Dear Jennifer :
Congratulations, you are successfully registered for the 2009 Credit Union Cherry Blossom Ten Mile Run on April 5, 2009. We look forward to greeting you on Saturday, April 4 at our Health and Fitness Expo in the spectacular National Building Museum in downtown Washington, DC, and on race day at our staging area on the Washington Monument Grounds on the National Mall. We know you will enjoy our flat and fast course past the legendary Japanese cherry trees and our National Monuments. We encourage everyone to take Metro to the race - the Smithsonian stop is less than 1/4 mile away from the start and finish lines. Metro will open at 5 a.m. to allow plenty of time to make the trip.

Sincerely,
Credit Union Cherry Blossom Organizing Committee

It looks like I have another race to run in. I told Mike this and I truly believe it that I feel like if I dont have a race or event somewhere down the line that I am going to slide back into my old ways of not running and not exercising. That is a life I dont want to see again so here comes the Cherry Blossom ten miler. My goal for this is to improve my times from the Half Marathon per mile. Plus it is a really flat race and it will give me an excuse to get out there and see the Cherry Blossoms in 2009. Mike ran the 5K last year for this race and it was raining the whole time so hopefully that doesnt happen again for this one!

Las Vegas Half Marathon

I was really nervous that I would get to Vegas and all my training for the race would somehow disappear. This wasn't the case at all and I am very happy with how it all went down. I am sure I drove Mike crazy with how many times I told him I was shocked we were actually in Vegas and how the race was mere hours away. The morning of the race my blood sugar was running high which worried me. They say not to exercise if your blood sugar is 250 or above and I woke up to a 210. I gave myself some insulin, ate some oatmeal I brought from home, and tested again around 530AM and it was 140. I felt confident it was going down at that point though. There were 11,000 people or so running the half marathon and Mike and I managed to get rather close to the front of the group at the starting line. There were a ton of fireworks at the beginning and the race was started off by Robin Leach from the Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous which was entertaining. We ran together for a few mins and then Mike went off to run at his pace. I was excited at how well the first three miles went. There was plenty to see and it was cool to just look up at all of the casinos. I usually need some time to warm up, and occasionally walk, but I think the intensity of actually being there helped me to feel much better about my running and just keep on going. The plan was to stop at mile 8 to check my blood sugar. Starting at mile 6 I felt that the area we were in was somewhat shady and that there wasn't much going on anymore. I kept thinking I might stop early then 8, but I decided that I needed to stick with my plan. I saw the mile 8 flag marker and went to the first bathroom I could see. Blood sugar was 84, which is a little lower than what I wanted, but I ate another energy gel pack and was ready to finish out the next 5.1 miles. The only problem was my left knee completely cramped up and I suddenly felt that I could barely walk. It was the worst pain in my knee I had felt for the whole training. I started to run/walk for a few mins and then I decided I had to just work through it. Luckily after about a half mile of suffering it started to get a little better. The pain never totally disappeared, but I was able to run through it all the way to the finish. Seeing the mile marker at mile 12 was a great feeling. It was around this time that the winner of the marathon passed me, he finished a whole marathon in about the same time I finished a half marathon! There was cheering at the end and I knew Mike would be there waiting for me. I took my headphones off so I could hear all the excitement and I actually started running faster which shocked me at that point. I was able to pass a few people toward the end too and just kept on running until I crossed the finish at 2:25:45. A task I never thought would be possible and yet went rather well. Mike was right at the finish and I was glad he was able to be there standing there to see me. I got my medal, which though I gave Mike a hard time about, will probably end up hanging on the wall as well. I am looking forward to the next one and seeing if I can beat my time. It was a great race, a great trip, and a great overall experience.

Results

More to come later....here are my results....


JENNIFER #10777
CHEVY CHASE, MDAge: 26 Gender: F
clockFromString("02:25:45");
Distance
HALF MAR
Clock Time
02:29:14
Chip Time
02:25:45
Overall Place
4174 / 11267
Gender Place
2037 / 5849
Division Place
356 / 941
Age Grade
45.2%
Pace
11:07.0
Half

Leave tomorrow........

