7 mile run....

today i ran all the way from the south side to millennium park... back to the southside... it was an amazing feeling.

at least a couple of days a week i make that drive downtown.... so i really enjoyed that feeling of accomplishment when i made it there and back on my own two feet! lol :-)

i should have been nervous going into this run since i haven't done a long run in two weeks (the last long run i did was the 4 mile run... i missed the 5 and 6 mile run because i was traveling and then last saturday was my birthday). but i wasn't because of the success i've been having in the gym the last two weeks...

being confidant definetly made a difference because i was fully able to enjoy my run. by the time we started running it was about 65 degrees... by the time we were done it was 70+. the sun was out, the lake was beautiful.... although the heat became a little brutal by the end.... it was a GREAT experience overall :-).

after the run i went to ballys for an hr... and now i'm back home getting ready to start the rest of my day.

please please donate! i haven't gotten any new donations! :-(

the link to my donation page is to the right.... please check it out! :-)

peace.

p.s. i apologize for the less than thrilling posts lately... its the end of the quarter and i'm trying to finish up my finals.... after june 16 i will be writing some additional posts on my activist work around HIV/AIDS, as well as some other interesting stuff ;-)... so stay on the look out!

Progress

Last week was a TOTAL disaster... lol....

the few workouts i actually did were terrible, which left me further motivated to use my trip to california and minor allergies as an excuse for not doing anything for the rest of the week... LOL

so i ate horribly and nursed my broken ego all week long... ha...

needless to say.... i was a little bit worried when i finally dragged myself back to the gym today...

but it had to be done... after all... i did kind of tell all my friends (and my family this weekend) that i would be running a marathon... LOL...

so i told myself to be prepared for the worst.... and to the gym i went....

but surprisingly... my flexibility workout went great... i actually improved (how i dont know lol)... i do flexibility workouts every week in order to prevent injury... particularly to my knees and hamstrings.... all the pounding on the concrete really causes my muscles to tighten up.... so doing these workouts every week (in addition to strength training on one of my cross training days) keeps my muscles strong and flexible...

BUT... the biggest surprise of the evening was my short run!... it was GREAT!!!....

in running they have something called "the wall".... its basically a point during your run where your endurance runs out and you feel like your going to die... lol... because i've been slacking on my cardio all winter long... my endurance wall has been hitting me really early and really hard ever since i started training for the marathon and its been KILLING me...

but finally today.... i hit 10min... no wall.... i hit 20min... no wall... 30min... no wall?.... i ended up extending my short run (that i do twice a week) from 2 miles to 3 miles... and not only that... i shaved off a solid 5 minutes from my 3 mile run time on may 3....

i have no idea what happened... maybe it was the rest.... but whatever it was.... im really excited about it... lol.... because those short runs were slow and painful torture.... and i actually ENJOYED this one...

anyway... plleaasseeee DONATE DONATE DONATE :-)

peace.

Moving Ahead and a BIG THANK YOU!!!!

nothing to much to report... i've been feeling a little under the weather this week so my runs in the gym have been somewhat lackluster... but i'm pushing ahead for my 5 mile run this weekend...

I just want to give a BIG THANK YOU to Amir, Stuart and Jamila, my very first donors!!!

in order to continue with the marathon training program I have to raise $1500 by July 15th, so please please plleaaasseee donate!!! (the link to the donation page is on the right).

also... for those of you who are interested in running in the marathon... its not to late to start training! so send me a msg/leave a comment if you have questions.

peace.

Second Saturday Morning Long Run

At 7am this morning I went out for my second saturday morning long group run.

I was really nervous because of how much i suffered with the 3 mile run last week... lol. So i wasn't particularly enthusiastic when I woke up at 6am this morning.

