TNT Update!

   Unfortunately, I couldn't make it out to the TNT training run this Saturday AM, so I don't have a recap this week. BUT - I do have a fun incentive program going right now for people who donate to my campaign.
   For every $5 someone donates, they will be entered into a drawing for a Dinner for Two at J. Alexander's! For those of you who aren't familiar with J. Alexander's, they are an awesome collection of restaurants with amazing food. And yes, those who have already donated will be included in the drawing. The winner of the gift certificate will be announced on February 4th.
  And here is the new updated Runner Girl chart!

That's 174 little runner girls!  

   My new total for fundraising is $1,745! WOO HOO! Still a way off from $5,000, but I'm getting there. I would LOVE to hit $2,000 this week, so tell your friends, neighbors and family members - if you donate, you might win a FABULOUS dinner!
   Thanks to all of you who are helping my fight against cancer! Click here to learn more!
http://pages.teamintraining.org/tn/nikewhlf13/kmylls

I'm Sponsored!! Well, Sorta, Kinda...

   One thing that is very popular with running / triathlon companies right now is advocacy sponsorships. Rather than solely sponsoring athletes on race results, they will sponsor people who will actively promote their product at races and through social media. In return, the athlete will receive some free and/or discounted products for them to use, give out at races and write about in their blogs/twitter, etc.
   I had heard about these sponsorships, but didn't really know how to go about getting one. Then I saw a company that I LOVE advertise for their advocate sponsorship program, the Hive, so I applied. And I got selected! So who is this company? They only make the tastiest energy waffles, bars and gels in the business. That's right - it's Honey Stinger.

I'm a member of the Hive, y'all!  

   So what does this mean? Well, honestly, not too much. It's not a "real" sponsorship where I get paid to race or get my face on the packaging (which would be AWESOME, BTW), but it's kind of neat and I might get some swag out of the deal. And you will see me eating Honey Stinger products at races or possibly writing poetry about how much I love them. Oh wait - I've already done that (and that). So really nothing will change. I LOVE LOVE LOVE Honey Stinger and was already a huge advocate for them. I just now might get a t-shirt out of it!  ;-)
   And GREAT news on the TNT fundraising front, but that's for a different blog!

I'm fighting cancer through Team in Training.  Click below to help!
http://pages.teamintraining.org/tn/nikewhlf13/kmylls

The Coldest Run Ever

   Just a short little follow-up from last night's post. I did make it to my 5:30 am run with FTP this morning. Fortunately, it wasn't raining. Unfortunately, it was SO cold I almost couldn't run. I know that technically, the Mercedes Half Marathon was colder since that was 20 degrees with a 13 degree wind chill. However, today felt worse, even though it was 10 degrees warmer. Not sure why I thought those 10 degrees would make a difference, because anything below freezing is, well, freezing. But it was miserable out there.
   On tap for today was a one-mile warm up, then three one-mile repeats at near threshold (which for me is about an 8:15 mile), and then a one-mile cool down. I generally warm up after I start running, but today, running made me colder. I guess it's because I'm SO FAST! (HA!) My face got so cold that I felt like I had just come from the dentist and had a mouth full of Novocaine. I could barely form words - my mouth just wouldn't work. And that wonderful ventilation in my Newtons (yes, I'm back in my Newtons!) that I love in the summer? Well, that just freezes your feet in the Winter, especially when you step in a puddle - and there were LOTS of those out here this morning.
   So the good news is that I finally made a Monday morning workout. The bad news is that I possibly might have lost my little toe from frostbite. Oh, the sacrifices we "athletes" make for our sports!


I'm fighting cancer through Team in Training.  Click below to help!
http://pages.teamintraining.org/tn/nikewhlf13/kmylls

