I've got 18 miles under my (fuel) belt!

This morning I completed my first (and possibly last) 18 miler in the ING New York City Marathon Tune-Up!  The race was 3 laps of Central Park, which unfortunately meant we had to climb Harlem Hill (the steepest in the park) 3 times too!  It was a tough one.  At the start line an exploding Gu managed to cover me from head to toe (literally, I had Gu in my hair and somehow even Gu in my sock!), making for a sticky 18 miles.  Let me tell you, Gu chafes.   There's definitely power in numbers... if I was running on my own I would have been responding to my thoughts 'I'm tired' and 'I want to walk'  with  'Go ahead, walk, noone will know'.  I definitely needed the Team, and especially my running buddies to motivate me to keep going.  I'm really proud of all of us for finishing strong, on top of making it all 18 miles without any walk or pee breaks!  Here's a look at the run:


The race was good to practice taking water from the fuel stations- being able to drink from a paper cup while running and without inhaling any of the content is really an art form!  I made the decision that I can live without my fuel belt on race day- so I'll be running the marathon without all of the weight around my waist that I've been training with.  I also gave the jelly tots a test drive.  This is what you get after running with them in your back pocket for a few hours- I powdered the sugar!

 
After lots of gatorade and an ice bath, I made my way down to Chelsea for a sports massage.  I guess you can't expect one massage to work miracles, but I feel sorer now than I did before trekking down there.  I'm currently struggling with the question "is a McDonalds ice cream worth the pain of getting out of bed and waddling 2 blocks?".  I think it might be.  

Fundraising Countdown- 2 weeks to go!

The Brooklyn Indie Market was a washout.  Judging by the thunderstorms at my first CPK fundraiser and the miserable day that occurred on Sunday, the weather gods clearly don't want me to reach my fundraising goal!  So now I have 2 weeks and just under $800 to go until I reach my goal of raising $3,900 for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society- eeek!  You can click HERE to help me do it!

Here's a photo of my market stall.  The market was a bit of a ghost town, so Melinda and I unfortunately ended up carrying practically everything we'd made back to my apt, where I'll be hosting a clearance sale this weekend to try and get rid of the stuff!  Big thanks to Andy for helping carrying everything to Brooklyn, to Melinda for helping me with the crafting and spending all day at the market with me, and to my running buddies Sindy and K for coming out to the market, hanging out and contributing to the cause!

I skipped the long the run last weekend as my ankle had been bothering me.  It was feeling fine yesterday, until I ran 5 miles on it!  At last nights GTS we had a pacing workout, where were supposed to increase our milage ~10 secs/mile to focus on the difference in speed and heart rate with subtle pace changes.  Maybe I was just having a bad night, but it really made me re-think my marathon goal!  Ideally I'd now like to finish sub 5 hours, but I know that the main focus needs to be enjoying my first marathon, and crossing the finish line healthy and happy!

On Monday I bought a months membership to Crunch gym on Groupon, so I'll be busy cross training (and icing, ibuprofen-ing and resting) until the 18 miler on Sunday.  Luckily I found jelly tots at Fairway on Monday, so those should make a nice change from the Gu and keep me going when it gets tough!  Three loops of the park will be a challenge... I hope K has her stories ready!

The Final Canvas!

Here's the last painting that I'll be bring to the market tomorrow... I'm kind of relieved that I can hang up my paint brushes for a while now :)

Dahlia, acrylic on canvas, 10 x10"

I'm off to lab now... check back tomorrow for an update on the indie market!

Day Off

I was sad to miss the Hartsdale run today.  My ankle has been bothering me since last weekend's 16 miler and my coach recommended that I skip the long run today to give it a chance to heal.  So instead of completing my planned 10 miles, I took to the gym instead and spent a significant amount of time on the bike and strider.  The time dragged without my running buddies!  It sounds strange, but it was hard not to run this morning.  I haven't missed a weekend run since May!  Anyways, hopefully the break, along with lots of icing and ibuprofen, will help heal my ankle before the 18 miler next Sunday. 

I'm about to start working on my last blank canvas for the Brooklyn Indie Market- it's tomorrow!!!  I'm really excited to see how it goes, and how much closer it will be bring me to my fundraising goal!  I have only 2.5 weeks to go to raise just over $1,000.  Here's a pic of my latest painting- 'Parrot tulip', acrylic on canvas, 10 x 10".

More Brooklyn Indie Market Creations!

