Backward Glances and Creativity

It has been a busy week for me. I've been known to take on a bit too much. Consequently, I'm forced to be a bit creative with my workouts. Yesterday, for example, I was enlisted to be athlethic trainer for the football team at work. Nothing like the smell of high school football players, and then having to tape their wrists and ankles. Now THAT's dedication, right? I was talked into doing stats at the game - what a gorgeous day. SO, Indian Summer in upstate New York basically means that I forgot sunscreen and water, got a nice sunburn and verged on dehydration. Well, this all got me to about 5:00 where I just didn't feel up for a run.

Hot Hal is always saying that you can shuffle workouts a bit. So, I ask you? Does mucking three very dirty horse stalls count as cross-training? (upper body, core, legs. back) I gotta think that it does.

I made contact with my very first track coach this week. I only just found out that he is the Superintendent at a nearby school. I thought it would be fun to get his input on my training. To give some backgroud...... in elementary school, I wasn't the most healthy of kids. You would have described me as overweight and relatively inactive. Well, in the summer between 7th and 8th grade, I grew about a foot and lost about 20 pounds. Mr. Amundson asked me if I was intersted in running track. So, in 8th grade, I joined the track team. It was a BLAST. For those of you who didn't run track, let me just say that you missed out on the only co-ed sport in high school. Tons of fun. So, my bad luck revealed that I was pretty good at the 800 (half-mile sprint.) Ask anyone, not the most fun race in track. Well, I was good at it. By 11th grade, I held the school record and made it to State Qualifiers three times. Long story short, Mr. Amundson was very encouraging of my running. Toward the end of our season, when I was training for sectionals and State qualifiers, I often had to workout with Coach all by myself, because everyone else was done with their season. Mr. Amundson left our school shortly after I stated running track (9th or 10th grade) but I had hoped that he would remember me. I sent him an e-mail breifly explaining our marathon goals. I got a response back and hope to hear more soon. Maybe he'll give me some training advice.

Karoline - how is this week looking for you? Can't wait to have a post from you....our followers are getting bored of me. We need some friendly banter.

What keeps me going?

So, Karoline did not fall off her stilettos, it seems that she is swamped at work. I, like you, miss her posts (so witty, so witty) but she e-mailed me to say that she is offline the majority of the day. Of course, ever trying to ONE UP ME, she managed to go for a one-hour and forty minute jaunt. That, for one, keeps me going. I want to be able to say that I ran for over an hour and a half. My legs aren't there yet. I DID run for 50 minutes today - my legs felt great before, during and after. I want to be like you, Kari.

I reconnected with a high-school friend this evening. We were talking about jobs, life, kids, beer, and local gossip. She said that she wants to run a marathon at least once in her life. Damn, if I'm not doing that right now. That, for two, keeps me going.

The fact that our friends are actually considering joining us in Paris - to run or not. The fact that the crazy notion has entered other people's minds. The mere idea of getting to Paris with some friendly faces around me (Kari, Josh, Jill, hopefully more to come), that, for three, keeps me going.

All the encouragement from followers of this blog (and on facebook, at work, at home) makes me smile every morning. I look forward to seeing if there are any words of encouragement attached to our posts. I check the e-mail for small messages of 'you go girl.' My students have started a cheering section (ok, maybe heckling) That, for four, keeps me going.

Thanks for keeping me going. I still can't wrap my mind around 26.2 miles. BUT, I am further today than I was last week. I can't wait.

Now Introduce Yourself!

What a great surprise to see the post by HE SINGS. But who is HE SINGS? This is Josh, the opera singer from our exchange group (doesn't every group have an opera singer?) whom we have been gently coaxing into running with us on April 5th. He, like me, is living in Europe, so it seemed crazy for him not to! The carrot we used was that we would all get skinny together, and if he promised to run, he could blog with us.

It worked. Welcome welcome welcome Josh, and congratulations on your first run!

The Beginning

I know this is going to sound weird to the rest of you, but I feel so terribly accomplished because I took my first run today. Actually, I caught a glimpse of myself in a large window as I was running past, and think that it looked like a sort of meander slightly sped up on film. I didn't care, though, because I WAS DOING IT. Again, don't laugh, but a friend suggested I start with just a 15 minute run, so that I would feel a sense of accomplishment when I finished. She was right. Now, I will just add in 5-minute increments until I hit 30, then stay there for a while.

Anyway, I know it was small, but I did definitely feel more awake afterwards, and alert as my mind had been cleared.

It's all coming together

I haven't heard from my training partner in nearly three days. I can only imagine that she fell off her new pair of stilletos that she bought while in Milan and can't find the help button. In all seriousness, if Kari's life is half as busy as mine, it is a miracle that she can even find time to breathe, let alone train for this marathon.

I had my first 'not so good' run on Saturday. It was kind of bizarre, considering it was only 3.5 miles. I decided to run around 11am. I knew the minute my pink saucony hit the pavement that it was going to be a challenge. I was rocking to my typical tunes, but my legs just didn't feel it. As I trudged through the workout, I was preoccupied with thoughts like how I was going to deal with jet lag and a marathon, what it would feel like when I hit 20 miles, what road races I could register for between now and the snow season..... Before I knew it, my legs had carried me safely back to Robbins Road. As I looked at the watch, I was shocked to see that I had, in fact, run a fairly fast time. Shocked as I was, I went inside and said, I shall never again run at 11am. I don't know what makes 6am or 9pm better, but my legs are begging me to never do it again.

