he's not only fast, he's smart too.

i'm talking about handsome of course. by the way if you haven't checked out his blog you should because he's quite funny.

anyway, he was reading my post about my hyper-competitive-fundraising disorder, and the man has a good point. his point is that while it won't get me a special number, i can take a bit of credit for his and drew's fundraising because it's partially my fault doing that they are running in the first place. and so, when you think about that, if i make my $10k...when all is said and done, that's at least $17,600 for the leukemia & lymphoma society. which isn't anything to sneeze at.

thanks demps.

but i'm still going to auction of the butt. =)

on another note, sorry for the lack of posts this week. i've been feeling a bit out of sorts and getting used to my new job and oddly exhausted. i haven't run since sunday due to various life circumstances and i feel tremendously guilty about it. we're running 16-18 saturday...and i'm hoping that at least not running much this week has allowed my shin splint to heal a little more than usual, although it still pinches when i'm going downstairs.

and finally...a few shout outs.

1. happy birthday's to mel & abbi!! welcome to the 30-club ladies.
2. please send some healing vibes in drew's direction. he's still battling the i.t.band issues from the long run at the trails, and if you remember how frustrated i was when i had my it band issues, you know what he's going through.

yet another (although less noble) reason to give me money.

because i want to be in the top 10 fundraisers in the country for this season.

i can't remember if i'm mentioned that i'm secretly competitive or not...but i am. you're probably thinking - hmm. well she doesn't *seem* all that competitive about her running. well, that is because i am scared to death of all this running stuff, mostly of injuries, even though i'm doing pretty well. so where does it come out? well, in the fundraising arena. i think right now that i'm the 2nd highest fundraiser for the new york city chapter of team in training for the arizona marathon. sweet right? yes, but good enough? negative.

today we got our weekly e-mail about the race and they announced that the top 10 fundraisers for the country get to wear special numbers. under that...anyone that raised $8500 gets a travel bag. hrmmm. the girl that's ahead of me, katie, is ranked THIRD in the country for fundraising. THIRD. katie is a sweetie who spoke before our 18 mile run. her younger brother is fighting leukemia and doing well, and she's raised over $10,000, which is amazing. at this rate, while i'm kinda certain i'm going to be able to get the bag, i want the top ten.

so bring it. i'm not going to be satisfied with some tote. it's time to raise some more cash, catch katie and get my soon-to-be-tattooed-little-butt into the top ten. oh no, i didn't forget about the tattoo. it's looking like my ace at this point.

if you really want to save my ass (so to speak), there's a few things you can do...
• donate if you haven't already...every single dollar counts. see if your company matches and take advantage.
• if you've already donated, or you can't donate, spread the word!! take a few minutes and tell people about what i'm doing, if you have a blog, or you know people with blogs, ask them to give me a little linkage (thanks again matt!)
• have great fundraising ideas? send them my way. i'll give you credit, promise.

and if you are more of the instigating type, and would like to promote "project tattoo jen's bum" or have ideas as to how to do so, send them my way too. i'm going to need contacts of people who can spread the word...

you guys rock, i know...let's kick some butt the final few weeks.

mama needs some new trainers

my plan was to run late today so i could enjoy the crazy-nice weather. i should have got up early in the morning and gotten it over with instead though, because going up to the park to run late on a sunday when you're tired and a little whiny.

but i did.

i set out around 5:30 for the park- we got a break this week since we had run 18 last week, so we "just" had to run 10-12. even though the mileage is so much lower, i still get nervous before these runs. weird? maybe but i do. they also have turned off all the water fountains, which is really annoying. so now we have to carry water in addition to our yummy goo snacks. i don't have a "water belt" yet (add it to the list of geeky accessories i need to buy) so i carried around a water bottle.

i opted for a full loop (6.2) and a middle loop (4). i tried a different approach for dealing with my mile 1-3 aches and pains. i acknowledged they were there, remembered they would go away, and tried to ignore them. it kinda worked, and by 30 minutes or so into it, i was cruising. well, maybe not cruising, but not going at a snails pace either.

once that happened, it was kind of strange to know that i was not going to get too tired or sore for the rest of the run. i have, after all, run 18 miles! =) i almost was...bored? i think because it was not a huge challenge, and my tunes are getting a little old. i think i'm going to have to start adding to my marathon list (hint, hint) and mix it up a bit.

