Slacker!!

So I haven't blogged since... JUNE?? Holy moly.

Okay, so I haven't been motivated to train as much as I was motivated at the beginning... I have been completely slacking on my mid-week trainings. But I'm still doing my weekend trainings, and they are still tolerable, even if I whine like a kindergartner the whole time.

A couple of weeks ago, we trained at Kensington Metropark. We had to 8 miles for the half marathon training. It was a beautiful course, and we found a baby chinchilla or something similar on the sidewalk. I wanted to take it home with me, but I'm sure my cat would've eaten it. It was soooooo cute. At one point, Jaycee and I thought we were lost, but we managed to make it back to base without dying.

I also wanted to talk about my fundraising debacle.

I was so excited about my acoustic jam fundraiser that was scheduled for August. I had it planned for Hamlin Pub in Clarkston, and the manager there was bending over backwards to help me make it a success. My dear friend Roy Caldwell had signed on to play for the event. A few weeks prior to the event, the manager calls and says that Roy will not be able to start playing music until 9:00 pm. My event was advertised for 7:00. I tried to not get upset, and figured we could have dinner, schmooze a little, and do the raffle. No big.

Then she calls me the following week and says that the corporate office has booked someone OTHER than Roy for the night, whoops, sorry. So I (of course) got REALLY upset and Roy tried to console me that the other band was radio-station sponsored and would draw a bigger crowd, blah blah blah. FINE.

THEN (oh yeah there is more), she calls me THE DAY of my event to tell me that I can't have a raffle. She tells me that she already told me this (although she said she had raffle tickets to give me? for what?) , and was pretty nasty to me when I got ticked off about it. So I had a thousand dollars worth of raffle prizes that had been donated to me from various authors, artists, and friends that basically I still have.

The event wasn't a complete dud, and I was supported by some good friends, my team, and my honored hero's family.

On the positive, though, the Pamper Me fundraiser with my team was a rousing success, and everyone had a great time!

I need to squeeze 10 miles in this week. Woo!

Back in action!

Apparently, wearing nothing but high-heel shoes for years and years can shorten your tendons in your feet. Huh. Who knew.

Then I was at Kohl's to purchase some flat shoes for work (the only flat shoes I owned prior to this are my new running shoes), and I was looking at framed art and dropped one on my toe. I am pretty sure it's broken. But I walked two miles yesterday and it doesn't hurt any more than it did BEFORE I walked, so yay!

Tonight I have another fundraising meeting. Our fundraising ideas so far are all chick-related. One is going to be a spa-day fundraiser. Let me know if you're interested!

Not much more to report this week, except for the fact that I am no longer resting my ankle, but stretching and strengthening my tendons.

Week 3 = ARGH!

So I had a little setback with my training.

A little background music:

1. Last year, I had a really bad ankle sprain resulting from falling off my shoe. Seriously. I stepped into a dip at the miniature golf course, and I rolled my ankle. I wasn't really wearing "appropriate footwear" for miniature golf, let's just say. So I had to wear a brace while my tendons healed.
2. I wanted to walk the full marathon, but the Detroit Free Press marathon peeps are discouraging that because it will take too long. So I decided to add running to my training so I could either run/walk the full, or run the half.
   

So, with those two things in mind, I went to Saturday's team training with hopes of doing some running. I had been adding a little bit of jogging to my weekday walks, but I was ready to just GO FOR IT! GO TEAM! GO DANA!!

I did it by myself for a while. I was training with Coach Tammy and the walk team, but Coach Sue said I could run a little, and she'd come find me. I was doing pretty good on my own. Coach Sue found me and gave me some pointers on running. I learned how to run softly and focus on my pace. It was way easier than what I had been doing on my own. So we ran.

I started to get a pain in my left ankle, but I said, "well, I know this will hurt a little because I have never done it before." Then the pain spread up my shin, and Coach Sue said I should walk. Walking didn't hurt. And I was able to run a little bit more without it hurting too much.

Saturday night, it was sore, but I put on my 3 inch heels and went dancing. Sunday, I put on my tennies and went to Ann Arbor with my son for the Taste of Ann Arbor festival. Ankle was sore again, so I iced it. I tried to run last night, and it hurt a lot. Today, the top of my foot is swollen and bruised. I have NO clue what is going on. I iced it again, and have a wrap on it, but I'm working and have to walk all over. I hope it is going to get better. It only hurts when I run. Walking fast doesn't hurt.

OR... maybe I'm a big wuss.

Two weeks in

Day 13 of my training.

I've been mapping out routes around my neighborhood. From my condo to the gym is 1.5 miles. So I can walk to the gym, work out, walk home... and that is three miles. (By the way, walking a mile and a half AFTER working out: WAY HARDER). There is a 3.3 mile loop, also, if I go around by the mall instead of walking back the way I came. I have even included shopping at Best Buy and Target into my walks.

I started adding short bursts of jogging to my walking. It doesn't hurt my legs to run, it hurts my chest. Apparently I am not cardio-ready. So I run lightly until it starts to hurt, then I walk. When my pulse stops freaking out, I run again. Each time I go out, I can run a few more times.