I have to say a huge thanks to Melinda for coming over and helping me put together some of these goodies for the BIM this weekend... only 3 days to go!  Here's a selection of our creations: post-it notepads, halloween goody bags and doggy treat bags!

10.2 miles to go!

It's been a while since my last update, but I'll try to keep this one short!  This weekend just gone, I made it up to 16 miles!  It took a while, but we got there in the end!  I even made it out for, and survived, a 30 minute recovery run the next day.  I was excited to be back in the park for our long run, mainly because I'm too lazy to commute to a run so early in the morning, but by the time we were on our third loop of the park, my excitement was quickly wearing off.  Running new places definitely helps the time pass quicker... luckily for me we're heading out to Hartsdale (wherever that may be) this weekend, where the distance will come down to give our bodies a chance to recover.

I took advantage of the long weekend to work on a few more paintings for the Brooklyn Indie Market- only 11 days and 2 blank canvases to go now!  Here are a few pics of my latest creations...

 
At tonight's practice we're having our second fitness test.  I'll be racing a 5K on the lower loop of the park to see whether my speed has improved over the last couple of months.  Update to follow!

A rather long update...

It's been a busy week! Here's a quick summary of my training and fundraising progress...

Tuesday: Hill workout- 'pushing the hill' (4 reps, 4 miles). In this workout we were asked to run up the hill at near maximum effort (E4), to help us strengthen our muscles and improve our running form. It was impossible to talk on the uphill portion of the run, and for a fair part of the downhill recovery!

Wednesday: Getting my paint on! I have a rather large pile of blank canvas stacked up in my apt and there are now less that 2 weeks until my fundraiser at the Brooklyn Indie Market (come see me there on September 12th), so this evening was spent working on a hot chocolate rose. Here it is!

Thursday AM: Tempo run (about 4 miles). After sleeping through 2 alarms I finally made it up and out of the apt, and headed over to the park to work on my speed. I used the ~1 mile over there as a warm up period and then ran the lower loop at a fast (for me!) but maintainable pace. It felt good to move a bit quicker than usual, but my shins still aren't appreciating the speed!

Thursday PM: Fundraiser at Banshee Pub! I only have a month left to reach my goal of raising $3,900 for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, and what better way to do it than to guest bar tend?! My teammate Megan and I were behind the bar for 3 hours pouring drinks. We also held a 50/50 raffle, with the winner generously donating his half back to the cause! Thank you to everyone who came out to support us! It was so great to see all of our friends and teammates who made it out!

Friday: REST DAY- possibly my favorite! :)

Saturday: George Washington Bridge run- 12 miles. The team met at the base of the GW bridge run path and headed across the bridge in the single file- a long line of purple people! The views from the bridge were absolutely stunning, ruined only slightly by the cyclists screaming at us to 'keep right' on our way over! After crossing the bridge we ran on to Palisades State Park, with amazing views over the water, and even more amazing hills! Luckily we had a fantastic story teller (and birthday girl!) in our running group to keep us motivated up those hills and entertain us over the long haul! We rewarded ourselves and celebrated K's birthday after the run with brunch at Kitchenette. I thought I'd share a photo of my 'Lumberjane' (eggs, sausage and french toast with strawberry butter) with you...

Sunday: Yoga.  Every Sunday, lululemon holds a free yoga class at their 66th St store from 9:30-10:30- a great chance to stretch out after a long run!  Despite the stretching, my legs are still a bit sore today.  I think it will take a while to recover from those hills!

LONGEST RUN EVER!

On Saturday morning we met waaaaay downtown for our long run, but seeing as it started at 8 we actually got a lie in! The long run took advantage of the last Summer Streets of the year- where some of the busiest streets are closed off to traffic, and various activities including dumpster swimming occur. Sadly we ran straight past the dumpsters. We started off by running across to the East side and over Brooklyn Bridge, before heading back over the Manhattan Bridge, through China Town, up Park Avenue, back to the West Side and all the way back down the West Side Highway to Urban Athletics for stretching and a running shoe sale! The view of the skylines on both of the bridges were amazing, so the first few miles of the run went by really quickly. The constant stopping and starting to let traffic pass along Park Avenue and back across to the West side were frustrating, as it's hard to maintain a steady pace, but at least it gave us time to hydrate, gu and stretch a bit. Overall it was a great run, and I was surprised at how good I felt afterward! Maybe the mini muffin basket at brunch after helped speed my recovery... This Saturday we'll be running over the George Washington bridge to New Jersey and back.



