Family Fob Time!

Teenage FOBS. They are very different than American teenagers. Considering this was their (my high schooler cousins) first trip to the states, they sure seemed unimpressed. They were quiet, tired, and uninterested. Or maybe they were just holding it all in? Who knows, but some strong prozac seemed in order!

I am not used to family time or extended family time. My parents have been in Korea for a while, my sister and bro are in Northern Cali, and I only have two cousins in the LA area, one of which I never see anyway. The chaos, confusion, boredom, exhaustion, and activities really took a toll. We were wiped out each night and went to sleep literally at 9pm, woke up the next day at 7am, and were out the door to our next activity by 9-10am.  We managed to see enough: Chinatown, the bridge, museum, Union Square, bike riding near the bridge, Berkeley Campus, Telegraph...

 We saw the Exploratorium... they were not impressed.

 We saw the Golden Gate Bridge... they were semi-impressed?

Mostly this last week/weekend taught me that although the annoyances run high the inconvenience is short-lived compared to the memory of it all.  

15.5 Miles...

Oh. Em. Gee. I ran 15.5 miles on Sunday and let me tell you, it was not fun. It was the first time different parts of my body screamed and ached and begged for me to stop. Especially my damn big toes. Stupid calluses! It used to be only on my left toe, but it's now on my right as well. My neck was even hurting, and the pain in my left calf returned, and went all the way up to my hamstring.

I haven't been this sore in a long time, but I guess that's what happens the further you run. My goal was actually to run 16 miles, but I really had to stop after 15.5. I was close, but the 1/2 mile to get to 16 might as well have been an entire marathon. It was my hardest run ever and I've never pushed myself this hard. I ran it in 2 hours 20 minutes and burned over 1300 calories. When I take a step back and really think about how long I was running for, it's a little shocking, but then imagining adding 2-3 more hours to that makes my palms sweat just thinking about it. Thinking about how dead tired I was afterward, and then realizing that's just a teeny bit over half the marathon scares me. My goal is to finish the entire marathon in under 5 hours. I'm not one of those people who say, "I'll just walk it here and there." I want to jog the entire thing! We'll see what ends up happening...

I wore my new shoes - Mizuno running shoes I got from Run With Us in Pasadena last week and they're a lot better than my Nikes, but my feet still hurt. I guess I wasn't expecting a miracle, but I was definitely expecting my feet to hurt less. Contemplating returning it, but after the 10th mile, I figure my feet will hurt anyway, right?

Each week, I dread my runs more and more b/c I know how hard it's going to be mentally and physically. But then I think about the charity that I'm doing this for and how there are millions of people who can't walk or run or even exercise for that matter, and it keeps me going and shuts me up.

Marathon TIme!

Yes, I'm taking the plunge and doing it. I've been running steadily for about 2 years now, and what greater challenge is there than a marathon? Plus I want to raise money for the American Cancer Society and make it my first really good deed in 2010. (Although I went to a Haiti benefit concert last week - tickets were $100) My dad had colon cancer a few years back and I decided to run for the ACS because of it.

Tangent - I've always been so afraid of cancer (hence I quit smoking RIGHT before I found out my dad had cancer ironically!) and the fact that someone I knew actually had it scared me so much. I hear from so many people how cancer is such an ugly disease that takes over your body and mind slow and cruel path to death. I know there's all kinds of cancer, but let's face it, there's no "good" cancer. I'm praying for all my friends and for Dan to really consider quitting smoking. Please please~! Let this be the year! I am lucky. My friends are all healthy, their parents are healthy, and I can't say I have really known anyone personally who has suffered terribly from cancer or died from it.

Back to Marathon Time... as far as training goes, I think I am doing pretty well. Even though I'm only really training once a week, I feel good. I think a big part of it is really mental. The only thing I'm afraid of is injuring myself during the run and not being able to run the whole way. I would like to finish the marathon in under 5 hours. Right now I am running 6.5 miles per 60 minutes, so as long as I keep up that pace, I think I can do it. My injuries up until this point have been my feet. I didn't realize you have to get shoes one size bigger b/c of swelling, so I went out last week and bought new shoes (Izuna - I think that's what it's called). I haven't been able to test it out yet as it was raining all day today, but I will definitely report tomorrow when I go out on a long run.

If you feel compelled to donate, please do so! Every bit counts in finding a cure for cancer!! Thanks!

http://main.acsevents.org/site/TR/DetermiNation/DNFY10National?px=13960024&pg=personal&fr_id=25744