And the Rain Came Down

   Nashville is having an identity crisis when it comes to weather.  Remember how it was so cold last week that Dudley had frost on his fleece? Well, it was a total reversal of weather this week. It got up into the upper 60's this week. We went from running in tights and layers to shorts and t-shirts. I'm honestly surprised I'm not sick.
   Unfortunately, though it was warm, it pretty much rained the entire weekend. I don't mind running a little rain, but the TNT run on Saturday AM was a downpour. Of course, it was only sprinkling at the start and then poured during the run, and then stopped when we were finished. Oh well.
   The run itself was fun. The entire TNT group was together this time. Last week was only Coach Carey's group. It was nice to meet more people and hear more about why they are with TNT. Again, as with the smaller group, most of the people I met had trained with TNT previously. Some have done it four or five times! The Mission Moment was given by a woman whose mother survived multiple myeloma. She was originally given 4-5 years of survival, but did great with her treatment and is really doing well after 10 years! This is the same type of cancer Dudley's uncle is fighting, so that's encouraging.
   I also received a little TNT swag. Once you hit $250 in fundraising, you receive a t-shirt. YAY! We also all received terrycloth wristbands. I've never used a wristband before, and considering it was raining, it got soaked and couldn't serve its purpose, but I'm sure when it gets warmer it'll come in handy.

It's fun to get swag! 

   And as far as my fundraising is going I'm at $1,285, or 26%!! After only a week and a half! I'm totally blown away by this. I can't thank people enough. And, because I know you want to see it, here's my updated runner girl chart!  It's getting more purple every day!  

Seriously - this thing is almost blinding.

   Today I attempted to run 8 miles with my EN girls. Again, it started out with just a little rain, and then started pouring mid-run. Since my Newtons were still drenched from yesterday, I switched to my Brooks, which I hadn't run in for about six months. It didn't work out very well. I got about a mile in when my ankle started to hurt. Considering I already had a long run in for this week, the milage for today didn't really matter. I ran another mile before I decided to turn around and head back to the car. I figured if I did hurt my ankle, I wanted to be closer to the car, not further away. The pain subsided after about a half-mile, and there is no swelling tonight, so I think I'm OK. YAY! I have a lot of running to do this year! I would hate to be sidelined so early in the season.

   Tomorrow morning - mile repeats with FTP. 5:30 am. Hopefully, it won't be raining. I'm sick of running in the rain! 

Because I'm a Big Geek - Part II

   I think I might have been a kindergarten teacher in a previous life because I'm totally digging coming up with visual aids. Anyway, as I mentioned yesterday, in just ONE WEEK I'm at 11% of my $5,000 goal for Team in Training.  THANK YOU.
   My plan to achieve this goal was to, hopefully, have 500 people donate at least $10 towards my campaign. So I made up a neat little chart to help visualize that goal.

Don't look too closely - it might hypnotize you! 

   Yes, there are 500 little runner girls on here. Each purple runner represents $10 towards my campaign. I'll update the chart as time goes on and, hopefully, there will be a lot more purple on here! Only 444 more little runner girls to go! Surely, I know 444 people who would be willing to donate $10 to help fight blood cancers, right?  Thanks again for your support!  http://pages.teamintraining.org/tn/nikewhlf13/kmylls

TNT Training - Week 1

   This was my first week as an official member of Team in Training. I have to say - I'm extremely impressed. First off- I'm totally blown away by my donation tally so far - $550!! That's 11% of my goal in the first week! WOO HOO! Thank you so much!

   Secondly, the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society has been really great to work with so far. I wasn't really sure what to expect, but they have been wonderful. When you sign up for Team in Training, they send you all sorts of information about the organization and tips for fundraising. I have NO idea what I'm doing when it comes to fundraising, so this really helps. 

   You are also assigned a Coach, who helps train you for the race, and a Mentor, who helps you with fundraising. Within an hour of Sammi, the TNT coordinator for the Nashville LLS, setting up my fundraising page, both my coach and mentor had sent me e-mails welcoming me to the team. I thought that was pretty cool. Unfortunately, after a few e-mails we figured out I had been assigned to the "walkers" group, and though I'm not the speediest of runners, I'm definitely not a walker. But Sammi fixed that quickly and put me with the appropriate group. And again, within an hour, my new coach and mentor had been in touch with me. It's a very efficient group.

   The training group meets every Saturday morning at 7:00. In January. For those that don't live in Nashville, it's freakin' COLD in January at 7:00 am. Most running groups move their workouts until 8:30 am or 9:00 am this time of year because it's so cold. I'm guessing this has historically been the best time for TNT to run, so that why they have them so early. Whatever the reason, I found myself getting up at 5:30 on Saturday and heading down to Centennial Park to meet the group. And yes, it was bitter cold.

