And so it begins again....

So, running.

I ran the Houston Half Marathon a little over 5 months ago. I was sick, and slow, and it was a rather miserable experience. It was also one of the greatest things I have ever done.

Kelli and I spent the entirety of the training and most of the run itself swearing that we would never run again.

And we both held to that for a little under 5 months. 3 weeks ago we started running again. It is roughly as bad as I remember.

To be fair, we are doing much, MUCH better than we did last year when we started running. We aren’t running a full three miles without walking yet, but we are running more than walking and generally feeling less like death than we did at the beginning of our training last year. So far, we’re just meeting once a week after work to run the loop at Memorial and then training separately the rest of the week. I am in the midst of training to climb my first mountain, so running is taking a back seat for now. But the mountain trip is in 2 weeks, and once I’ve conquered that, I can start focusing the cardio part of my training on running instead of on hills.

Our goal is to be able to run a really comfortable 3 mile loop before the winter season of Team in Training starts in August. That way, we’ll start the training in better shape and more comfortable running than we did last year. We hope that will lead to a better season and a quicker finish. Mostly, we think it will make for less miserable long runs.

The worst part of the running, by far, is the heat. It’s summer in Houston, full blast, and we are running at 5:30 in the afternoon. Last week the temperature got up to 104F. Ugh. We’ve been running when the heat index is up over 100F, and I don’t expect that to stop any time soon. We hydrate like crazy the whole run just to keep from making ourselves sick, and that doesn’t always work. It takes at least an hour after I get home for my face to stop burning. Basically, it’s HOT. But it’s worth it, really.

Last week we got lucky and were able to run when the clouds were coming in and there was a bit of a breeze. It was still really hot, but it felt amazing compared to what we have been doing.

So, why am I doing this, again? It’s the cause, and the people. Team in Training raises money for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society (LLS). Too many people have to suffer through these diseases (including my wonderful running buddy), and I have to believe that there’s a cure out there. I feel like I have a responsibility to raise awareness and money for this cause. And the cause is suffering in this economy (just like we all are). I heard some really scary statistics at the mentor training last week, and I believe even more firmly that I have to help. The LLS gives money every year to patients to cover the incredible travel and parking costs associated with getting treatment. This year they had to decrease the amount from $500 to $150. Think of what that that $350 could mean to a family swamped with medical bills. They have also had to lay off staff and reduce the money they give to research. I think funding that type of research is key to our future. So I will do everything I can to support this cause. Even run.

If you are interested in training for a distance event with amazing people while raising money for an important cause, please get in touch with me. I would love to have you come run with me, and I will do anything I can to help make you successful. If I can run a half marathon, anyone can! If you don’t want to run, but still want to support me and help out a great cause, you can donate to my fundraising goals this year. I will have my information up before too long (this page has my link from last season, which shouldn’t work anymore). I will also post about some of the awesome events that we are planning to help raise money.

I will be mentoring for the Team in Training Team Memorial this winter season. I am really excited to be able to give my time this way. We have an amazing group of mentors, coaches, and staff, and I can’t wait to meet the rest of our team. I know from experience that we always have a great group of people come out and run. I will be training with the team, but I will also be manning water stops and helping with fundraising ideas. If any of you want to volunteer at a water stop for a Saturday morning long run, please let me know.

Anyway, I am excited to be a part of the Team again this year, and I am excited to see how the whole running thing goes now that I’ve had my sinuses all fixed up. Here’s to running healthy!

My current training schedule, for anyone interested, looks like this (it will change in 2 weeks after the mountain):

Monday: 45 minutes of hill intervals, Pilates class
Tuesday: 3 mile Memorial loop run with Kelli
Wednesday: 30 minute power intervals class, 15 minute abs class, 45 minute upper body class (to be replaced by track practice when the season starts)
Thursday: hills (or a makeup run)
Friday: 20 minutes hills, session with trainer (to be moved once the season starts)
Weekend: try to learn how to move again, do fun, active things

Tentative schedule starting in August:
Monday: easy run, Pilates class
Tuesday: tempo run, workout with trainer (or weights)
Wednesday: track practice
Thursday: run at park, abs
Friday: rest day
Saturday: long run
Sunday: rest day