A Perfect Ten

So another month of training has come and gone. Training is going by pretty quickly and somehow I'm making it through the winter. Hopefully the weather doesn't get too bad. I've somehow managed to avoid rain on my running days. I have a feeling that will catch up with me at some point. So far we've just had to deal with running in the cold. This past weekend it was 40 degrees out when we started our run. Our hands were literally burning/stinging from the cold. It wasn't till about mile two that I finally started to warm up. We actually saw a couple people run by with FROST on their beanies. Note to self: if there is actually frost outside, maybe a long sleeve shirt isn't a bad idea even if I tend to overheat...

Anyway, my biggest accomplishment this past month that I am most proud of is I ran TEN miles! I finally reached double digits. It was a good run too (minus the cold). I was struggling a little last week because my hip started bothering me the Sunday after our 8 mile run. All week I was concerned about it and tried to baby it. I didn't run Monday, did hill training tuesday but at a much slower pace (still hurt a bit after that), nothing on wednesday and a light jog on Thursday. The babying helped! Saturday, I did my ten miles and my hip cooperated. Even after our run, it's still holding up. I've been using a foam roller (similar to REALLY hard styrofoam that you use to massage your muscles) to relax my hip and it's been helping a lot. So as a reward to myself, I get to finally use my gift certificate for a massage that my boyfriend bought me for my birthday. Ten miles down, only 16.2 more to go! =)

Another accomplishment this month, is somehow I raised $1,700 in a month bringing my total fundraised to a little over $2,400! Really amazing! After Thanksgiving it just started accumulating. This is before I've even been able to participate in group fundraisers with my team. All just from family, friends and co-workers. I feel very lucky to have so many people show their support for me and this cause -- during the holidays AND during a recession--- it's nice to feel so supported and I'm very grateful.

One last highlight of this month. I finally met my other honor teammate, Tyler Cordova. Tyler is 7 years old and was diagnosed with leukemia in 2007. This kid is amazing. He has such a personality - upbeat, lively, energetic. He's not shy, gives his opinion and tough. He just went through a stem cell transplant a few months ago and is still recovering. If it wasn't for the signs on his young body, you wouldn't know this happy kid was going through such an intense medical battle. I was very impressed by him and his family. I was also glad to hear that a match was found for him through the bone marrow registry (now called "Be the Match"), a registry I joined six years ago at Stanford. Who knows if I'll ever be a match for someone, but it's nice to know the registry works and is saving lives. It's also nice to know that Tyler was able to spend Christmas at home instead of a hospital.

In short, I've accomplished all my goals I made last month:
1. Several MORE hours of running - oh yeah
2. My next personal mileage hurdle -- 10 miles. DONE!
3. More muscles (less fat?)! slowly but surely...
4. More running gear including a much needed hydration belt --- Way past just the belt
5. About $1,800 more fundraised - less than $100 left!

Alright, so what goals do I want to shoot for in this next month:
1. Focus more on nutrition - food to fuel the machine!
2. Figure out my energy food of choice: beans, "goo", blocks, bars...
3. Integrate more injury prevention exercises into my weekly routine
4. Exceed my $2,500 goal
5. More miles on my feet!