Tuesday, May 24, 2005

113.5 miles and counting

Put in 5 more miles last night at the gym. I get pretty hot running on the treadmill if I don't have a fan blowing on me. I have a couple of shirts that are suppose to "wick" the moisture away from my body. Well, they don't work unless you have a breeze. When you run on a treadmill, there's NO breeze! They don't put that on the tag!
Getting closer to the garage sale (June 12)! I will start to contact the people that said they had things to donate to setup a pickup point. If you want to donate, send me an email bniess@hotmail.com

Saturday, May 21, 2005

More miles and Fundraising Updates

Friday night and Saturday morning...8.5 more miles.

Fundraising (drum roll...) $600 now raised. $2,400 more to go!!

Garage Sale is on for June 12th. ALL proceeds will go to the SF AIDS Marathon program. If you have items for the sale, let me know. I can also give you a receipt for tax purposes. My goal is to raise at least $500 at the garage sale!

Thursday, May 19, 2005

100 Miles Complete!

It took me 45 days to do it, but I have ran 100 miles! I've decided to continue to keep track of my total mileage, but once June 11th comes and the official training starts, I'll start a new log. I'm 20% of the way of needing new shoes already!
You can now see my pictures from the Bay to Breakers race at http://www.sportphoto.net My bib number is 38903.

Tuesday, May 17, 2005

Approaching the century mark!

Tonight added 4 more miles. 97 miles since April 3rd. It was threatening to rain, so I ran at the gym. My blister on the side of my toe has pretty much healed. I was worried about running tonight so soon after the race on Sunday, but I took it a little slower and did just fine!

Recovery

Well, the website for B2B is finally updated (I'm now 2770), just waiting for the pictures to come up. Went to the gym last night, I walked 5 minutes, lightly jogged for 10 minutes, and then walked 5 minutes (1 1/2 miles). My legs are feeling pretty good. Tonight I'll be going out for a run (hopefully it doesn't rain!) I plan on running for about 40 minutes, but probably still at a slow pace.

Reminder: if you have items for the garage sale, please let me know! I'm working with AIDS Marathon office to see what sort of receipt I can give you for tax purposes.

Monday, May 16, 2005

Garage Sale Fundraiser (June 12th)

I will be holding a garage sale with the proceeds going to the SF AIDS Marathon program. I need your help! Do you suffer from Icollectalottastuffitis and need to get rid of that stuff you are not using anymore? Has your garage become a new storage area and your car is jealous? If you don't need it, I'll take it! June 12th is the sale date. Please contact me now and we can arrange to pick-up/drop-off your unwanted "treasures". bniess@hotmail.com

Bay to Breakers Conquered!

LAST UPDATE: I placed 2771. I guess they left off the 1 on-line. I haven't been able to check on-line yet, but I'm in the Examiner! Woo Hoo! My goal was to place in the top 10,000 (to make the paper). Next year, my goal is to get in the top 1,000!

UPDATE: I placed 277th out 75,000...at the moment, they haven't updated all of the times yet, so it looks like I'm 277; I about fell out of my chair when I first saw that!) My official time was 1 hour 10 minutes and 36 seconds. Watch for the Monday SF Examiner, my name should be listed! www.baytobreakers.com

I did it! 12k in 1 hour 5 minutes. Now, that's not my official time, that's according to my watch. It took me 5 minutes just to reach the starting line and about 1 minute to get through the finishing gates. I even took a bathroom break at mile 4. I'll know my official time tomorrow. Now time to rest before tonight's OEBGMC performance at the Parkway Theater at 6pm!

Friday, May 13, 2005

More mileage

3 1/2 more miles yesterday. Ran at Lake Chabot; 15 minutes out 17 minutes in. I got my race number for Bay to Breakers, #38903. If you watching it on KRON 4 Sunday morning, keep an eye out for me! :)

Update on donations: $125 raise, only $2,875 more to go!

