A different kind of marathon...

For those of you (anyone?  anyone?) who have been wondering where I've disappeared to, I've been been doing a little marathon of my own: LAW SCHOOL EXAM STUDY MARATHON!!  (Scary!)

I've been trying really hard to fit running in around my  finals crunch schedule, but truth be told, it's been a mixed bag of success.  I was able to go to track workout last Thursday (But only 3 people were there, so it was a pretty laid-back affair) and I've been able to squeeze in a couple sessions on the treadmill.  However, most of my exercise has been walking to and from the library caring 1,000+ page casebooks :-)

Luckily, my last final is on Monday and I wholly intend to throw myself back into running once it's over.  And yeah, its an EIGHT HOUR take-home test. Like a real marathon, that last slog is going to be brutal.
 
Until then, however, many things are being sacrificed in the name of 60 page tabbed and highlighted outlines.

Like a normal sleep schedule.

And personal hygiene.  (Did I just say that?) 

But since I finished my Criminal Law exam today (wooo hoo!) I came home and napped/crashed for 6 hours and now I'm going to fit in a nice leisurely treadmill run.  I am aiming for 6 miles so I keep getting my mileage up.

Thank you SO MUCH for the wonderful support I've gotten from everyone (I got two checks for LLS in the mail during finals and I am so grateful!!).  Please know that you guys keep me motivated: when all I want to do is take a break curled up with some online television, I think about the wonderful generosity and faith that you all have in me and I hit the treadmill for a few miles (while watching online television... duh.). 

Much love to you all, and I promise to re-surface, blinking blearily and shaking from over-caffeination  for a Buddy Run on Tuesday!!! 


In the meantime... http://pages.teamintraining.org/sf/Oakland11/kmerkr.  Thanks so much everyone!!

"One-Eighty Katy"

6:45 AM: Got up for team practice and checked out the weather forecast...

 But Coach Al's motto for the East Bay Run Team is "NO WIMPS!" which translates to "If it's not hailing or thundering, we run."  Today's run out at Oyster Point in San Leandro was rainy, windy and cold, but I layered up and he was right: with the right clothing, it was just fine! 

My journey TO practice, however, was a bit more disastrous.  My family has lovingly nicknamed me "One-Eighty Katy" because I am always 180 degrees off directionally.  This morning was a doozie.  I was meant to drive to Oyster POINT in San Leandro, and instead put Oyster PARK into the GPS.  Oyster Park is apparently nowhere near San Leandro: more specifically, it is on the opposite side of the bay in South SF.

Oops.

Little detour to Treasure Island in the middle of the Bay.  No biggie :-)

 (Can you tell I'm enjoying playing with Paint on my computer?)

Anyway, once I made it to practice, it was a wet and windy run with beautiful bay views.  My teammates are awesome and we stayed for a potluck after practice.  I brought some of these that I whipped up last night:

 Baked Oatmeal Snack Bars.  YUM!

Recipe and photo credits to Kath Younger (an awesome food blogger!).  Check out this really healthy and delicious recipe here:  http://www.katheats.com/?page_id=4681.

Today we ran in honor of Justin-- a member of our team with blood cancer who is currently in the hospital.  It was very moving to pin his photograph onto my jacket and realize "I am so lucky to be out here (horrid weather and all) instead of in the hospital."  Such a great reason to run.

Please help me to help folks like Justin.  http://pages.teamintraining.org/sf/Oakland11/kmerkr.  To those of you who have donated, I thought of each one of you while running.  Many thanks and much love.

Now back to the books-- need to cram in a little more studying before meeting up with the family for Mezza Luna dinner to celebrate ROBBY'S 21ST BIRTHDAY!!!  Cioccolata here I come!

FAIL. Then... success?

Well, the best laid plans...

Last night I laid out my workout clothes, set my phone alarm clock, and steeled myself to get up at 5:00 for morning practice with Coach Al.  One wee problem: my phone was still on silent.  I'm sure it rang (silently) at 5, but I slept on undisturbed.

But never fear, friends! I had a long midday gap between classes and hit the treadmill for some interval training.  I did just over 4 miles of quarter-mile (400m) bursts.  I hesitate to call them sprints, as I think that's somewhat ambitious for my current fitness level, but they were noticeably faster bursts (or spurts: sprints + bursts... I like it!).  I was pretty pleased with my run and felt much happier afterward.

