What a weekend!

This weekend was about the busiest weekend I've had in years. Check it out:

Thursday
-9:00 pm - Cousin Jeff and girlfriend Jessica arrive from NY
Friday
-7:30 am - wake up for work
-8:00 pm - Holiday party
-11:30 pm - bed
Saturday
-5:30 am - wake up to run 15.5 miles with dad
-12:15 pm - go watch the Gator game at Old key Lime House in West Palm
-8:30 pm - meet family for dinner at Cheesecake Factory
-11:00 pm - bed
Sunday
-8:45 am - wake up at to go to parents' house
-11:00 am - go to Dolphins game
-5:30 pm - parents house for dinner
-10:00 pm - bed

Good news is that I ran 15.5 miles and the Dolphins won. Bad news is that I think I have a bone spur in my heel or may even have plantar fasciitis. Shit shit shit. I'm going to a sports medicine podiatrist tomorrow morning to have it checked out.

More visible improvement!

So, a few weeks ago, before my half marathon, I was having issues with early morning runs. I was getting winded very quickly and was feeling exhausted after a mile.

Now, this is a non-issue! This morning, I woke up at 6:15, threw some clothes on, ate half a banana and was out the door. While I may not have run my fastest 4 miles ever, I completed my task with no problems whatsoever. My knee didn't even hurt, so I am hopeful that I will be pain-free during my 16 mile run tomorrow morning.

I will report back after the weekend with the details of my insanely long run. Happy Friday!

PS - Please help me raise $25k for Crohn's! It's so easy. Check out my previous post for all the details :)

Help me win $25k for my cause just by clicking!

Thank you so much for continuing to support my efforts to raise money for Crohn's and Colitis. Please take about 30 seconds to help me win $25k for my cause. It's super easy and would mean so much to me!

BECOME A FAN of Chase Community Giving by clicking the picture above, then, if you don't see the chairty immediately, click on the Chase Giving tab, TYPE "Crohns & Colitis International Research Foundation Inc" into the charity search box. Allow ACCESS, then VOTE! Thank you for your support!

Sincerely,
Rachel

No AC!?

How the hell am I supposed to run when the AC at the gym is off/broken. What is wrong with them!? I was about to die of heat stroke. So not cool 24 Hour Fitness...sooo not cool. Five miles was my absolute limit.

This makes me very thankful that it is finally December and the wather outside isn't as disgustingly hot as in the summer.

Pleased to announce...

I am very pleased to announce that I can now run 2 miles in 15 minutes! This is especially significant to me because when I was playing soccer in 10th grade (and was in the best shape of my life), we had to run 2 miles in under 15 mins. I was able to run it in about 14:30 and beat every other girl on both Varisty and JV. So, if I cut down my 2 mile time by only 30 teensy little seconds, I will officially be as in shape as I was 6 years ago! Except now, I not only can run fast, but I can also run far! :)

Oh and by the way, I just found out about http://www.mapmyrun.com, an awesome site that lets you plot your running (or walking) route and measure the exact distance. It's great for measuring routes you've run and also for finding new routes. Check it out!

Back into the swing of things!

Well, after a long Thanksgiving weekend, I am proud to say that I was able to stay on track with my training and work out 4 out of my 5 days in Berkeley. It was helpful that the gym at the Claremont hotel was so freakin' nice and each machine had its own TV, touch screen, fan and iPod charger.

It was also helpful that the wather was really nice so that the five of us (me, dad, brother, brother's gf, brother's gf's dad) could successfully finish our 4 mile run up and down a Berkeley hill.

Now it's back to the grind one again. Because we, unfortunately, could not get our 16 mile run in on Sunday because we had a noon flight, we are now behind a week and will be doing the run this weekend. Being behind a week, at this point, is no biggie. We only have to complete about 4 more long runs and we have 8 weeks to do it. I'm not worried. I am just hopeful that my knee will continue to be alright and nto give me problems!

Bump in the road

So, I hit my first bump in the road...figuratively. I got up at 6:30 am Sunday morning to go run 10 miles with my dad. At mile 2, my left knee started killing me as it had for a few miles of my half marathon. But this time, it was much worse. It felt like someone was stabbing the inside of me knee with a knife as I was running. Then, because I was trying to compensate by running a little bit differently(and very awkwardly), my hip started to hurt. This was becoming a very bad situation very quickly.

So, I had no choice. I had to cut my run (and my dad's run) short at 4.5 miles. I felt like crap because I have never had to cut a run short before. I know I am going have to see a sports medicine specialist about this and, hnestly, I am kind of freaking out. I am crossing my fingers that this knee issue is just a one (or two) time occurence that maybe only happens when I run in the mornings since my body isn't loose yet. If anyone knows of a good sports medicine doctor down in SoFla, please let me know! I really don't want to have to resort to the yellow pages.

In the meantime, I will continue to train on the eliptical and the treadmill and see what happens when I try to run outdoors in the afternoon as opposed to the morning. Have a fnatastuc Thanksgiving! I am off to Berkeley to visit my brother, and will be back Sunday!