So it has arrived and we leave for Vegas tomorrow morning. I am still in shock that it is actually here. I have been packing and repacking to make sure I have everything I will need for this race. It has been an interesting few months to get to this point as well. I had a dream last night about the race too. Its all I can think about lately. I am excited to be there......

5 days

We leave for Vegas in 3 days. Race is in 5. After running 13 miles on 11/22 I was feeling overly prepared for the race. Then this past week really dampened that whole thing. I havent felt good running since 11/22 and it is Dec 1st. I was supposed to run an easy ten miles on Saturday and I could barely manage 7.5. I was in Erie, it was freezing outside, I got lost on the trails at times, and I wasnt functioning well with the lack of sleep, but those all seem like excuses. I felt when I signed up for this race back in August that by Dec 1st I would be a runner who could easily go out the door and just run and feel fine doing so. That just isnt the case and it becomes difficult to get passed that.

I have 5 miles tomorrow, 4 on Thurs, 2 on Fri and thats it. With the new music uploaded on the ipod, the new running clothes, the warmer weather in Vegas, the people dressed up who run as Elvis, and the adrenaline of being there I am hoping to put all negative running behind me. It is nerve wracking though.

13

Ran 13 miles in 2:24:22 on Saturday. If I can do it once I should be able to do it again in less than two weeks. The last three miles were rather rough and I felt like I was moving at a snail's pace. The reward of finishing makes it all worth while and I am more confident now that I can actually run 13 miles. So all I have to do is make it through a trip home to Erie, a Turkey Trot, a 10 mile run in the snow, a few 5 and 6 mile runs, and a flight out to Vegas. Then I will be ready....I hope!

diabetes video

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3032619/vp/27774926#27774926

I have never known a life w/out this disease and sometimes it is hard not wonder what a normal life could be like and if I could experience that in my lifetime. I would like to think that this video not only gives hope, but an actuality for the future.

11

Survived through 11 miles yesterday and it was surprisingly more different from 10 than I had expected. I had to stop and stretch a few times and I had to walk around mile 8 for a few mins, unlike 10 where I ran the whole way. I felt much better at the end though as opposed to 10 where I felt awful. If I can run 11, then maybe 13 isnt such an unattainable goal. The biggest problem of this almost two hour run was that I had on an insulin pump, my ipod with its long blue headphone cords, and I was wearing a camelbak. I felt like all these things were getting tangled along the run and I was a machine for having all this equipment on. The camelbak is helpful so I dont have to carry a water bottle and lets my hands be free and the ipod is needed so I dont get overly bored, but I must be an interesting sight on the trail.

world diabetes day

So I have been reading all over the blogs of diabetics that today is World Diabetes Day. This means that today is the day people are to educate others on diabetes. It probably should mean that I dont have to work today, but alas I am still working. I got my labwork back from my doctor's appt last week and my doctor wrote that everything was "excellent." My A1c continues to be at a 6, which is awesome considering I was convinved it was going to go up. The lower the better and my goal is for a 5.

The running continues to help this and my cholesterol, although not ever high to begin with, continues to drop. It is always best for a diabetic to have the lowest cholesterol possible. My blood sugars have been awesome, until today when I went runnig. Before I found the power gels didnt affect me so much, but now they seem to make my blood sugar go up. I am going to attemtp to run 11 miles on Sunday and bring along my glucose monitor. Mike noticed that I can wear the little bag it came in on my shorts so hopefully that works out.

back at it

My running hasn't been going so well these past few days. The ten miles on Sunday seemed like such a lofty goal and I seem to have gone on a hiatus ever since then until today. 4 miles today were fine, but not nearly as easy as I would have liked considering this race is 23 days away! I think most of it has to do with the fact that I feel my running is my main focus right now and work is getting in the way. It is hard to run in the mornings before work when it is cold outside and it is so dark after work that I don't think it is the safest idea anymore. Work should be from 11-6. Whoever came up with 830-5 was obviously not taking into consideration that some people have more important things to do like run half marathons in Vegas in 23 days.

