Yikes, I've been gone a while, haven't I?

I hadn't realized that I hadn't posted in 10 days...oops. The last week or so have been a little crazy in general, but hopefully things have died down enough that I can get back on track. We were in Tampa for the weekend last week, and I did some running on the beach. Even though the sand was packed pretty hard, I was surprised that my calves were sore the next day. Makes me wish I had access to the beach everyday.

We had a 7 mile run on Saturday morning. It was pretty cold, but I love running in the cold, so it felt great. This Saturday will be an 8 mile run, as we get ready for The Gate River Run here in Jacksonville, the following weekend. I'm looking forward to that race, I've heard it's a "must run" here in the area.

Fundraising is moving along slowly, but I'm starting to sell raffle tickets, so hopefully that will pick things up. I have to admit, I wouldn't mind buying some raffle tickets myself to try for some of these prizes, but it just doesn't seem right for me to do that. I guess I'll just have to see if someone else is doing something similar and buy some tickets from them.

I set up a table to sell tickets this past Saturday. I had spoken with the owner of a shop and he said I could do it Saturday morning. Well, when I drove up, there were a bunch of Girl Scouts selling their cookies just a couple of stores away from me. Talk about tough competition! They were super cute though, and having been a Girl Scout troop leader for many years myself, I couldn't resist buying some boxes. I thought it was amusing to be raising funds and talking about training for the marathon with people, with an open box of Dosido's next to me.


If I can somehow detach this 2 yr old, 35 pound leech from my hip, I will try to get some running in on the treadmill later.

I guess that's it for now.

Waddle On!

Heading out of town for a few days

I had to miss our team run yesterday, so I'm off for a quick one now. We are heading out of town to visit some friends and family, and I will make sure to pack my running gear. Hopefully I'll actually put the stuff on and run....it's so hard when you're on vacation, but after all the chocolate I've had this week (thanks Cupid), I'd better make sure I get out there.

Not much else to add, I guess today is just a boring little blog. Hopefully I'll have more to report later this week.

Running has it's advantages.

As of this morning I am officially down the 10 lbs I put on over the Holiday's. Woohoo! If that's not motivation to keep running, I don't know what is.

I'm still getting over this lousy cold. I don't remember the last time I was hit this hard, but.....it is getting better, so that's a good thing.

Today is Valentine's Day, so I'm not sure how realistic it is to think I'm going to make it out to run. Maybe if my little guy snoozes I can hop on the treadmill for a little. I'll need to do something, as I see plenty of chocolate in my immediate future. I should never have bought my husband that big old box of chocolates that I love.

Thank you again to all of those who have donated, it's for a great cause, and means a lot to me that you have all been so great.

I guess that's it for today.

"Waddle on".

Hi, my name is Ali and I'm a running gear junkie.

I don't know what it is about the stuff, but I love it. I swear I must do all of the runs just to get the t-shirts! I have enough cool max shirts, shorts, hats, and really do I need anymore socks? But I just love the stuff. I love the shirts with the different sayings on them, such as the one I wore today, 'Running is my Prozac'. I just think it's funny. I wonder if there's a support group out there for people like me.....or am I alone in this obsession....a total freak...lol. Oh well.

Today the team got together and had a great run. We were supposed to do 5 miles, but due to some mix up with the name of the street that we were supposed to run to, we actually ended up doing more than 6. It's funny, I was keeping pace with another runner, and we did the run in 1:02. We thought it had been 5 miles and were bummed, thinking it wasn't great time for us. Then someone pointed out it was closer to a 6.5 mile, and we were happy because it was better than our usual time for that distance, and we high fived each other. It was pretty funny.

I tell you, there are some pretty strong and amazing people on the team. Without revealing details, let me just say that I am so proud to be running with this group. Everyone has their own personal reasons for doing this, and some of them are just so profound. It goes beyond just getting out there and running.

As far as fundraising is going.....it's going. I was able to set up a table outside of Blockbuster's last night for an hour and collected $40. I thought that was pretty great. I had chocolate set out for anyone who wanted some.....mental note: Next time don't get the kind I like! I'm glad I did a longer run than expected today.

Well, that's about it for today...."Waddle on".

This is the cold that never ends.......