I experimented with my pre-run food again... I needed to switch from the oatmeal.... after talking to a couple of more experienced runners.... apparently after you've been running for 2-3hrs... the fiber can start to get to you... LOL

this time i tried a toasted cinnamon raisin bagel with butter. i ended up burning it horribly (yes i can't cook... laugh it up... lol).... however.... i ate it anyway and it worked out well...

we ran 4 miles today.... and it went GREAT....

i could really tell that my maintenance runs and cross/strength training during the week had helped build/maintained my endurance...

my pace group finished ahead of time and i didn't feel fatigued at all.... it was a great feeling and i'm feeling much more confidant going into my 5, 6, and 7 mile runs in the next 3 weeks.

the one thing i am going to watch is the pounding my legs/knees are getting on that concrete... so strength training is going to be really important.

outside of that... i'm definetly the youngest person in my pace group.... and i'm probably one of the younger people in the training program (at least on the southside). its interesting... a lot of the participants (at my site) are older black women (30's and 40's) who have decided for whatever reason to make a life change. its really inspiring.

it does make me wonder though.... why don't more young black women in their 20's try and actively improve their health? its not like we all aren't aware of the many health problems that our mothers, aunts, friends, sisters, and grandmothers suffer from being overweight, unhealthy eating habits and lack of exercise. trying to be healthy now.... in an attempt to be preventative... will definetly save you from a lot of heart ache later.... regardless of how small you may be right now.

*stepping off my soap box* LOL

anyway... don't forget to DONATE, DONATE, DONATE! :-)

peace.

Experimentation?

So the training program told us that we should experiment with different things in order to get an idea about whats going to work for us on marathon day. shoes, socks, water/gatoraide, snacks and FOOD.

up until today... my experimenting has been going pretty well. sandwiches before a run... good. oatmeal before a run... good. soy joy bar before a run good. heavy indian meal of spicy rice and chicken before a 2 mile run?

alll bad... LOL

honestly... i figured it was like swimming... you know how they say if you wait an hour after you eat you'll be fine?... yeah... not so much.

i had this huge (delicious lunch) 1.5hrs before i got on the treadmill... and i thought i was going to DIE. my stomach hurt so bad i couldnt even pay attention to the fact that i couldnt breathe! LOL....

so yeah... heavy food is a no go...

my weekly training schedule is as follows: monday: 2 mile run, tuesday: 40min cross training, wednesday: 2 mile run, thursday: 40min cross training/1hr strength training. friday: rest. saturday: long run.

our long run increases by a mile a week. so this week i will run 4 miles on the lake!...

i'll let you know how it goes :-)

peace.

My Donation Page is Up!

My Chicago AIDS Foundation donation page is finally up! So check it out and DONATE! Even if your donation is as small as $5 it will be GREATLY appreciated!

In the upcoming weeks there will be more posts abut why I'm so committed to this cause, in the meantime leave a comment and let me know if you have any questions!

peace.

My First Day of Training

So today was the official start of the Chicago AIDS Marathon Training Program for the Bank of America Chicago Marathon.

I actually wasn't planning on going. I figured since it was just an initial timed run, and I had already made plans with my soror to go out the night before, I would just skip the first meeting and time myself running three miles later.

But, ultimately I woke up Saturday morning at 5:30am, saw how beautiful it was, despite predictions of severe thunderstorms all weekend, and (eventually... lol) convinced myself to go.

I grabbed some oatmeal quickly and rushed out the door so that I could grab some water on the way to lake front where the group was meeting. Of course living on the South Side of Chicago, it was nearly impossible to find a simple bottle of water from the gas stations (but that is a whole other conversation about the lack of availability of healthy foods to impoverished communities), but I ended up getting to the beach on time.

There were about 50 people there, most training for the Banco Chicago Half Marathon (a 10 mile race), as well as the Amsterdam, Honolulu and Chicago Marathons. The coaches and program reps gathered us around and talked to us about fundraising and the training program and then off on the run we went!

The instructed us to take it nice and easy and to not huff and puff at all. I definetly overestimated how easy that would be!

I made it about a half a mile before I started getting out of breath and had to start walking. From that point on I ran/walked it the whole way through, trying to fight off my lack of breath! I was definetly having a mental battle with myself, my ego was hurt at all the people passing me, and I wanted to just push ahead and run through my fatigue so I could finish with a faster time.