ten, ka, turkey trot

Made it ten miles on Sunday in less than two hours. The run went a lot better than I was anticipating, but as soon as I hit my finishing point it started to hurt. Everything from my waist down has been in some type of pain. It isnt as bad to deal with though when I keep thinking about the fact that I actually made ten miles w/out having to walk at all. Mike said it is a big deal b/c I can now run in double digit number which is another good point. Everyone keeps saying if I can run ten then I can run 13.1. I dont totally agree with that yet though. Ten felt like the perfect number yesterday and adding 3 to that seems close to impossible. Especially when you add on the fact that we will be in Las Vegas where it may get too easy to become distracted from the running task at hand. Speaking of Vegas, Mike got us Ka tix to see it that first night we arrive there on Dec 5th. I have waited a year to see this since last years debacle so this is rather exciting. Plus, we got a huge discount on the tix from the race. I also signed up for the Turkey Trot on Thanksgiving in Erie this year. I have never done this before and I feel that it will be a good thing to do on the morning of that day anyway. I do think it would be more fun to run it with someone else though, but no one in my family will do it and I dont know if I can convince any of my friends to run a 10K with me that day. We shall see...

He Won!

election day

I ran 5 miles before I went to vote for Barack today. It was great b/c I got up and out of the house by 5:50AM. It was light out by the time I got to the trail and so I just kept on going. I was surprised by how many other people were out there too, but it is always good to have others around. I almost enjoyed running earlier if I wasnt so anxious to vote.

Nine

Ran 9 on Saturday. It felt better than 8! I never saw this one coming. 9 mile half marathons would be great. Adding 4 onto that 9 seems crazy though. 5 weeks until the race. Onward to 10 miles this wknd!

Halloween

No matter how much I try to deny it, I really enjoy Halloween. People make a big deal about diabetics eating candy on Halloween for nothing in my opinion. If your kid doesn't eat a lot of candy to begin with, there's no reason they should gorge on candy on Halloween. I don't even remember this ever being an issue when I was little, though I have been reading a lot of articles lately on how kids need to only eat one piece and things like that. Anyway my Dad has to be given credit for properly managing how much candy I ate and for not making a much bigger deal of it than it needed to be! Plus I don't like candy that much anyway, I think Halloween needs to focus on things like all these pictures, especially the one making fun of George. Who knows what I will do this year for Halloween, but I have to remember that I still have 9 miles to run tomorrow. 9!

Pittsburgh wknd

Went to the Pitt game on Sat and the Steelers game on Sunday in Pittsburgh this wknd. I took Monday off of work with the thought that we would leave Pittsburgh and get back in time to run 7 miles. It didnt go so well. Running 6 miles before leaving for Pittsburgh on Sat morning was grueling enough. Then I didnt feel well all wknd thanks to this great changing of the seasons. Skipped running yesterday with the excuse that I didnt feel well and wouldnt push it. The plan is to run 4 miles after work today. This is the worst week of the whole training schedule and Jill is also moving this wknd. Should be interesting if I can keep it all up!

8

Hit 8 miles on Sunday in Columbus while Mike and I ran on a track that was 1.05 miles around at Ohio State. So I guess I probably ran more like 8.35 miles. Either way it went really well overall. Started off a little rough but I somehow picked it up around mile 4. It was fun in an odd way. I liked being outside and being at Ohio State, somewhere I wouldnt normally ever go to. The Columbus marathon was going on as well and this track was by mile 18 so we got to watch those people run by as we were running as well. It helped to keep track of the time too by watching the big timer the marathon had set up. I will probably say this for every mile until 13, but I never thought in my life I could run 8 miles and yet I did. I was pretty nervous about it all wknd leading up to it, but it went better than I could have wished for. The next long run is 9 miles, but that isnt until Nov 1st so theres some time!

I also had no idea Adam Sandler had made a cartoon movie called 8 crazy nights and cant believe I missed that one! I plan on posting annoying little pictures like this for the rest of the time.

times

Ran 4 miles today in 41:35. That is about a minute slower than I usually run 4 miles. I am not sure what is going on lately or why I seem to be running slower. It makes a huge difference for me to run in the afternoons vs. the mornings so hopefully that is all it is. I run in the mornings all week until my 8 mile run that is to happen on Sunday. This one is more nerve wracking than 7 was.