RUNNING CLOTHES

Dana + spandex = SHRIEK!!!!! They have "running skirts", and at first I was hesitant to get one. I'm trying to be a big tough athlete (stop laughing!) and the skirt just seemed kind of prissy, even for me. But at the first team training I attended, several of the ladies were wearing them. So I bought one, and it is REALLY comfortable and I look SO CUTE. Not that my cuteness is important, but STILL!

Cotton is a big no-no, according to the "experts". So that eliminates ALL of my clothes. Including my panties. I have spent the better part of forty years hearing that non-cotton panties were the devil. And now I have to buy some! So, my immortal soul is in jeopardy, but my bottom will not be chafed. Sounds like a worthwhile sacrifice to me.

I also bought a new PINK sports bra, and a PINK running jacket, and a PINK non-cotton tank top. I would really like one of those "Run Like A Girl" t-shirts that Team In Training makes... maybe that will be my next purchase. BUT, I need a hat or visor for running, and a comfortable watch. My shoes feel good, but I guess I will need to go to a shoe expert soon to make sure I've got the best ones for my foot type and my running type.

I also am reading a hilarious book called:
The Nonrunner's Marathon Guide for Women: Get Off Your Butt and On with Your Training by Dawn Dais. It is really funny and inspiring. I feel much less inadequate reading about Dawn's journey.

Fundraising Update: Up to $460! That makes me nearly 15% of my goal! The fundraiser is tentatively scheduled for Wednesday, August 12 at Hamlin Pub in Clarkston. More details to come!

As my trainer, Tammy, likes to say,

Smiling and Miling,
Dana

The Saga Begins

"WTF?" is the response I'm getting a lot from people who know me.

I am not a runner. I'm not even an athlete. I used to kick box, years ago, but that was fun. Running = decidedly not fun.

Why do people climb Mt. Rushmore? Why do people go to college while working full time and raising two kids? Why do ants spend their entire lives hauling regurgitated sand to the top of a hill?

Because we can!

But that isn't my real reason. My reasons are many:

• I need to get in shape. My metabolism recently flipped me the bird.
  
• I need support and motivation to get going with getting in shape. Team in Training does group training and everyone supports and encourages one another.
  
• It is a commitment, and once you make it, you HAVE to keep going. I work better when I have a goal.
  
• I lost a dear friend to leukemia a couple of years ago, and the program is all about fundraising for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. If doing this helps prevent anyone else from losing someone dearly loved, then it's all good.
• Fundraising event planning is fun. Just wait til you see what I have in store! Mwah ha ha!

I ran into an old college buddy of mine, Bora Guven, who is an Iron Man Triathlete. He mentioned TNT to me, and I looked it up. There was a local meeting a few weeks later. Judee Metz and I went, and it was really interesting. The coaches are so passionate, and there were some great stories. I signed up. SO many people I know have either heard of it, know someone who participated, or have participated themselves. I had no idea! The alumni say that it was the most rewarding experience of their lives.

I met with my fundraising coach, Sarah, for the first time on Tuesday. I have some great ideas, and I sent out my first fundraising email. I've already made $225 after just one day!

This was the letter:

It's a bird! It's a plane! No, really, it was a bird and a plane...

I don't have a cape and I look terrible in spandex (trust me on this one).

I don't have xray vision, even with my contact lenses in place.

I can't leap tall buildings in a single bound (although I can jump nimbly over my cat before she trips me down the stairs).

I can't turn invisible, fly, or hear your thoughts.

**But I can still save the world, which, if you know me at all, has always been my job.**

I can walk.
I can run.
I can cure leukemia!

Mild mannered mother and computer geek during the week, marathon trainer and champion of the cure on the weekends. I am a Superhero.

Please check out my Team In Training page and help me fight something equally as vicious as crime: blood cancer. This is my first fundraising endeavor, and I'm only asking for you to help with a FIVE dollar donation to my account. If you can give more, that's fantastic, the more superheroes in the world, the better the fight! My amazing family and friends are actually my greatest superpower. Thank you all for helping me save the world. (All donations to LLS are 100% tax deductible, too!)

My other superpower is the ability to see the future... and I see a cure for leukemia and other blood cancers in the near future.

With love and gratitude,
Dana Robinson Pierce
Your Friendly Neighborhood Superhero

I am completing the Detroit Free Press Marathon on October 18, in memory of Gary "Buddha" Metz, who lost his decades long battle with leukemia in 2007. We miss you, Uncle Boody.

Team in Training is a sports endurance training program to benefit the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society whose mission is to "Cure leukemia, lymphoma, Hodgkin's disease, and myeloma and to improve the quality of life of patients and their families."

My Page

Team In Training

Leukemia and Lymphoma Society

Now I'm just working on my training. I've been walking to the gym about two miles away, working out, then walking home. I've been doing short burst running on the treadmill. I hurt from head to toe, and the marathon training hasn't even started yet. The kick off meeting is May 13, and the group training starts on May 16. If you have any tips for me, post them in the comments here! Thanks!

Dana, the Accidental Athlete