An almost perfect ten

A consistent sleeping schedule still eludes me...I woke up at 3am this morning to the sound of my AC blasting cold air at me. It took about an hour of tossing and turning for me to fall back asleep. Just as I was settling into a rather nice dream, my alarm starts blaring at me. It was 7am. I debated on whether or not I should just turn it off, roll over and resettle into my sleeping bliss, but then I remembered that today was the day that Amina and I were going to attempt to run our longest distance yet - 10 miles. So I threw back the covers, walked into the kitchen and grabbed a piece of bread and water and started eating my 'breakfast'. I need to go grocery shopping badly. I then walked to Amina's door and knocked, only to hear her mumble something incoherent to me. I responded with a cheery "Good morning...you ready to run?" hehe.

So here is how the rest of the morning went down:

We left at 8am and headed to the reservoir. Temperature check showed a balmy 74* with 80% humidity. I was dripping with sweat by the time we passed The Publick House. A quick water stop at DD set us up for a quick tour of the reservoir. While at DD we took out the Gu and downed it. Belgian chocolate is apparently a primary ingredient and I have to say, it actually didn't taste half bad. Once we sped through the reservoir, we headed back toward Harvard street, stopped off at SB for some more water and ran down Babcock to Comm Ave. Another H2O stop at another DD where we saw the cutest little guy (couldn't have been older than 3 or 4) in a power rangers outfit and green rain boots. I smiled at him and he flexed his muscles and stared us down. I think he was flirting. Ah, they start so young these days.

Back out on Comm Ave, we headed past Paradise (MGMT is sold out) and over the BU footbridge onto the Esplanade. We headed to the Mass Ave bridge, crossed it to Cambridge and ran toward the BU boathouse where we paused for another water stop. This was the last leg of the trip and can I just say, I was tired. I think I should have brought one more Gu with me. But I shuffled along back over the BU bridge to Comm Ave (pausing yet again for water at the BU gym) and back home. I won't post the total time because it is longer than I would like to admit, but I felt so good once we were done. I had a bit of foot pain - my right arch cramped up on me about 1/2 mile from home, but other than that, it was a beautiful run.

This afternoon, I am off to Marathon Sports to buy a new pair of shoes...

Benefit for the LLS

Our fund raising event at Felt was a huge success. Thank you to everyone who came out - we had an amazing turnout of well over 70 people. Despite not eating dinner and having a nasty headache for the majority of the night, I had a great time losing miserably in two games of pool to my coworker Tiffany, trying to learn how to play Cut Throat (I still don't get the point of the game, sorry Eric), being admittedly a bit embarrassed by the tuxedo t-shirts (didn't think you guys were serious about wearing them, but really, I should have known better), and making a valiant effort to find & return Adam's kidnapped blackberry. It was great to meet so many new people as well. It was difficult to get around to thank everyone for coming, but I believe that between the both of us, Amina and I were able to make sure everyone knew their presence was appreciated.

So, needless to say, running this morning was completely out of the question and all I've done is lounge around my house drinking H2O and Starbucks. This is all in preparation for tomorrow's long run, of course...it will be a stiff 10 miles in the heat. I've frozen my chocolate goo and am doing my best to stay hydrated in this horrible weather.

Many thanks to Vijay and Sarina for setting the space up for us, it wouldn't have been possible without their help.

Marathon Sports 5 Miler

Last night, I laced up my running shoes and hit the streets of Weston for a 5-mile race. It was a blazing 90* with humidity - the bane of my running existence. Happily, the route was residential and tree-lined, so we were in the shade almost the whole time. This course was full of hills -one in particular seemed like Mt. Everest, but I climbed it like a champion and was able to beat my finish time goal by 8 seconds.

Mile 1: 00:08:13
Mile 2: 00:09:37
Miles 3, 4, 5: 00:10:00 give or take a couple seconds

Finish time: 00:47:52

Jill & Amina Yours truly & Amina

Tuesday Night Run

Last night we met up with part of the TNT group in Brookline for a 4mile run around the river. It was h.o.t. as usual, but not so humid. Learning from past experience, I brought along a bottle of water to keep me hydrated. We ran from the border of Brookline to Comm ave (where I ran into my coworker Steve, who was riding his bike), down to the Mass Ave bridge, over to Cambridge, back toward the BU footbridge and back into Brookline. After the run, we headed out to the Coolidge Corner Clubhouse for food...