On Sunday, Pure Yoga held a free community class for Team in Training. The yoga studio itself was amazing, and the class lead by Scott, which was directed specifically at athletes, hit all the right spots. It was the first time that I had done hot (or maybe it was just 'heated') yoga and it felt good to sweat it out, even if it did make some of the poses hard to stay put in!

Back to the hills

Tonight I ran my first real hill workout for 3 weeks, 3 repeats of Cat Hill.  The hill was a bit of a challenge, hence why I only made it up 3 times, but it felt good to pick up my speed towards the end of the workout.  Hopefully these hills will pay off in San Fran!

Half way there!

Today I ran my second half marathon- the Bronx half.  The course was a lot hillier than I'd expected, but luckily the weather was cooperating and stayed cloudy all morning.  The humidity was quite a shock having just returned from the dry heat of Colorado, but at least it was a lot easier to breathe in the Bronx than in the mountains!  I'm pretty sore now.  Here's a look at my run and a photo of my mentor Jessie, my teammate Megan and I after the 13.1 miles!

I also missed out on posting my Chicago long run.  Luckily for Paul, I was able to do last weekends 11 miler with the Illinois chapter of TNT, so he didn't have to keep me company!  It was a beautiful run along the lakefront, and a nice break from the hills of Central Park.  I enjoyed my post-run ice bath in the form of lake Michigan- it's that cold!  Here's my Chicago run:

Double Digits!

Yesterday's long run was a big one- double digits!  This was the third time ever that I've run 10 miles or longer.  The hills were a little bit of a struggle, as my knees weren't too pleased to be climbing up them again, but my running buddy and I had enough left in us for a strong finish in the last mile, which was encouraging and felt great!  I'm feeling a bit stiff today, but hopefully yoga will help to loosen everything up.  Now it's time to pack for Chicago and Colorado... I'd best get back to it!

Here's the map from last nights first hill training session- 4 repeats of Cat Hill. The hill wasn't actually as bad as I'd spent the day imagining, probably because I'd psyched myself up for the worst and then ran it very slowly. I've realized that I don't need to go anywhere fast (especially not to the top of a steep hill), and it seems better for my shins not to. Despite only running a couple of miles, I was once again starving on my way home, so much so that I didn't make it past McDonald's empty handed! My last minute switch of a shake to a smoothie made me feel a little less guilty about fueling myself with junk, and the smoothie was surprisingly good!




Yesterday, Paul also helped me lug 4 bags full of books down to The Strand (thank you to Emily, Jeannie, Sterling and Paul for your donations!) to try and raise a bit more fundraising money. They only accepted half of the books that we carried down there, so we got quite a workout both ways, and I made $33 towards my goal!

My latest creation...

This is my latest painting 'Two Tulips'- acrylic on canvas, 18x24".  On sale at the Brooklyn Indie Market on September 12th (or before, if anyone would like to buy it for a $100 donation to the cause!).

One More Mile to Double Digits!

Here's the map of today's long run- 9 miles! My new Garmin watch has GPS, so it was fun to monitor my (slow) pace along the way, and count down to the end! Finishing the 9 miles has made me feel more confident for the rapidly approaching Bronx Half Marathon... only 3 weeks to go! It was HOT again, but luckily cloudy too, so we were mostly running in the shade. We're now reaching distances where we need re-fuel during the run. Today I tried Gu Roctane energy gel in pineapple- delicious! And I still have another 848 calories to replace :)

Test # 1

Tonight's practice was a test- a 5K run at race pace, to determine a baseline to mark our progress throughout the season.  The race pace can also be used to estimate overall finish times for longer distances like half and full marathons.  I was hoping to be able to run a bit faster than in Saturday's 4 mile race, seeing as we knocked 0.9 miles off the distance tonight, and surprised myself again with 9 minute miles!  Now we have 6 weeks of hill training (argh!) to complete before test # 2.

The recommitment deadline for the Nike Women's Marathon is fast approaching.  This is where TNT participants have the chance to assess their fundraising and training progress and decide whether to recommit to the program for the rest of the season.   This afternoon we received a 'mission moment' from our race coordinator that I'm sure inspired all of us to keep at it, and I wanted to share with you...

For those hot days when you ask yourself- why  am I doing this?