Now I'm off to celebrate a rather premature Thanksgiving with some law and graduate student friends.  I wasn't sure which Thanksgiving side dish to bring, so (of course!) I asked Martha.  Literally. 

http://www.marthastewart.com/quiz/which-side-dish-are-you

Turns out I'm "Roasted Root Vegetables" so I'm taking her advice and bringing some roasted veggies.  Healthy and Martha-approved.  SUCCESS. 

As always, I will end with a plea for your money.  http://pages.teamintraining.org/sf/Oakland11/kmerkr.  Thanks so much for all your help!!  Much <3 to you all!!

Tacos + Training = Poor Choice

This evening as I was diligently outlining away (in preparation for finals which are 3 weeks away.... EEK!), some Boalties came by the student center and offered free tacos left over from their meeting.  I figured, "Hey, free dinner!" so I took one.  Poor choice.

It made my workout this evening feel like this:

Blergh.

But I got some good strength training in, and now I need to get to bed early because tomorrow I have a 5:50AM track workout.  Yikes!   Hopefully tomorrow will feel more like this:

From our first team run!

Thanks SO MUCH to those of you who have already donated to my fundraising page!!  You're amazing, and I truly appreciate it.  For others, here's the link:  http://pages.teamintraining.org/sf/Oakland11/kmerkr Even small donations help! <3

More updates to come... stay tuned!

First Team Practice

I was up bright and early (6:45 AM) this Saturday morning for our first team workout over at Piedmont High School.  After getting thoroughly lost in the winding streets of the East Bay hills, I finally found my team.  I got a little grief from the East Bay-ers for my Giants shirt, and I think I may just have to whip out my new Giants championship t-shirt (thanks Mum and Dad!) for our next practice. You know, just to remind everyone who the current world champs are!

We had a pretty easy workout-- just 2 miles.  But afterwards, we got inundated with more information about Gu, gear, and good fueling (like that alliteration?  Once a nerd an English major, always a nerd an English major!) than my somewhat sleep-deprived brain could handle. 

Total mileage in my first week: 12.5 miles.  Pretty light, but I really want to ease into this and avoid over-training, so I am just going to follow the TNT recommended workouts and work my mileage up slowly.

And before I re-bury myself in my books, one last plug: PLEASE VISIT MY FUNDRAISING WEBSITE AND HELP ME TO RAISE MONEY TO FIND A CURE FOR BLOOD CANCERS!  

 http://pages.teamintraining.org/sf/Oakland11/kmerkr

Much love and gratitude to all of you!  Back to the books....

Team Dynamite Franny

Welcome to my Team in Training blog!  I am so excited to begin my marathon training, and I hope you'll stop by to check on my progress.  This blog will chart my workouts, fundraising efforts, running-induced delirium, new friends, inspiring moments, and continuing journey to help raise money for The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.

This week has marked my first few days of training, and it's off to a good (and sore) start!  On Monday, I hit the gym for some lower body strength training.  My legs are still seriously questioning why on Earth I would abuse them so brutally.  Lunges and squats were a bit of a wakeup call for legs that have mostly been holed up in the law library and puttering around Berkeley!  Tuesday was an easy 3 miles and tonight (Wednesday) will be upper body strength training.

I am a little nervous about tackling 26.2 miles while in the midst of law school, but Saturday's TNT Kickoff got me hooked.  Team in Training gives you a reason to run and train that is so much more important than mileage splits, race pace, or Fartleks (more on all this once training picks up!).  Let me introduce you to that reason:

Meet Franny.  She is a bundle of curly-haired energy, a devotee of the color pink, and a survivor of acute lymphocytic leukemia (ALL).  Pretty amazing considering she is six years old!  After successful blood transfusions, chemotherapy, and bone marrow expulsions, Franny's ALL is in remission-- hopefully for good.  She even got to start kindergarten in September!

Franny is the inspiration for our team name:  Team Dynamite (TNT... get it!) Franny, and more broadly, the inspiration for all of us on the team.

Please visit my fundraising page http://pages.teamintraining.org/sf/Oakland11/kmerkr to donate and help LLS in its mission to find a cure for kids like Franny.

And now... off to the gym!