7 and then some

Hit 7 miles on Saturday in 73 mins. Mike ran with me for the first 4 miles and then I ran the last 3 alone. Mile 4 to 5 was the worst mostly b/c the end seemed so far away, but once you hit 6 and realize you have only 1 mile left to go it doesn't seem so bad. I have never run 7 miles in my life before so it felt like a big victory in all this running. Mike Erin and I went on a bike ride yesterday for about 20 miles. We rode to their kickball game by the Washington Monument and the first half of it went pretty good. It was a nice day and it was fun to get out there and ride down instead of driving. After the game though we decided to ride back again. Not so easy the second time around. It felt worse riding the bike than it has ever felt running which was hard to comprehend. I felt if I could run 7 than I can definitely bike 20. Next time I get on a bike I will need to be more prepared. But 7 is still pretty good for me!

"We all have big changes in our lives that are more or less a second chance." -Harrison Ford

I saw this quote and found it to be fitting for my running. To some people running 13 miles is not a big deal and do it all the time. To me it is more about setting a goal and accomplishing it. I quit a lot of things in my life such as soccer, the violin, softball, ballet, jazz, and gymnastics. Some of them I quit b/c I wanted to and others b/c I had no other choice. Running this half marathon is giving me a second chance of setting a goal and accomplishing it and a second chance of getting healthy in a way that a diabetic should be.

2 months until the race. I am surprised it has come on so quickly. 13 miles feels very far away today. 6 seemed so easy on Sunday, but doubling it sounds close to impossible at this moment. While I was running today I was thinking about what it would mean to run 14 miles on the trail, which is part of the training come late November. 14 miles would be me running from marker 4.5 to 11.5 and then turning around again. I have never gone past 7.5 thus far. This is going to be interesting. I cant even remember if the trail goes to 11.5! The positives are that I have been feeling better with it all and it is getting easier to get out the door each time. Today was cold and dark and yet I still made it out there while I think in the past I could have easily just called it a day.

6

6 miles in 1 hr 1 min 33 secs yesterday. That is the one to beat right now. I didnt have to stop to walk once and I felt pretty good during. So far so good.

best yet

went running last night for 4 miles and it was the best i have done to date. i felt like crap afterward but it was worth it. didnt stop to walk at all and made it just at 40 mins. plus i felt good while doing it. i blame this on the energy tablets that taste like espresso. its probably all in my head but it worked.

It is funny sometimes what things inspire me to run and how sometimes it just makes sense that certain things would help. Mike ran in the Ragnar Relay race on Friday and Sat. It started in Cumberland, MD and went to DC. That is 183 miles for a team of twelve people to run. Each person runs 3 legs ranging anywhere from 3-9 miles. His team came in 4th place out of 116 teams which is simply amazing. It was a lot of fun to watch and cheer them on and it was nice to see it all work out so well. Andy ran on a team as well and his team came in 19th place which is awesome too! Seeing all those people just run and do what they had to do was inspiring. I went on Sunday for a 5 mile run on the trail in the oddest weather I have seen in a while. It was windy, humid, and cold all throughout the 50 mins I was out there. It was raining at one point while the sun was out. I was struggling at points to keep it together and kept finding things to make me keep going. I passed an older woman, I cant let old people pass me. I saw a girl wearing a sports bra and thought if she can run looking ridiculous like that than I can surely keep going. I saw a squirrel at one point who ran right in front of me and wouldnt move and I figured I wanted to keep going so I could away from the crazy squirrel. So overall I have two weeks down and ten more to go of this training according to Nike running!

running in the dark

I went for 2 miles today on the trail, but it was a little earlier than I usually go. It was pretty dark out and somewhat creepy to be out there when there was little light. A guy said hello to me, a nice thing to do, and I was freaked he was following me. Then another runner came right up behind me and I heard the pounding of his shoes and I thought someone was chasing me. It was odd. I definitely will not be bringing the Ipod the next time I go when its dark out so I can be more alert. I usually get annoyed by all the bikers, but when they go by with the lights on their bikes it is a nice thing to see to remind you that you aren't the only person on the trail at 6:15am.