But to do that would of defeated the purpose of the exercise. They want to know what you are capable of doing comfortably so that they can put you with a pace group with whom you will increase your mileage weekly. So week 1 we ran 3 miles, next week we run 4 miles and by the end of the month we'll be running 7 miles. The only way that you can extend your endurance that quickly is not by sprinting through it, but by taking it slowly.

Like they told us, your endurance gets better whether you go fast or slow, the only thing going to fast to early will accomplish is injury and an inability to finish.

So it was a physical battle to push my body to finish, but it was also a mental battle against my own ego.... I think I spent to much time this morning being disappointed in my inability to run the whole 3 miles, instead of enjoying how beautiful the lake looked in the morning.

In the end though I was surprised, I finished the 3 miles in 39 minutes, averaging a 13 minute mile, which is exactly what I do on the treadmill in the gym. so all that time I was beating myself up thinking I was doing horribly, and I was right on target!

It was really symbolic. In my life I generally spend so much time worrying about what other people are doing and putting undue pressure on myself, and in the end it usually turns out that I'm doing exactly what I'm supposed to be doing, if not better!

I think this marathon is going to teach me a lot about not being so hard on myself and being more confidant. I'm really excited and proud of myself for making this amazing decision to do something so good for myself.

My pace group seems cool. We received our marathon training manuals, and I was back home by 9am.

When I got home my muscles were so tight and so sore. I could barely move! I was also starving out of my mind and exhausted. Nutrition is going to be a big issue for me, I've got to start eating a lot more.... particularly a lot more carbs and protein. Eating a good sized breakfast (i.e. something substantially bigger than just oatmeal) before a long run is going to be key. I will also NEVER schedule a training workout (especially an intense one like I had on Friday) the day before a long run. Who knows.... I may have done a lot better if my body had been 1. better rested (in addition I only slept for 5.5hrs) and 2. better nourished.

So thats the story of my first day of marathon training. 1 long run down 26 more long runs to go!

peace.

Chicago AIDS Marathon Training Program

For the last couple of years I've wanted to run a marathon. Something about being able to push your body that hard, the competition that you have to wage within yourself and the accomplishment of winning that inner struggle... has always been really appealing to me.

I would look jealously at the medals my aunt has accumulated over the years from her many marathon runs. And I would always tell myself, "one day" as I looked at pictures of my soror completing a marathon.

But for one reason or another, I put it off in my mind as something I would do sometime in the future.

I first saw a flyer for the Chicago AIDS Marathon Training Program in October 2007. It jumped out at me and I was immediately interested, but, like a lot of things.... it quickly got pushed to the back of my mind as I got distracted by class work and life.

In the last month, advertisements kept popping up at me for the Chicago AIDS Marathon Training Program, I began to wonder if it was some kind of sign. Should I do it? Can I do it?

I had a lot of doubts...

I didn't want to join the training program and then drop out halfway through. I didn't want to not be able to make the $1500 fundraising requirement that the Chicago AIDS Foundation asks from all the runners running in the Bank of America Chicago Marathon. And most of all, I didn't want to get to the race and not be able to make it to the finish line.

I've been through a lot since I've moved out here to Chicago.... and because of all the struggle... I had... and have a lot of doubts about what the future holds in store of me....

but at the end of the day i have to believe....

i am the master of my fate... i am the captain of my soul...

and with that i made the decision.... if the internet registration would take one of my credit cards (which seem to stay in a state of perpetual unavailable balance... lol)... then it truly must be meant to be...

first credit card.... denied

second credit card.... successful registration?....

and with that.... i'm a marathon runner (to be...)

i've decided that the only thing that can keep me from accomplishing my goals is me... i can't live my life in fear of failure.... only with big risks can you have a big reward.... right?

ultimately.... running this race is about doing something healthy for both my mind and body.... and more than that... its about recommitting myself to something i care deeply about... HIV/AIDS....

i started this blog to both share my experiences.... as well as to hold myself accountable to myself and those of you that will (hopefully) support me emotionally and financially (by donating to the Chicago AIDS Foundation on my behalf).

so here I go....

my first task? time myself running three miles....

i'll let you know how it goes!

peace.

p.s. keep checking back for regular updates on my progress... as well as information about how you can donate to the Chicago AIDS foundation