Sunday was a nice hour-long walk with my good friend Heather. We had a great chat about her new house and the upcoming football game between our rival alma maters - GO RAIDERS. I now know that HOT HAL is right when he writes about the great thinking and conversation that takes place during the daily workouts. I can solve the world problems and catch up with friends, and train for a marathon all at the same time. Can anyone else say that? I had the day off today, but decided to lift some weights - nothing extra staining.

So, that's all I have for tonight. I hope to start getting some photos up here - probably of me sweating, or something.

PS - I have a lunch meeting with the Rotary District Governor on Monday. It looks like we are going to put together a plan to promote our Polio Plus fundraising on the district level. Keep reading for more info about that.

What balloon are you?

"the organisers of the Paris international Marathon offer the chance of running at the same pace as experienced runners who, easily identifiable by a coloured balloon that can be seen from afar, have the task of completing the 42.195 km within a pre-determined time."

In other words, when we run the marathon, we will be keeping our target balloon in sight, if possible, so that we can come across the marathon as close to our four-hour target as possible. I think that we will be going GREEN (which just sounds trendy, right?) In the determiniation of this goal, Kari sent me a link to an article which outlined a 6,000 calorie diet created and maintained by explorer Ernest Shackleton. Jokingly, Kari suggested that we need to follow this beer-laiden, goose-fat festooned, chocolate fondant dripped menu. As I read the food that this foolish explorer ate in order to maintain his energy on his expeditions, the thought occured to me that if WE decided to take on 6000 calories a day, we very well may need to be tethered to the GOOD YEAR BLIMP to get us through the Marathon (rather than that green balloon.) Just my initial thought.

Congratulations, you are number 33784.

Being the team that we are, I also registered to run the marathon. Here is what mine said:

Félicitations ! ---

Vous êtes inscrit(e) à la 33ème édition du Marathon de Paris qui aura lieu le dimanche 5 avril 2009.

Inscription pour:Nom : WILLIAMS
Prénom : Laura
Montant : 63.00 Euros
Numéro de dossard : 33784

I, too, opted for the cancellation insurance - I'm not counting on my legs falling off, but the way things go, anything is possible.

And, Karoline, I might add that some of our best words today were lost on our followers - as our e-mails were hysterical. I think there are some dietary recommendations that we must share with our friends. Just an idea for our next post. Until then, because there is so much to write that everyone will find funny and interesting, please enjoy with us our pride in our registration today.

Coming up next time: who did get numbers 1-10?; what ballon will we be following?; why do people work out at 6am?; is a 6000 calorie diet too much?; and job description for my personal assistant.

Please forward any topics that you would like us to write about.

Congratulations, you are number 33712!

I did it. I registered for the marathon and just got my confirmation back. Here is what it said:

--- Félicitations ! ---
Vous êtes inscrit(e) à la 33ème édition du Marathon de Paris qui aura lieu le dimanche 5 avril 2009.
Inscription pour:
Nom : STECKLEY
Prénom : Karoline
Montant : 63.00 Euros
Numéro de dossard : 33712

Note the bargain price of 55 euros because I signed up early, and, oh yeah, that 8 euros, that is cancellation insurance in case my legs fall off.

Start your day with CAKE!

Two good things have happened since I came to Milan yesterday (I am actually in Vimodrone, which is on the outskirts of town). One is that I found out that my friends Francesca and Giuseppe live really close to my office--a five-minute walk, which is unheard of in Milan-- close enough to arrive at work with my hair still wet after my 25-minute run this morning on a beautiful bike path alongside a little river, and a shower. The second thing is that today is Francesca’s 45th birthday, and her birthday party was THIS MORNING AT 7:15 A.M.
And, you know what that means... CAKE! First thing in the morning! Now THAT is what I’m talking about!
Did I mention that it was PEAR flavored? I had two big pieces. Then I went for my run. Today is the best day!

If I am going to do this, I must do it right....

Kari is in Milan. That sounds so glam - "yeah, I trained for the Paris Marathon in Milan this week." Doesn't sound as glam as "yeah, I trained for the Paris Marathon in LeRoy, the home of Jell-O." At least I don't hum 'watch it jiggle' as I run my four miles - no comments from the peanut gallery.

I finally spoke to a person at Rotary International to find out all the little details about how to collect money for an international charity. I won't bore you with all the small nuiances, but I will say that it will be a challenge, but certainly do-able. Kari, I am thinking of hiring a personal assistant to manage my life in order to continue with our efforts to run a marathon and raise money for this AWESOME ORGANIZATION (product placement) I've made contact with several clubs and officers from my home district. I am working on getting some contacts for Belgium - gotta keep up with Karoline's Italian efforts.


As I ran this evening in the rain - see former post about blown fuse - I was happy that my chest cold was clearing. I felt much better running. It made me thankful that my coughs are becoming productive. BUT, It made me come to the realization that if I am going to become this "professional runner" I am going to have to learn how to hack a loogie. All of my attempts to clear my throat resulted in it landing either down my sweatshirt, on my chin, or on my sneaker. I must master this skill before April - damn, another thing to work on. I dare say that my training partner will not appreciate this lack of precision on our jaunt through Paris. Any suggestions?

That's all I have for today. I have a 5am workout wakeup call.