 “At 7 am this morning (July 20, 2010), our 5 yr old grandson Mikey went to heaven very peacefully with his Mom and Dad at his side. Mikey’s spirit and joy for family and his "friends" was infectious. It is almost impossible not to feel his enthusiasm, quick and hilarious wit and joy for everyday things.”- Mikey’s grandmother

Michael was battling a rare form of leukemia-(Acute Myelogenous Leukemia-AML) for the past year. He was waiting for a bone marrow transplant, but he wasn’t able to fight any longer.  He was diagnosed at age 3, remained in remission after a year of treatments, and lived a relatively normal life up until about 4 months ago.

This is why you are getting up early on weekends and are sweating through this very hot summer to train for your event. Every dollar that you raise is so important. No family should have to watch a child suffer and lose their battle with Leukemia or any other blood cancer.

It's stories like this that keep us on track through early starts, long runs and heat waves- these are nothing compared to what patients and their families go through every day.  Thank you all again for your support and donations- together we really can make a difference!

Run For Central Park Race

This morning I ran the 4 mile Central Park Conservancy Run for Central Park along with 221 TNTers, and over 5000 other runners!  The 4 mile distance was a nice break from the long runs we've been running every other Saturday morning, and while the lie in was appreciated after the previous week's early start, the heat was not!  However, I surprised myself by finishing faster than I'd expected :)
Here's the course...

Effort Levels

Last night's group practice focused on effort levels (EL). After a 10 minute warm up on the lower loop of the park, we sped up to our 'effort level 4'- think running hard, arms pumping and heavy breathing! The speeding continued for a distance of 4 lamp posts and was followed by a recovery period at EL1 (which turned out to be walking for me, in order to be able to breathe properly) for 2 lamp posts before building up to EL4 again. I think this was the hardest workout I've done so far (with the exception of the cross training workout I blogged about earlier), but it felt good to move a bit quicker after weeks of just 'surviving' the heat and humidity. By the time we'd finished our runs and were mid group stretch, after spending all day hoping that the thunderstorms would stop for practice, we were wishing for the rain to start to cool us down!

Early Start!

This morning was the first of many early starts to come. When the alarm went off at 5:17 am, I reached for my Clif bar for an easy breakfast. Substituting my running clothes for pjs definitely got me out the door quicker, with time to make it to the bus stop for 6:10... shame the bus didn't show up until 6:30! The good news is that seeing as that was the first bus of the day, it means I get an extra 20 minutes in bed next week! This week's long run was another out and back along the Hudson. Here's the 7 mile + route:



Earlier this week we also had the first team-wide social. I had a great time dancing (or cross training, as I like to call it) with my team mates. Hopefully I'll find some photos from the social to share!

Latest Long Run

Yesterday, I ran just over 6 miles in the park. The full loop was tough, especially the 'rolling' hills on the West side that seem more like mountains than rolling, and Harlem Hill right at the top. However, being part of the team makes it all that much easier. As the different pacing groups set out on various loops of the park, we were constantly running past the other team members, and spent the morning shouting 'Go Team!' and 'Looking good!' at each other. Cheesy as that may sound, team spirit really helps when you're legs are getting tired and you're overheating! Next week our Saturday long runs will be starting at 7 am to beat the heat... which wouldn't be such a problem if we didn't have to each 1.5 hours ahead of running. My plan of action is to sleep with a Clif bar next to my pillow, set my alarm for 5:30, eat the Clif, and go back to sleep for as long as possible before it's time to leave. I'll also be sleeping in my running clothes to speed things up in the morning!

Here's yesterday's run:

New craft photos!

My friend Sterling just took some amazing photos of my crafts for me, which I wanted to share with you here!  Recently I've been busy making a variety of bookmarks, notepads and paintings to sell at the Brooklyn Indie Market next month.  Here's a selection of my creations!

San Francisco Cross Training

On Monday night the Nike Women’s Marathon Team spent the evening in the 30 degree heat of Central Park at a cross training session to prepare us for the hills of San Francisco.  Cross training included a series of 5 minute out-and-backs divided by sessions of squats, lunges, leg lifts, crunches, planks and a whole host of other pleasures... look how much dirt we collected while we were at it!  Yesterday, I was growing increasingly sore throughout the day, but no rest for the wicked- we were back in the park to run another 3.4 miles, this time focusing on lower arm swings.  Unfortunately stretching was cancelled due to the thunderstorm, and so last nights CPK fundraiser was a bit of a wash out!  We're hoping the weather stays nicer and that today is a better day!    

Eat Pizza, Fight Cancer!