Thursday, May 12, 2005

Bay to Breakers

I'm registered! This will be my first big race. The Lake Merritt race had only 23 runners in the 10k. I think B2B has over 30-40k runners. It is 12k (about 7.5 miles). I hope to finish in about 1 1/4 hours. There is a huge hill that has been known to just about kill people. I want to get there sort of early, so I can get a good position, nothing like spending 10-15 minutes just getting to the start line! I'm not sure how it works, I know the Honolulu Marathon uses electronic chips to track progess, I have a feeling B2B isn't that high tech. When you cross the finish line, that's your time, regardless of when you actually passed the start line. I don't know, we'll see.
This will also be close to the longest distance I've ever ran. When I sprained my ankle I had gone about 8.25 to 8.5 miles and my last long run was 7 (or 7.5) miles. It will be a good lesson in pacing!!

Last night I took it easy on the running, 1 mile. I did run fast though, 7:53 (which is my fastest recorded time for a mile). Hopefully a year from now (or six months) I'll be running 7:53 as a normal mile! Spent time lifting weights. I've definately noticed I have been focused on running, not weightlifting! I could only do 2 rounds, and I was done.
Plan to do 30-45 minutes tonight.

Wednesday, May 11, 2005

4 more miles

Yesterday I did get home in time to get some running in. Unfortunately it was too late to go over on the trails at Lake Chabot, but John and I made it to the gym. Treadmill running just isn't the same! I've decided to enter the Bay to Breakers race. I just need to go and register and pick up my stuff Saturday. So, if I am in the first 10,000 to cross the finish line, my name will be in the paper. We'll see!

The results from my very first race have been posted at www.lmjs.org. Click on the "results" on the left-hand side of the page. On the next page in the Results for an Event box, Year 2005, April 4th Sunday Run, click Event Results. I am 11th overall in the 10k race. Not too far away from the leaders! :)

Tuesday, May 10, 2005

No running but...

Well, I wasn't able to run yesterday, class went until 9pm last night. I got my final back for my Business Law class, and I got Excellent written on it. My professor copied my final and gave it to everyone as an example of how they should have written theirs. A classmate of mine came up to me afterwards and said that I should be a lawyer; I was always questioning everything and got people flustered.
I'm debating whether or not to enter the Bay to Breakers race this Sunday. It's quite a large race and would be a good experience.

Monday, May 09, 2005

Back from Iowa with an extra 4.

That would be an extra 4 pounds. Amazing what good cooking does! Loved the cake, cookies, bars, and meals, but didn't get nearly enough exercise! I did run about 3 miles Friday morning, but should have ran Sunday morning! Still tired from the flight, we were delayed because of thunderstorms and didn't get home until after 1am.
Planning on running tonight after class (if it's not too late!)

Wednesday, May 04, 2005

The birth of yet another Blog.

So, after talking with my sister Amy, I decided to start up a Blog to keep track of my journey (to help raise funds!) to the finish line of 26.2 miles, The Marathon!
A quick background:
April 20, 2005 I registered with SF AIDS Marathon in downtown Oakland around 7:30pm. Actually, I took the form home, talked it over with John and then dropped off the form on the 21st during my lunch hour.
April 21, 2005, around 12:34pm, after dropping off my registration form, I called my friend Tabitha and left her a message that I must be crazy because I just signed up to do a marathon!
April 21, 2005, around 12:50pm, I got back to my office and then realized that I had to raise $3,000.
April 21, 2005, 1:04pm, I started to feel light-headed.

Fast forward a couple of weeks:
May 1, 2005, I ran over 7 miles! Surprisingly I was not sore or hurting. I didn't have time. John and I had to rush to get over to the church for our concert.
May 2, 2005, Braindead. Ok, it took a few hours but felt the run. I didn't drink enough water Sunday and was feeling a little dehydrated. Lesson learned: Drink water, then drink some more water!

Today: May 4, 2005
Yesterday I ran about 4 miles at Lake Chabot. This has become a favorite running place of mine. John and I go out there. I run out for 15 minutes and then back. Lots of hills so I'll be ready for the hill in Honolulu!
Received my first online donation!!! I was nervous that the website wasn't working, or worse yet, no one was going to donate money!
Today, the birth of my Blog!