Do you like baseball? Read on...

Who: You, of course! (And anyone you'd like to bring!)

What: A Schaumburg Flyers game to benefit the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society

When: July 10, 2008 at 7:05 pm

Where: Alexian Field, 1999 Springinsguth Rd, SchaumburgWhy: You pay face value for your tickets -- $10 each -- and all you have to do is show up and enjoy the game! $2 of each ticket purchased goes directly to the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society! What do you have to lose?

I'm heading up this fundraiser for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society's Team in Training North Team. All of the LLS proceeds will go straight into our fundraising accounts for the Nike Women's Marathon in San Francisco, California! Please let me know if you'd like to attend and how many tickets you'd like. The Flyers are taking the money straight from my credit card... so you can just give me cash or check for your tickets. Hope to see all of you there! Feel free to pass this along to anyone you think might be interested.

If you have any questions or want to reserve your tickets, e-mail lauren.erbach@gmail.com

Reason #3,476 Why I Need TNT

On Saturday, it didn't fit into my schedule to make it out for the TEAM run. It was far away, and I had to be at my friend's house at 11:15 to get on a train to Chicago for my Bachelorette party. That doesn't mean I didn't run. What it does mean is I didn't run very well.

Melissa and I met up around 8:00 for our 1 hour run. I was so distracted it's a wonder we even finished. I was thinking about what I was going to wear later that day, whether everyone would be there on time, fundraising, anything but running. I just could not focus on what I was doing, and couldn't get in to that appropriately distracted mode where the miles just fly by. I missed running with my gaggle of girls and I missed running with the team.

I can't wait to hit the pavement on Saturday...

Cross-Training On Demand & Learning How to Stretch

Tuesday's workout this week called for 45 minutes of cross-training. I didn't feel like biking and I didn't know what else to do... so I turned on the TV and found something new: On Demand Fitness. I found a few Pilates workouts that added up to about 45 minutes and gave it a go. It was actually a pretty decent workout.

However, it got me thinking. How weird would it be to be someone who makes workout videos? They weren't even your typical workout videos, where it's like an instructor is leading a class and a camera crew just happened to show up. This was one lady, on a mat, spouting encouraging words to some camera guy. I find myself getting really irritated with their encouraging words. "You can do it!" "You're almost there!" "You're doing great!" How do you know I'm doing great? For all you know, I'm sitting on the couch, eating a Big Mac & fries, and watching you work out. But I digress...

Today's track workout was a blast. I'm glad I'm able to start all this stuff right away this season. I'm picking up on things I missed early in the season last year, like proper ways to stretch. Wow, I can already feel a difference from stretching today. Ran with two lovely TNT ladies tonight and loved every minute of it.

Patting Myself on the Back & Ditching the iPod for Saturdays...

First things first. I have to pat myself on the back. I am not a morning person by any means, and I forced myself out of bed for a solo morning run on Friday! No one to answer to but myself and I did it. Hooray! (I couldn't do an evening run because Dad and I went to see Jersey Boys, which by the way, was excellent.) I wasn't quite as even keel by myself... but I was pretty good. The dips are walking (I was run/walking at a 6:2 ratio), and most of my runs are even, but I have no idea what that spike at the beginning is. Perhaps I was feeling speedy?

Today was a 5 mile training run with TNT. Can I just say that I love my teammates? I ran with Melissa, Lauren, and an alumni, Miss Sue. Jennifer was with us for some of the time too. It's so nice to run with a group! And we rocked a 6:2 ratio with an overall 11:52 pace. Total time for 5 miles was 59:22. I'll take it. I didn't take the iPod/Nike+ out with me today, and I have to say, I really enjoyed chatting with the girls as we ran. As much as I'm addicted to the instant feedback of the Nike+, it was nice to just ignore everything and run. That is probably going to become my new Saturday mantra.

Ahhh. I know there will be setbacks, but I hope most of the season feels this good.

This is MY season.

