18-miler

Well it i has been a few days since my last long run, but it was a great one! Saturday morning we met over on the west side, at 72nd street and the Hudson river. Over there is a beautiful path that stretches all the way downtown to Battery City Park and up the East River on the east side of Manhattan-That's the path we ran. Running down the west side/Hudson river, we had a gorgeous view of New Jersey and the statue of liberty. It was quite a maze to run through the tourist in Battery City park awaiting the boat to go over to The Statue. One we navigated around them, We headed up the east side. I was in awe of the gorgeous view of Mid-town manhattan as we ran- notably the Chrylster Building and the Empire State building!

The east side was a bit more difficult, as the sun had risen higher in the sky and heated up the air....not to mention the east side has fewer water fountains. On the east side I waved to my apartment as we ran past it (a little depressing as i thought of my nice cushy bed and hot shower inside!). Finall we cut ascross all of the avenues and Central Park to return to our west side starting point. All in all, it was a 17-18 mile run, and I felt very good and it was a great new way to see the city I live in!

Tuesday night run

After an awesome night at the US open on monday (a a day off from running), it was back to the training tuesday evening. To re-cap my experience at the US open, all i can say is WOW. The village is very nice, lots of things to do, good eats and tennis abound. ALthough our seets were the second from the last row in the Arthur Ashe stadium, they had a great view of the court. I don't think there is a bad see in the house! In addition we could look out and see the manhattan skyline, with the empire state building and chrystler building all lit up at night. Headlining the matches was the Federer v. lopez match, and it was a great one to see! I'm alsready looking forward to more tennis.

On to the running. Tonight was a slightly humid, but mild night in central park. It was a test of sustaining a speedy pace. We warmed up for a mile and then "tempo ran" the rest of the loop ( another 5 miles). I was feeling good-physically and mentally. I held steady up the hills and pushed a little more on the tops; i let the downhills be a bit of a rest, but not too much. All in all it was a great run!

To cap off a good run, my mets boys won 11-7 with 2 big homeruns by paul loduca.

Not holding up my end of the bargain!

I am definitely not holding to my promises with this blog. It has been almost 2 month since i've kept you all updated on my progress. It's been a busy summer with trips and work and of course running. I have been running even if i have kept everyone in the dark. I shall bring everyone up to speed as to where i am. Currently I am at 16 miles! I believe last you all knew i was at 9. I have been climbing up with the mileage each week for my long runs, with a week of lower mileage (6 or 8mi) every now and then.

This past week I ran my first long run solo on friday morning. Central Park was peaceful, even with all the other runners, bikers, walkers etc. New York has been unseasonably 'cool'-in the 70s, making the runs even easier.

Each week i have tackled either speed workouts or hills, which always seem to make my legs and bum sore the next day. The rest of the days i spend doing easy to medium runs to keep my legs loose and happy!

With that, I am off to enjoy my labor day at the US Open!

Until next time (which i promise to be soon!)

WOW! A New Goal!

Well, it has been a few weeks since i've everyone updated on what i've been doing. Life has been a bit hectic, but seems to be settling down soon. Unfortunately the training has taken a back seat to family and school work-there are priorities in life afterall! I missed last week's long run, but got most of my mid-week workouts in. Back at the long run this saturday.

MORE EXCITING NEWS: Because of all of YOU! yes, you and you and you and you and even you! I have already EXCEEDED my fundraising goal! I am speechless, and i'm sure you all know that that doesn't happen often. The generosity is absolutely amazing. I can not thank you enough. So, i have given myself a new challenge; a new goal: $5000!!

Thank you to everyone again. will update everyone after saturday's run.

Hope everyone had a fun (and safe) 4th of july! I bbq-ed with some friends and watched the NYC fireworks from the 13th floor of the hospital-rain free:)

:)

another saturday here and another run down. it was a gorgeous morning to run! the sun was out, there was a nice breeze and not too hot. This week i made another climb in the mileage...i completed my first 9 mile run (and burned off that bacon cheeseburger from last night plus some!) And better yet, i was and still am feeling good. My knee faired well today, much to my pleasant surprise after almost 5 days off from running. I ran with a great group of 5 girls today. Come to find out, one of them was from rochester too! and another went to school in Buffalo. Talk about a small world. We chatted the entire run and the miles just flew by, everybody feeling great and having a good time. I never thought i would be looking forward to early saturday mornings and even more so those including long runs!

I would like to again thank everyone for all of their support-it keeps me going and gets me out of bed!

been a while!

well, it has been a while. I am still hanging in there. I'm holding steady at 8 miles for my long run, although i think we are bumping up to 9 miles on saturday...fingers crossed. this week has been a bit touch and go in terms of training and being a bit ginger with my knee, which has been giving me a little bit of trouble. but have no worries! nothing a little rest and following my exercises can't get me through.