   There were about 12-15 of us that met, including Coach Carey and my mentor Jeanne. We did a quick round of introductions before the four mile run. I thought it was interesting that besides myself, there was only one other person who was new to TNT. Proof of a good organization when people return, I think! We also had a "Mission Moment," which is when one of the runners is asked why they signed up with TNT. The person who spoke (her name slips my mind, sorry), told of how her mother was diagnosed with leukemia a few years ago. What got her mom though her battle was the thought of holding her grandchild again, since she wasn't allowed to hold a baby while fighting the disease. It was a truly powerful testimony, and I am in no way doing it justice, but you get the idea. Really brought home what TNT is all about.

   The run is kind of secondary compared to that. We ran four miles. It was cold. So cold that Dudley's sweat started to freeze on his fleece during the run (Dudley joined us for the run, not the meeting prior).

That's frost!! Crazy!

   After the run, a few of the team members went for coffee, but I still had a few more miles to get in, so I went and met up with a few ladies from East Nasty and knocked out six more. BAM!

   So, it's been a great week. Looking forward to more!!  If you'd like to help my campaign, please click here:  http://pages.teamintraining.org/tn/nikewhlf13/kmylls  Thanks!! 

2013 Goals

   So it's a shiny new year. Time for resolutions, goals and the resetting of priorities. Well, it is for most people. To be honest, I'm not really one to make a lot of resolutions on the New Year. I kind of just set and change my goals throughout the year as needed. New Year's is fun and all, but for me, it's really just another day and actually a reason for people to procrastinate working towards a goal. "I'll start working out on January 1st." "I'll start reading in the New Year." Etc. Etc. There is absolutely no reason why someone can't wake up on some random Wednesday in June and start those goals. But, generally, they don't. They have to start on New Year's. Want proof? Go to any gym in America over the next week and see how many people are in there. It will be PACKED. Then wait about a month and go again and see how many people are there.
   HOWEVER - even though I'm not big on resolutions on the New Year, I'm setting some anyway. I'll keep track of them here and at the end of the year, we can check back in and laugh at how terribly I did at reaching them. FYI - not all of these are athletically related. Which leads to my list...
GOAL 1: Maintain a healthy balance of lifestyle outside of running/swimming/biking. This can be really hard for triathletes - especially those training for long course and get into your two-a-day workouts. It's SO EASY to get sucked into training plans and obsessing over your times and planning your next race. How do you know when you've possibly crossed over the line of athletic obsession? When your husband tells you "You know, we can actually go on a vacation without running a race while we're there." Oops. Point taken, honey!
GOAL 2: Take a vacation without running a race while there.  See Goal 1.
GOAL 3: Read 52 books in 2013. I used to be quite the reader. A lot of people probably would say I still am, but I don't read anything like I used to. I was the weird girl who brought "War and Peace" to read during my high school beach week. I'm a pretty quick reader, too - I finished "Gone with the Wind" in a weekend, so hopefully 52 books in a year won't be too difficult. Though some might have to be Dr. Seuss if I get desperate late in the year. First book - "Red Mist" by Patricia Cromwell. Hey - I never said I had to read heavy literature - just a book!
GOAL 4: Sub 2:00 Half Marathon. Yes, I snuck an athletic goal in there. This has been a goal of mine for a while. I'm A-L-M-O-S-T there at 2:09. Hopefully 2013 will be the year!
GOAL 5: Learn to knit. I just came up with this one today when I had insomnia and was looking at Pinterest at 4:00 am. I like pretty scarves! Why not learn how to knit them myself?!
GOAL 6: More music. I used to play out in Nashville as a jazz vocalist on a pretty regular basis. But when the economy tanked, many of my gigs did as well. And then I went to grad school...and then Dudley went to law school...and so on and so on. Result - I do about two gigs a year for charity. This needs to change.
GOAL 7: Get out more. I love my home and am quite happy sitting on my sofa with my pups and hubby on a Friday night thankyouverymuch. However, doing it almost every night, especially when the reasoning is because I have to get up early to workout (see Goal 1) probably isn't good. So expect to see me out and about more being all social and what not.
GOAL 8: Give back: This is an ongoing goal, not a new one. I try to be generous with my time and money for various charities. But I always feel like I could / should do more. Along those lines, I decided to join the TNT program for the Nike Women's Half Marathon, which benefits the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. I'm trying to get 500 people to give $10 to my campaign. If you can help, please click here: http://pages.teamintraining.org/tn/nikewhlf13/kmylls
   So there is my list. I'll probably add to or amend these as the year goes on. Here's hoping everyone has a wonderful 2013!!