Hi all!
I'm excited to say that I'm 65% of the way to my American Cancer Society fundraising goal of $950. Thanks to family, friends, co-workers who have made donations. It's a great cause, donations are tax deductable, and all of the money donated goes to cancer research.
Help me get to the finish line...
Donate here: http://main.acsevents.org/goto/Bridget.Garwitz
Wednesday, July 30, 2008
Sunday, July 27, 2008
First Group Run
12 miles. From Montrose Beach to Lake Point Tower (where Oprah lives).
I ran with the CARA (Chicago Area Runner's Association) marathon training group today. I woke up at 5am. Yuck. Running with others keeps me calm. I found someone whose pace I liked and kept up with her for just about the entire thing.
My legs and feet are SORE...and I just finished running an hour and a half ago. I'm also sure now that I'll lose a couple toenails before this is over despite having great shoes.
Weekly Mileage Total: 32
Afterwards, I had to take a cab back home because walking felt too painful. The cabby was this middle-aged, fat man who decided to be chatty with me. I got into his cab at 9am after I had been running since 6:30am, and he goes, "Man, it's too early for me to be working." I told him how long I'd been up and what I'd been doing, and in a very thick accent, he deadpanned, "Holy shit." For the rest of the cab ride, he talked about how when fat people like him run, they bounce all over the place. He thinks it is gross. It was insensitive of him to say, but I guess when you are a fat man, you're exempt.
I ran with the CARA (Chicago Area Runner's Association) marathon training group today. I woke up at 5am. Yuck. Running with others keeps me calm. I found someone whose pace I liked and kept up with her for just about the entire thing.
My legs and feet are SORE...and I just finished running an hour and a half ago. I'm also sure now that I'll lose a couple toenails before this is over despite having great shoes.
Weekly Mileage Total: 32
Afterwards, I had to take a cab back home because walking felt too painful. The cabby was this middle-aged, fat man who decided to be chatty with me. I got into his cab at 9am after I had been running since 6:30am, and he goes, "Man, it's too early for me to be working." I told him how long I'd been up and what I'd been doing, and in a very thick accent, he deadpanned, "Holy shit." For the rest of the cab ride, he talked about how when fat people like him run, they bounce all over the place. He thinks it is gross. It was insensitive of him to say, but I guess when you are a fat man, you're exempt.
Tuesday, July 22, 2008
Gu
I'm eating Gu now. Today, I ate Lemon Sublime. I felt like I was swallowing a huge booger...think oysters on the half shell, only 3x bigger. They pack a bunch of vitamins and carbs. Yum.
Completed 7 mile goal after work today.
My toes and knees are starting to feel the stress of the distance.
But my mind is becoming less and less manic.
One of my favorite books is called "The Art of Loving". It's by Erich Fromm on the theory and practice of love. In it, Fromm writes --
"Most people listen to others, or even give advice, without really listening. They do not take the other person's talk seriously, they do not take their own answers seriously either. As a result, the talk makes them tired. They are under the illusion that they would be even more tired if they listened with concentration. But the opposite is true. Any activity, if done in a concentrated fashion, makes one more awake..."
I find this to be true in my marathon training. The more I work on my concentration, and continually re-focus, the more awake I feel. My alertness lasts hours into the night, keeping me up until midnight or later...hence, I write this blog.
Completed 7 mile goal after work today.
My toes and knees are starting to feel the stress of the distance.
But my mind is becoming less and less manic.
One of my favorite books is called "The Art of Loving". It's by Erich Fromm on the theory and practice of love. In it, Fromm writes --
"Most people listen to others, or even give advice, without really listening. They do not take the other person's talk seriously, they do not take their own answers seriously either. As a result, the talk makes them tired. They are under the illusion that they would be even more tired if they listened with concentration. But the opposite is true. Any activity, if done in a concentrated fashion, makes one more awake..."
I find this to be true in my marathon training. The more I work on my concentration, and continually re-focus, the more awake I feel. My alertness lasts hours into the night, keeping me up until midnight or later...hence, I write this blog.
Monday, July 21, 2008
A Start
After hours and hours of thoughts flipping through my head as I train, I decided to share a few. So far, after a month of marathon training, here are a few things I've learned -
- If my calves hurt, I push with my hamstrings. When they hurt, I push with my calves. I have to counter every piece of pain, and over and over again, I forget (and then remember again) where I hurt.
- My feet won't be pretty again until November.
- I have to come up with new mental distractions about every 60 seconds or so. It used to be every 20.
- One of my tactics is to form emotional attachments to certain points (preferably far from where I start)...like a nice view of the city, or a private part of the trail. If I do that effectively, I am naturally compelled to run out at least that far.
- This endeavor is 20% physical. The rest is mental/emotional.
Okay, so today I went 5.5 miles in a recovery run. Tomorrow I'm shooting for 7, 4/7 at marathon pace. This week's long run should be around 10-11. I will run with the Chicago Area Runner's Association (CARA) on Sunday mornings at 6:00am. Ouch.
I am personally touched by all of my friends and family who have decided to sponsor me for the American Cancer Society. Thank you!
http://main.acsevents.org/goto/Bridget.Garwitz
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