I would like to take this opportunity to say a HUGE THANK YOU!! to all of you that have donated thus far! I am speechless with gratitude at all the generosity. I have exceeded 50% of my goal and i'm only 5 weeks in! Currently together we have raised $1700 of my $3000. You are all awesome!!!

THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU for all of your support for this adventure that i have begun in honor and memory of Uncle Tom!

still alive!

I just wanted to let you all know that I am still surviving after my run from yesterday. I will say that my 4 mile race through central park today was just has hard, and probably harder than those 8 miles yesterday. I can say that after 2 miles this morning i wasn't sure that i was going to make it the next 2. But i'm here to tell about it. There must be something about running with 3000 other people that kept me going. I suppose that means i'm working my body. In case you're all wondering if i do manage to have any fun, i will reassure you that i do...yesterday's fun: beer, wings and baseball!

Kicking in June

What a morning! The summers are starting to kick in and so is the heat! Even getting out the door by 8am today it was steamy in the city. A great run today! My furthest in long long time (maybe since high school). After showing up at practice expecting a 6 mile run I was surprised when it was ACTUALLY an 8 miler. I'll just saw that mentally i freaked out a bit. How was that ever going to happen! But it did and i'm still alive, walking normally and the legs even feel good. Maybe this training thing is actually working already. What a way to start a gorgeous day-running around central park amongst some tree shadows and the sun peaking through with a ton of other people. We must have been a sight as our group took mandatory water breaks standing in line at the water fountains. To replace all those calories burned, a nice breakfast of, what else but eggs benedict. yum yum! Here's hoping i'm still walking around tomorrow!

revelation!

week two is coming to a close! i was telling a girl friend that asked me about my training, that i was loving it. In fact, the last mile of my 5 mile run yesterday i was looking around me as i ran through central park, and what came to my mind was this-i haven't been this happy and enjoying running in a long time. Don't get me wrong i've been running, but yesterday i realized how much more i have been enjoying it these past 2 weeks. A good sign i think!

week 1 down!

Week one has come and gone! Last saturday, 5/12, was our first TNT practice. I was good! There are about 300 people that are marathon or half-marathon training with TNT this season. That means that we are a HUGE group all running around-of course not all together. I got to meet some really nice people, to run with and just to chat with.
Our second practice was tuesday, and already i was feeling comfortable. The atmosphere was awesome, and everyone is super supportive.
Finally, today was our 3rd practice! after draggin my butt out of bed at 7am on a saturday, the day was not so bad as the first 15 minutes. I also had my first run ever along the 'west coast' of manhattan, running down the path that hugs the hudson river. The view was really great! there was Jersey on one side, and manhattan on the other. Lucky us ran by the ship yards and got to stare longingly at all those people waiting to get on their cruise ships to probably some exotic warm place (mind you it was overcast, cold and misty rain today!) Anyhow, the first 4 miles flew by, and the 5th, well we'll just say it lasted longer than i would have liked. In the end, I felt really good! only 21.2 miles to go;)
One of the most important and meaningful parts of our saturday practices are the "inspirational moments"-before we go out on our long runs, someone, either training with us, or our "honored teammates"(individuals battling blood cancer or have beaten it!!) share a moment about their experience, or why they are training with TNT. So when the run gets hard, there are moments that we can push through with the memories and stories we have heard.

And a treat for my run...i'm off shopping for new running clothes!

I am blogging

Well, I never thought I would be a "blogger". However, I think this could be fun for me and everyone that has supported me during my training for the 2007 NYC Marathon, in honor of my Uncle Tom. In September of 2006, Uncle Tom passed away after a 9 month battle with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma.

I am completing my first marathon with The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society's Team in Training (TNT). TNT is a program that combines training for endurance events, like the marathon, with raising funds to help fight blood cancers. Estimates suggest that approximately 110,000 people a year, in the US alone, will be diagnosed with a blood cancer, whilst causing an estimated 55,000 deaths-accounting for almost 10% of cancer-related deaths. In addition, there are an estimated 700,000+ Americans currently living with blood cancers, with the likelihood of surviving increases with new research and treatments.

With TNT, I have pledged to raise $3000 for blood cancer research. Please support my efforts in any way you can-EVERY DOLLAR COUNTS! Donations can be placed on my TNT website: http://www.active.com/donate/tntnyc/tntnycPWille

Since it's beginning, TNT has raised over $750 million dollars, and continues to raise more! Please help us fight to cure blood cancer!

To learn more about The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society and about Team in Training, check out their websites: http://www.lls.org and http://www.teamintraining.org