1st

Today was the first time I successfully ran 3 miles in my neighborhood w/out stopping once. I was impressed with that. Though I did go a different way and got a little lost for a few blocks, but I somehow still made it to work on time so that is a good thing. Running in the mornings is difficult, but this week is so hectic that I have no time after work. I have somewhere to be everyday from now until Sunday! Good things, but busy none the less!

neighborhood vs. trail

I went for 3 miles today in my neighborhood. normally i run on trail and it seems to go rather well. something about seeing a sign every half mile telling me where I'm at, as well as running on a path i know with other people seems to help. today i ran in my neighborhood mostly b/c i was running late and thought it would save me some time. i never seem to do as great doing that for some reason. i don't like that i end up paying more attention to the road and the cars and where i am at that it ends up throwing me off and i need to walk for a little bit to regain some energy. this does not happen on the trail. I'm going back to that.

pic is from Dan's visit last wknd. it was fun to see the city and go to the newseum. it is great to run in a city where it seems that a lot of the people living here like to do the same thing. the trail is always crowded on the wknds and it is almost hard to not bump into people at times on bikes.

day one

12 weeks until the half marathon. started the official training today for 3 miles. didnt feel as great as i had hoped, but i still did it w/out stoppng. this is going to be interesting!

6

Ran 6 miles on the trail last night. First three miles went well and then I had to turn around. Something about turning around always screws me up. I had not walked once, but proceeded to walk 3 miles for the next 1.5 miles. I then decided I wasnt allowed to walk anymore and ran the final 1.5 miles back. All in all I thought it went well and 6 is my number to beat right now.

I am losing motivation today and yesterday and I keep saying that the "official" training starts on Monday so I am taking some days off. Thats stupid though. So I am stealing this entry from Sam's blog to help today:

Live Long. Run.
Yahoo News - Want to live a long life? Run.
"Running reduced the risk not only of heart disease, but of cancer and neurological diseases such as Alzheimer's, researchers at Stanford University in California found."
"'People who took up exercise when they were older also improved their health,' he [Dr. James Fries] said."
"The study also showed that people cannot use the risk of injury as an excuse not to run -- the runners had fewer injuries of all kinds, including to their knees."
So get out there.

bike

Mike and I went for a 12 mile bike/run yesterday. He ran and I biked. He did rather well and I was pretty impressed. I didnt go too fast on the bike but I was glad that I could consistenly ride for 12 miles. We started on the Cap Crescent Trail and went on the C&O Canal Trail. We went through Georgetown and made it down to the Lincoln Monument, ending up in Chinatown where we grabbed some lunch. It was cool to go through all the different areas, though some were easier to ride/run in than others b/c of all the people. It was a nice way to spend a gorgeous Sunday morning and I look forward to doing it again someday.

10 days

Official half marathon training starts in 10 days. I went running today and felt good for the first 1.5 miles and then didnt do so well. I need to eat better and lose some weight again. I feel so much better when I have eaten well and it makes a huge difference. I have Annette's bike now so hopefully that'll help to be more active on the days that I dont run. It is a little discouraging that I dont feel 100% where I wanted to be at this point. My legs feel good though and have had no injuries of any kind to date thus far. My goal is to follow the training schedule as close to exact as I can. I also fixed my broken pedometer watch last night so that was a positive at least.

5.5

Made 5.5 miles on the Capital Crescent Trail last night. 57 minutes to accomplish it too. That is the furthest I have run to date. I went from mile 4 to 7 w/out stopping and then turned around and ran from 7 to 4.5. There were a lot of people on the trail at first and then it seemed like it was just me as it got darker. Next time I need to go a lot earlier so it doesn't get so dark out. The deer by mile 7 was not expected at all either.

mall

Attempted to go running on the National Mall on Sun afternoon around 4pm. Bad idea. It was way too hot and I couldnt focus. I ended up doing more of a run/walk. Pretty disappointing considering I was going to attempt to do 5 miles. I wont be running on the mall anytime soon, unless it is really early in the day or later in the evening. There were so many cool things to look at it, and I had no motivation to do so!

Trail

Went today on the Capital Crescent Trail. It is a trail that goes from Silver Spring, MD to Georgetown in DC. It is 11 miles of a trail that makes me forget I am anywhere near a city. I live a mile away from where mile 4.5 is and so I started there today and went to mile 6 and then turned around to go back. It was nice to run with a lot of other people for once. I think my grand total of running today had to be at least 4.5 miles, but I am not so sure b/c the watch said 4.964 miles, but I dont think it is exactly right anymore. Either way it was far for me. I just have to work up to be able to run all the way to Georgetown.