I am already ten times the runner I was the last time I trained for a marathon. I can say that with utmost certainty. There are two huge differences this season that I think account for the change in my running. First, I'm making it out for ALL of my weekday training runs. I don't let myself make excuses anymore. I know I will be so much better prepared for my event if I train consistently. It also helps that I'm a mentor for TNT. If I'm laying the guilt on other people to train, I better be sticking to it myself, right?

The other noteable difference between the seasons? Training buddies. I feel like there are a lot more TNT'ers around my pace this year, and I'm taking full advantage of running with other people. Today I hit the pavement with Lauren, one of my mentees. I'm pretty sure we run at the exact same pace. We did a 6:2 run/walk ratio today and it was absolutely perfect. The running was at about an 11:00 pace and the walking at about a 14:00 pace. Overall pace of 11:46. I'll take it. Even a 12:00 pace would have us finishing 26.2 in 5:30. That would be amazing, as far as I'm concerned.

The run today was wonderful. 30 minutes flew by. After this season, I may never train for a marathon alone again.

You can even see how much more consistent the pace was... there are more straight lines today! Even pace, with the dips being our 2 minute walks. I'm so happy right now.

Exploring the new 'hood

Went for a 30 minute run in my new neighborhood today... but I forgot to attach the Nike+ to my new kicks before I left this morning. Boo! No voice telling me, "5 minutes completed... 10 minutes completed... 15 minutes completed, halfway point... 10 minutes remaining... 5 minutes remaining... 4... 3... 2... 1... you have reached your goal."

I am so addicted to my Nike+. That may not be a good thing, seeing as I'm planning on running on Saturdays without it for as long as I can manage. TNT discourages it, and I'm trying to be all mentor-ly. I don't know how long I'll last without it though - ha! I'm addicted to the feedback. I like the music, but I love the voice in my head that counts the minutes/miles. It makes me less compulsive about checking my watch, too, which I like. Without Nike+ I literally check my watch every 1 - 2 minutes. It gets really annoying when the minutes aren't flying by.

Anyway, the run today was alright. I was pretty distracted by the massive amounts of cleaning I needed to do when I finished. But I got out there and ran, for what it's worth.

This is What Makes Getting up at 5:30 am on Saturdays Worth It...

It's been so long, I almost forgot how much I love Saturday runs with TNT. It is so nice to see everybody all pumped and ready to run at 7:00 am!

Today was our first training run and "Getting Started" clinic for the North Team. I had an awesome time. :) Our run was supposed to be 4 miles, but got cut back to 40 minutes so that everyone would finish at the same time for the clinic. I thought I'd started my Nike+ (sans headphones), but when I went to turn it off at the end, I realized I hadn't even started it. So, I have no idea how far I ran or what my pace was. It felt kind of quick at the beginning, but I settled into a good pace.

Melissa and I decided that next week, at our 5 miler, we're officially going to become Run/Walkers. It's not that we couldn't be runners for a mere 5 miles, but we've decided to get our Run/Walk groove on early so that we're used to it. I'm thinking about an 8:1 or 8:2 ratio will be perfect this season.

Today I also picked up a new pair of running shoes. I've been having a lot of pain in the arches of my feet, and I suspected it was my shoes. The shoe gurus at Running Unlimited confirmed that they think it could be due to the lack of support offered by my Newtons. I was finally SUPER picky about my running shoes. I nit-picked like crazy, wanting to make sure that this time, I made the right choice. I landed in Asics Gel-Nimbus 9s, in a pretty blue color. (Although now I've looked for the picture online and I see they also come in green... I'm a little jealous of the green ones and may have to order those later this season, if these shoes work out!)

I'm still planning on using the Newtons sometimes. They're a good challenge for my feet & legs. They make me a different kind of runner. But I think I'll use them once or twice a week and stick to the Asics the rest of the time.

Hoorah for new shoes!

Melissa is Speedy

Today I finally got to run with Melissa! It is so nice having someone to train with this time around. As I was pulling into the neighborhood after work this evening, I got a call from Melissa. It went something like this:
L: What are you doing?
M: Watching TV, sitting on the couch.
L: I don't feel like running.
M: I just told Jim that I don't feel like it, but I have to anyway because of the marathon.
L: I guess we should.
M: Yeah.
Followed by a long back-and-forth about where we should run (aka stalling). I told her I'd change into my running gear and then be over. It took me about 30 minutes to change into my running gear, I was so unmotivated.