and so today's mileage brings me up to the big 250 mark, which means i need to think about a new pair of kicks. i'll take these into the running store and see if they recommend anything new based on how i'm wearing these in, and some of my arch/shin splint issues. i'm excited for new shoes except for the dinero...

today's mileage: 10.2
total mileage: 250.5

a quickie

~yawn~ i just woke up from falling asleep on the couch a bit and realized i hadn't written about today's run...

i'm tired cause we hit the mall at 8:30 for crazy-shopping-day, otherwise known as black friday. i cut myself off after a few hours (like 2) and it was back home to what...to run.

after catching up on more lost, i headed out from my house to nonna's again. the weather today was much kinder, in the 50's and sunny. today i could enjoy the country scenery, and from a view i don't usually get. i got some great photography ideas on the way, and even loosened up earlier than yesterday (although that shouldn't be surprising given the cold, wind and rain).

despite being super slow at the beginning, i caught up to marathon pace and finished at nonna's right on time for my 1 hour and 12 minute deadline. and then we went and had too much italian at a local restaurant. two glasses of wine put me in sleep mode, hence the dozing on the couch.

i'm back off to the city tomorrow, and i'll do my "long run" of 10-ish miles at the park on sunday. it was a good trip home...

today's mileage: 6.1
total mileage: 240.4

i earned my turkey.

indeed i did.

i got up this morning at 9 with the plan to leave the house by 10:30. challenge number one...no food in the house i like to have for breakfast. dad offered to make me bacon and egg sandwiches, which i love, but its not exactly pre-running food so i settled for an english muffin and a banana.

it looked very very cold from inside the house where i sat planning my route with the google pedometer. we live so far out, i was not exactly sure that our road was going to be ON the google pedometer but it was. since i haven't run since the 18 miles, i figured i'd do 5-6. plus we don't have to run much this weekend...between 8 & 12 i think so i figured i owed it to myself to play a little catch up with the mileage.

i checked the mileage from my house to my nonna's (grandmother's for you non-italians) which was a little over 6 miles. not bad. i checked the weather. bad. 40 degress, "feels like 34". yuck. and it was raining. steadily. did i mention i also do not have proper running pants yet? oh yes, i was prepared. since technically we can run in shorts in the 40's, i decided to brave it. i had some cheap gloves, a long sleeved shirt and, although i tried to protect my ears, everything i could find kept driving my headphones uncomfortably into my little eardrums. warm ears or music? music, no doubt. i was ready.

i ghetto-wrapped my ipod again and stepped outside. it was COLD. instead of complaining i just started going. the rain was steady, and not exactly light, but once i got going, it was manageable. it was really funny to run 1)on the road, 2)a route that i've driving a thousand times and takes maybe 10 minutes in the car, 3)without other people running around me. even when i've run in the rain before in the park, there were always other looney's out there with me. this time, it was just me, the wilderness & the road.

i'm still bothered by the shin-splint but i was so cold it didn't bother me as much. i wasn't having a hard time running, but the weather was just plain old unpleasant. about 1/2 way to nonna's, the wind kicked in, just in time for me to run down a wide, wind-tunnel of a road. that was the hardest part. cars were flying past me, spraying & splashing me with the run-off on the roads, and god only knows what they had to say about seeing some girl not only running in the freezing rain, but in shorts!

somewhere around 4 & 1/2 miles, everything loosened up, and i completely picked up the pace. i felt like for the first time in a while (sprints don't count, they hurt too much), i was running versus jogging. it was great. i didn't care about the rain, the wind...nada. i was *trucking!* down route 148 feeling completely crazy for running in weather like that and loving it. my dad drove by (he was meeting me with warm clothing) and i waved, happy i was looking good at that moment in time.

i realized right around then, that it would be much better for me to run 6/7 miles than 4 for shorter runs. i can really push the run at the end because that's when i start to really get into it, and leaving a run with that high is the best. so i can't be afraid of the longer short runs - they'll be easier than the shorter ones! duh!

when i got to nonna's dad was waiting and they both looked a little horrified at how be-draggled i looked, but i assured them i felt okay. the heat against my freezing cold & wet skin literally made me tingle with a strange kind of numbness, and my skin was totally red everywhere from the cold, but i felt great. especially after i changed into my sweats. but i have to say for myself that i am one tough cookie.

happy thanksgiving everyone.

today's mileage: 6.1
total mileage: 234.3