We're not just running marathons for a cause... we're eating for a cause too! Jeannie and I are holding a 2 day fundraiser at California Pizza Kitchen to raise money for The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. 20% of your check will be donated to the Society if you take our flyer (print out the picture above) in with you to eat on June 22nd or 23rd, 2010. Please join us in the fight against cancer (no running required)!

Getting Crafty

I also need to send big thanks to my Aunty Chris for donating a ton of craft supplies and teaching me how to make some awesome home-made gifts to sell along with my paintings on my upcoming stall at the Brooklyn Indie Market this summer! Not only did she donate the supplies, she spent hours stamping and cutting various shapes of card out with me so that I can get sticking them all together back in NYC... Pritt stick party anyone?! With her help, and the help of additional crafters (thanks to Janet, Sarah, Georgia, Bonnie and James!), I now have enough supplies to make tons of bookmarks, notepads, post-it note key rings and treat bags, like the ones shown in the (blurry) photos above. She also donated a bunch of beautiful cards made by Sarah (also above), which I am also hoping to sell at the Brooklyn Indie Market, or to anyone who wants them! I had a very productive trip home!

My First Fundraiser!

I have to say a HUGE thanks to my cousin Bonnie (who conveniently happens to be a fundraising and development officer for a wonderful charity back home called Parkside) for organizing a friends and family raffle to support my fundraising goal. With short notice, Bonnie put together fundraising packs and handed them out to family and friends, who sold an amazing number of raffle tickets and together managed to raise almost 10% of my $3,900 target! I want to say a big thank you to everyone who donated gifts to the raffle, bought and sold tickets, and came to the raffle ticket drawing party (and to my mum for hosting it!)… I couldn’t do this without your support! I have lots more fundraisers planned to reach my goal. Watch this space for details!

Cross Training

On Easter Sunday we headed up to Breakneck Ridge to get out of the city for the day. The train dropped us off seemingly in the middle of nowhere, with just a set of wooden stairs serving as the platform. From there we wandered up into the woods for what turned into a five-hour hike followed by an hour-long walk to the nearest train station and a final, painful, sprint for the train! As you could probably guess from the photo, it took a fair amount of climbing and scrambling to make it to the top, and some serious effort not to roll back down on the decline! It was more exhausting than I was expecting, but reminding myself that it will likely take me that long to run the marathon kept things in perspective!

Starting small

Here's a map of one of my first training runs in Central Park. Right now I'm running with the lululemon East 66th store run club (every Wednesday leaving at 6:45 pm, if anyone would like to join us!), until the official training with TNT starts. The hills of Central Park have been a bit of challenge after hibernating on the treadmill this winter, but it's time to get used to them again!

Welcome to my running blog!

This year I'm training to run a combined total of 39.3 miles (!) in the Nike Women’s (Half) Marathon in San Francisco and the ING New York City Marathon as a member of The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society's (LLS) Team In Training.

Why am I running?

All of us on Team In Training are raising funds to help stop leukemia, lymphoma, Hodgkin lymphoma and myeloma from taking more lives.

I am completing this event in honor of all individuals who are battling blood cancers. These people are the real heroes on our team, and we need your support to cross the ultimate finish line - a cure! I will run in honor/memory of your friends/family who have battled blood cancers. If you would like me to, please send me the name of your honoree and I will wear a purple ribbon with their name during my races.

How you can help:

Please help me to reach my goal of raising $3,900 to support this great cause. Your donation will not only encourage me through the 39.3 miles, but more importantly helps advance the Society's mission to achieve a 100% cure rate for all blood cancers and to improve the quality of life of patients and their families. All donations are 100% tax-deductible and may be matched by your company. If your company does match donations, please let me know!

The easiest way to make a donation is to visit my website and donate (securely) online at:

http://pages.teamintraining.org/nyc/nikesf10/etylerfydz

If you prefer to not to donate online, checks (from US banking accounts only, made payable to The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society) can be sent to me.

What does your donation go towards?

$100 supplies laboratory researchers (like me!) with materials for top-notch research

$50 makes possible a Family Support Group for patients and their families

$25 provides patients with free booklets and information on their conditions and treatment options

Please come back and check in often- I will be updating my blog so that you can follow my training progress and to announce exciting fundraising events!

On behalf of The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, thank you very much for your support. I greatly appreciate your generosity.

THANK YOU!

Ella

You can learn more about Team in Training and the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society at the following websites...

http://www.teamintraining.org/

http://www.lls.org/hm_lls