10 MILES !

We ran the george washington bridge saturday morning-

7am bright n early Courty and I crawled out of bed and onto the train to take it up to 175th and catch up with the tnt manhattan crew and beginners that were running. Train dropped us off at 830 but coming out of the train in unfamiliar territory meant that we'd be a lil late- and we hadn't a clue what to do if they left us so we rushed down 176th and caught a glimpse of a pack of people- but they seemed to be under the ramp. After almost trying to dart thru traffic to hop a divider, we found out that we could walk around as it didn't look like they were getting ready to leave as of yet.

The group split into smaller pace groups for the run. I’d averaged around 9min when we did our mile test, but there was no way I was doing that for 10 miles straight, so I defaulted over to the 11+ group, and planned on taking it at easy as possible. Coach ramon explained the route and that he'd meet us at the top of some hill that marked mile 5 and would have water and pretzels to refill. He mentioned bathrm locations but I had no idea where exactly that meant. We were to run across the bridge once, our allotted mile goals and then back across to do 8,9, 10, 11 or 12 miles as half marathon/beginners.

Started the stop watch as soon as we hit the top of the bridge walkway ramp and off we went. We kept it slow and easy and I was glad my mentor was there bc we ran together the whole time and its always easier when u have someone to talk to. But man were those hills something else! Getting TO 5 miles wasn't so bad- except for the *very* steep hill right before the mark, and then the only reason it felt so easy was because coming back was going to SUCK - we were almost TOTALLY up hill. 2 and a half hours later, we were stretching and eating bananas, hi-fiving eachother for making it over. but boy would we pay for it...

lets just say, i have muscles in pain that i can't even STRETCH.

Did some yoga today to stretch it out and am feeling a bit better... but next week i'm sure i'll be pushing it to the limit yet again!!

The run was good otherwise, and I was glad to have my mentor Heather, another trainee Cat and my girl Theresa (who’s running the Marine Corps marathon and has been doing AWESOME with her training) with me for the majority of it. Heather told me that one of our other teammates lost her personal honoree on Monday to leukemia :( so we definitely had mission in mind, and though the training sucks, it keeps us on track with why we’re continuing.


In other news, laynie sent me this interesting bit:


Things to Know About Running and Your Knees
via FitSugar -- Healthy, happy you. by FitSugar on 7/25/08



Let's face it, running is a convenient form of exercise and can make you high. The only downside, I seem to experience is the occasional aching knee.

I take care of this important joint by strengthening my quads and rolling out my ITB. I do find it heartening that many studies have found that running doesn't contribute to osteoarthritis in the knee joint. Many of the studies on avid runners, weekend warriors and non-runners found that running did not increase the risk of developing arthritis. While little aches do creep up every now and then, the benefits of running seem to outweigh the pain.

Speaking of weight, it is true that every extra pound you carry on your frame creates an extra four pounds of stress on the knee. Running to stay in shape and keep off weight helps your knees, which in turn will keep you running. So get out there, and don't pound the pavement, run softly on the trail and enjoy your strong legs and healthy knees.

links:
http://www.fitsugar.com/1811355
http://www.fitsugar.com/1594126

and my girl stace hit me to say she'd be adding something up to facebook for me to help spread the word on my fundraising.

gotta love help from your friends.

more fun updates later!! :)