Still, I finally made it into my car and over to her house. We attempted to run with her dog, but she didn't really like our pace ;) so we kept going without her.

All I have to say after that run is... Melissa is speedy. Picking up the pace a bit from the rest of the week, we ran at an overall 11:01 pace. However, most of the run was between 10:30 - 10:50. The pace got skewed because of stopping to drop of the dog and tie shoes! Either way, wtih Melissa by my side this season... it's time to set some records, baby!

Off Day

I'm not sure that when the training schedule says "Rest/Stretch" on Thursday, they mean go to the movies, pig out on popcorn, rest your body and stretch your stomach.

But that's what I'm going to do. :)

A Little Run, A Little Rain

Monday's run was awesome. I ran with my dad, who encouraged me to be a beginner this week after my "knee injury" last week. Since it was getting close to dinner time, I caved. I did a nice 30 minute run through the neighborhood. May I just say that I love my Nike+ iPod? It is hands down, one of the best gifts I've ever been given. (Thanks, Jon!) Thanks to that glorious piece of running equipment, I know that I was running at an average pace of 11:35.

That little dip right before mile 2 was a pit stop to say hello to the neighbors. :) Obviously, I felt guilty, because you can see how fast I ended the run.

Today's run had a lame average pace according to the Nike+. I'm clocking in at a 12:02 average mile. I'm going to blame it on the potty stop I had to make, and not being able to figure out how to pause the run while I used the facilities. I'm guessing it was closer to an 11:30 - 11:45 pace. I finished my first mile in 11:44 and my fastest rate today was 9:24 min/mile. I think if I keep training hard, I can get closer to 10:00 - 11:00 minute miles. I have way too much energy left over when I run at an 11:30 pace. Of course, that's also doing little 30 minute training runs, so we'll see.

Despite how lame it looks in graph form, today's run was wonderful. Normally, I'd head home around 4:45 on a Wednesday and fight traffic until about 6:00. Today, I changed into my running gear at work and drove out to a bike path to run and then watch two of my students play baseball. I found a fun new trail with some decent hills (perfect for San Francisco training), and then walked over to the game. It started to downpour after the top of the first inning, and sadly, little league was rained out. Thank goodness I got the run in before the game, because it was cold rain, too!

I'm hoping at the next game, I get to see some baseball after my run! Aren't the April Showers supposed to be over by now?

Team in Training Kicks Off!

I was getting worried at the end of last week that my training might not start out too well. I got seriously injured on Wednesday night... at the dinner table! A visit to the doctor on Friday afternoon proved that if I would only "sit like a grown-up" and not "crisscross applesauce like a first grader" at the dinner table, I should recover just fine. I guess that's why my mom always told me to sit like a lady. At any rate, I'm fully recovered now and ready for my favorite season to start: marathon training season!

After completing a full season of marathon training, it's refreshing to see the schedule at the beginning of the season. The long runs look so... short. I know it's only a matter of time until 3 miles turns into 15, 18, and eventually 26.2, but I'm enjoying the short runs in this beautiful weather while I can.

Although I said in an earlier post that I was going to become a morning runner, I've decided that what I need instead is a running buddy. Since Melissa and I are running the Nike Women's Marathon together in October, and training together with TNT, it seemed only natural that we run together during the week as well. When she mentioned that she'd have to run at 3:00 am to still get out the door on time for work, I quickly resigned myself to being an evening runner once again.

So tonight it begins. I'm going to lace up my trusty Newtons and hit the trails. I'm still deciding about whether I'm a "beginner" or an "intermediate" runner on our training schedule. Since the difference tonight is only 10 minutes, I'll probably pretend I'm an intermediate runner and go out for 40 minutes. We'll see if I'm still feeling intermediate as the season gets underway.

Just 24 weeks of training until 26.2 miles in sunny California! California, here we come...