The fundraiser at felt is happening in 2 days, so far over 40 people have confirmed - I just hope they all show up!

Thanks to another coworker of mine, I've broken the $2k mark. Many thanks, Clare!

Reservoir Run Part Two

Last night we ran to the reservoir again. It was an absolutely beautiful evening. The sun was just starting to set and the sky was a streaky mixture of pink, yellow and blue. As the sun dropped behind the trees, it reflected off of the windows of a building and scattered it's yellowish-orange reflection across the pond. There was a slight breeze and the temperature couldn't have been better. I only wish I'd had my camera with me...

Another 6 miles down this week. Tonight I'm going for 4 with the group and 5 at a race on Thursday. Saturday will be 6 miles of hill training in Newton and Sunday just might be a 10...

Week Ten

I woke up this morning at 6:45 hardly ready to run. I made myself a pita & labne sandwich for breakfast and threw on my running clothes. For a brief moment, I considered crawling back into bed, but my conscience got the better of me and rather than flake out on a team member who I'd told I would be there, I sucked it up and drove to MIT. I got there at 7:30 and hit the pavement with my mentor. Her pace was a bit faster than what I am used to - I could feel my breathing become heavier and my legs were protesting a bit. I dropped back to my usual pace and ran past the Museum of Science to the pinkish colored footbridge next to the Hatch Shell. I crossed the bridge and ran up beacon toward the common. The first water stop was at the base of the hill, so I paused for some water and a pink colored drink (powerade?). One of the coaches was there and ran up the hill with me, around the common, down to the public garden and then back to the base of the hill for repeat number 2. After pausing for another water stop another teammate and I took off for the hill again. We did the same loop around both parks and then headed back to MIT across the Mass Ave bridge. Total mileage, just over 6. It was hot this morning, but not humid and I felt pretty good...until I got home. I started to feel really tired and had to lay down for about 30 minutes. That horrible feeling came over me again and I made it to the bathroom sink just in time. I ate and sipped on a gatorade (orange flavor, which is disgusting) and started to feel a little better for awhile. My water intake was light prior to the run but I thought I'd had enough during. Evidently not, because since lunch, I have been laid out on the couch all afternoon with a headache, dozing in and out of sleep. I finally got up about an hour ago, made myself something to eat and have been constantly drinking water. Plans for the day were (obviously) canceled and my crystal ball tells me that tonight I'll be watching 48 Hours instead of celebrating my roommate's birthday at 33.

Reservoir Run

Last night I went for a long run to the reservoir - total trip distance was just over 6 miles. During my journey I saw:

*"the guy who runs with a messenger bag" (this guy can be seen running down beacon every evening...he carries his messenger bag in his left arm and I can only assume he always has somewhere very important to go)
*a baby rabbit munching grass
*swans!!
*two college students fishing (did they catch anything? I'll never know)
*an old man (his scraggly gray hair flowing in the wind behind him) wearing short runner's shorts, aviators and nothing else. creepy.

all in all, it was an entertaining and comfortable run

Week Nine

And what a week it has been. The humidity and heat have skyrocketed and this has made training very difficult due to my unusually low tolerance to the recent weather. Today, it seems that the weather has taken a dip and I am planning on a very long make-up run tonight. Just need to get my ipod playlist updated. Last night I went for a run at 9pm, thinking that since the sun had long disappeared, I'd be ok. Oh, not so fast there Rachael...the humidity hadn't dropped a mmHg and the air was stagnant. Beads of sweat dripped from my temples, chin and upper lip, a rather disgusting feeling, since I usually sweat microliters.

In other news...my fundraising has been slow and steady, many thanks goes out to a few more generous people who have helped me raise another $300. I am now just shy of $2K.

Amina and I have set up a fundraising event to get some more support. The event will take place at Felt in Boston on July 18th, beginning at 8pm. There will be pool, music, a cash bar and access to the VIP floor (dancing) for everyone attending. I am a little nervous about it, but I'm hoping it will be a success...