Not backing down...

I had a good week. Life has been super busy at work, but made time for my runs this week and felt good. Our weekend long run was postponed from Saturday to Sunday due to the weather (6-10 inches of snow). While we probably could have run on Sat, it was a beautiful day today, so I'd say a good decision to make the switch. Good, until about 4 miles into the run when I stepped on what I thought was a little patch of soft snow and ended up landing on the side of my foot and twisting my ankle. Many years of volleyball has taught me what a mild and a severe sprain feels like and fortunately this one was not bad. I walked it off then began jogging slowly. By the end of this 18 mile run, I was PASSING people on the hills. I was not litting that patch of snow ruin my run and it turned out to be a great run! I felt like I could have done 2 more miles, but thought perhaps I should leave good enough alone today. Think I might stick to the pool tomorrow AM though!

Finally feeling better

So it has taken a solid 2 weeks but I am finally running without coughing! I was out - as in not only not running, but not moving off the couch for a week. Then I had a week of running through coughing fits - that was fun. Finally, this week, I have been feeling good, running well and sleeping through the night without waking up coughing. Saturday I completed a 17 mile run from Natick (around mile 9) to the finish line in Boston. Minus the coughing, it felt pretty good. Same run is scheduled for this Sat and I may tack on an extra mile for kicks :)

I also hit my 1st fundraising goal of $2000 by Feb 15. The next milestone will be the $3000 mark by March 15. Making progress!

Up to speed

Yesterday our long run route began at Mile 3 on the marathon course and consisted of running to the starting line and back 2x with a few miles tacked on in the other direction at the end. The challenging part is that the first 3 miles of the marathon course involves a 200 foot drop in elevation, with the first 150 foot drop coming in the first 1/2 mile or so (read as - one pretty BIG HILL). So our run was 3 miles up hill, 3 miles down hill, 3 more miles up hill and 3 more miles down hill....and then 2 miles out the other direction and back. The uphills are tough, but the downhills, if run too fast can be tougher. My quads are a little sore today from the run, but overall, I feel good. Sixteen miles total and run at a good pace. I finally feel like I am back up to speed with where I want my training to be. Next Sunday we run a 1/2 Marathon in NH. A little cut back in mileage, but the chance to push a little harder. Looking forward to it, and maybe a new half marathon PR? :)

The fundraising front is a little slower. I did not succeed in meeting my goal of raising $2000 by Jan 31, so I'm resetting that date for Feb 15. I'm also trying to plan a fundraiser so stay tuned for the date and location for that. If anyone has ideas or connections that could help me secure some worthy donations for raffle prizes, PLEASE let me know.