of him, only I get to" defense flare up. I decided to send a yoga instructor to Eitan's bell tower on Monday.

Then we set out for our 3 mile jog. We were divided into pace groups based on our time today. I actually did a little better than my treadmill times, I did my three miles in 34 minutes. It was not bad at all! Just 10 more to go.....

Jerry Springer's Puppets

Today I ran at the gym. I tried the slippery pants again and found that with a few discrete adjustments they are manageable. My run went really well. I didn't let the pants talk me into a higher speed than I'm used to, which was my biggest problem on Tuesday. I was wearing cotton though, a long sleeved cotton shirt. I have recently been informed by my new TNT mentor (who read my blog, how nice is that?) that the no cotton rule isn't a big deal until more serious mileage. I wonder if it is because cotton is too heavy when you sweat in it? It will slow my time down. If I don't wear cotton, I should probably remove all of my body hair as well - to be more aerodynamic and shave those important seconds off of my time.



Speaking of time, I ran 35 minutes today! I ran 2.7 miles in 35 minutes.... That is like a 13 minute mile. I think it would have been faster, but my shirt was rather heavy...

I've already received two donations on my other blog! Hooray! www.active.com/donate/tntgla/jsohn



I learned today that Jerry Springer now has puppets on his television show. They sit in the audience and they also have puppet commentators. That might have been specifically for the "Hillbilly Games" program they were doing today, but I was still fascinated. There were 10 televisions in front of me, but I couldn't stop watching Bobbie Joe Lisa and Jaime Lee Linda wrestle in a tub full of refried beans.... Oh, and the other event I saw was blindfolded, shirtless men get their chests covered in shaving cream and throw pork rinds at each other... Sometimes I am very proud to be an American.

Atomic Wedgie

I'm joining the blogging world to update supporters on my 1/2 marathon training. Yes, 1/2 marathon - that is 13.1 miles. I've started training in the past, gotten up to 10 miles and then decided running was stupid and that I would much rather eat Chinese food. This time is a bit different. This time, I am running with a group called Team in Training and I'm running for a reason. I would like to do something to honor the lives of a friend and of my cousin whom we lost to leukemia. You can read all of the serious stuff on my Team in Training donor site (which you should visit and become a Titanium donor) http://www.active.com/donate/tntgla/tntglaJSohn Here is where I will be giving you the details of my training.

This Sunday is our first team practice. We received information from our coach regarding what we should be doing to prepare for our first meeting. First, they said "no cotton." You need to wear breathable materials... So, I went out and bought some polyester pants. Seriously, that is what they tell you to get. Second, they told us we should run for thirty minutes three times this week before we meet for practice on Sunday. Finally, they told us we can't listen to music while we run.

I woke up this morning. Ate a bowl of oatmeal, thinking that it would "stick to my ribs" and carry me through my jog. I waited the obligatory half hour before doing anything physical (I wonder if I will enforce this rule with the child...) put on my polyester pants and headed to the gym. The walk from the car to the gym was lovely in my new pants. I felt as though I was gliding with each slippery step - I hopped on my treadmill and programmed it for thirty minutes. I have to say that the no music while running long distances thing is stressing me out a bit, so I'm ignoring it for now and listening to music while I practice on my own. So, at this point the treadmill is programmed, Justin Timberlake is blasting (Eitan listens to JT too, and - he calls him "JT," AND - he programmed TiVo so we could watch his HBO special - I'm just saying) and I'm off. I should say that I've been running off and on for the past few months, so 30 minutes is not really a huge deal to me at this point. I think there was something about the slippery pants that made me feel like I could run faster, I took off at a much faster pace than usual. After about five minutes I realized there was another problem with the slippery pants, they were sort of creepy - if you know what I mean. Of course, I was on a treadmill and there was someone like 4 feet behind me watching as my pants crept and crept - watching and prohibiting a quick fix. After about 10 minutes I realized the oatmeal does not stick to your ribs so much. At least not the type that Eitan made, it seemed to want to leave my ribs quickly... I slowed down around 15 minutes in, feeling that something awful was going to happen (I could give descriptions, but I'm hoping for this blog to reach audiences of a broad range including my Nana and Dad, they don't need to know what I thought was going to happen, but you can guess...) 20 minutes in I hopped off and ran to my car in my slippery pants.

Not sure what to do about the "no cotton" rule. And I still have to run 3 times, 30 minutes each.