I haven't done any running since Sunday's 10 miler. I pushed myself, and I knew it, and now I'm paying for it with the cold that never ends. I was starting to get better, but have taken 2 steps back. Hopefully I will be feeling better for our team run this Saturday morning.

I am excited to have received a donation of a boat excursion to add to my St. Augustine getaway basket. I could leave it at what I have and start the raffle, but I put in one last request of a donation of a bottle of wine from a St. Augustine winery. I think that would be the icing on the cake. If I don't hear back by tomorrow afternoon, I'll start working on the raffle tickets and selling them.

I also ordered my Allie pin to wear in her honor (link to her website to the right), and a Friends of Allie bear to display when I set up donation tables and such.

I've received another donation on my web site, thank you to all who have donated so far.

I've only started this whole process a couple of weeks ago, and I can't imagine what it will feel like to cross the finish line in June. All I know is that when this run is done, I'm signing up for the next one.

People are awesome!

I was very happy today to receive a call from a local bed and breakfast, responding to an e-mail I had sent them, requesting a donation for a one night stay. They are sending me the certificate in the mail...woohoo! I am going to combine it with some gift certificates at other local restaurants, working on a bottle of wine from a local grower, and I will create a weekend getaway to St. Augustine for a raffle.

I also have a friend who is helping me try to put together another fund raising idea that I have....a Team In Training Cookbook. I already have recipes compiled for a cookbook I was never able to complete in time for my family for the holidays. I would like to have other teammates add some of theirs, and spotlight our local honoree and some others in the area who have been affected by leukemia and lymphoma, and add their stories to the cookbook, as well as some facts on Team in Training and the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. I think if we can actually get this in print, it will make for a nice fund raiser. Keeping fingers crossed that we can get a printer to sponsor it.

Other than that, I'm recovering from my cold. I'm pretty sure my run on Sunday pushed me back in my recovery a little, so I'm taking it easy on runs for a few days.

My kids have been in prime form this week too. I have a new motto:

My kids inspire me to run. They make me want to run away from home every day!

Ah well, it's a good thing they are cute or they would have been on E-bay a long time ago.

As John Bingham would say, "Waddle on".

Weekend runs

I met up with my team yesterday morning, and we did a nice 3.1 mile run. It was nice running with a group of people, versus by myself, as I usually do. Everyone was encouraging each other, and the faster runners were doubling back to give everyone high fives and telling them what a great job they were doing.

One member of the team was telling everyone that her husband has just been diagnosed with cancer again. She said last time she dealt with the stress by eating and gaining weight, but that this time she wanted to release her stress in a more positive way, by doing something healthy, and something proactive for her husband all at the same time. She may not be the fastest runner on the team, but I tell you what, she's the strongest in my book.

Today was my 10 mile beach run. I had signed up for it a few weeks ago, and although I am getting over a nasty cold, I am stubborn and did the run anyway. I agree, not the best idea, but I am hard headed that way. My time wasn't great (1 hour 55 minutes) averaging around 11.30 minute mile, but given that I was pumped full of cold meds, I am happy that I completed it...lol. I feel fine now, but by mile 6 I was wondering what the heck I was doing.

I've received a few more donations around town, including a $50 gift certificate from Hooters. I should start a thread to acknowledge those who are helping out with their donations. It's been great to see such generosity.

I signed up for what???

I received an e-mail reminding me to pick up my race packet tomorrow for the 10 mile beach run I registered for several weeks ago.

Ooops!

I'm feeling better, as far as my cold goes, but I'm not sure that I'll be able to crank out 10 miles on Sunday, especially given the fact that the team will be meeting at 6:45 Saturday morning for a 3 mile run.

But, it's paid for, so I'll head out and do my best. Worst case scenario, I'll have another t-shirt for my collection, and I'll look for shells along the way. I'm hoping to talk my hubby into bringing a the 4 kidlets along, since they will have a blast looking for shells. It's just so hard to keep track of them all, especially in situations with crowds. We'll see how adventurous he's feeling that day.

I received a donation of one month free membership from Gold's Gym, which was very cool. I sent out some e-mails to the big boys (Nike, Garmin, Powerade, Gatorade, etc), we'll see if I hear back from any of them. I know it's a stretch, as they must get thousands of requests a day, but I figured I had nothing to lose in asking, right?

No running tonight, it is storming pretty intensely right now....rain, wind, thunder lightening, I feel like I'm back in New Orleans again.