Weekly Training Report-- 4 new legs running for the cause

Slightly cooler weather this week made for some nicer training runs. Wednesday was a very long day at work, and I had intended on meeting DRC for the group run that evening. But when I got home I realized I would feel too guilty leaving my dog, Lilo on her own again for a few more hours. So the choice was to run on my own and spend some quality time with my dog-- or meet the group for the training run... until I finally concluded on a third alternative and brought Lilo along for her first DRC group run. She loved the excitement and all the people, but once we hit the trails around the lake she only made it for 2 of the 4 mile distance before I decided to walk her the rest of the way. I take Lilo on short runs with me several times a week on Katy Trail, but I think the combination of the heat that night, and the slight hills on the trail took a little more out of her than expected. As soon as she started lagging behind I knew she needed a break. But at nearly 7 years old, Lilo is doing great and whether tolerating my long absences while I run, or joining me on shorter trips-- is a huge support of my marathon training efforts. So here's a shout out to you Lilo. Congrats on your first DRC group run!

For Saturdays long group run I joined the 10:30-11:00 pace group. With the heat and keeping health situations in check, I hadn't planned on running this pace so early in the season-- but it felt GREAT! I'm hoping I can stick with this group once we start increasing mileage. After the run a bunch of DRCers met for breakfast at the cafe upstairs. There were so many new people there I wanted to meet and talk to more, but at the same time I was exhausted!! One of my favorite things to do on Saturdays is wake up rediculously early, put in a really good run, and then coming back home and go to bed! So once I had my fill of french toast, that's exactly what I did!

You might have noticed that Texas Marathon Miles opened a little early-- this week only, sponsors from the Arizona or Oklahoma marathons can request Texas miles. All miles will open to everyone for sponsorship August 1st. I STILL can't believe we're already starting on marathon #3!! Thanks to all of you for your support!

On this week's schedule:

Monday- 2 miles/3 miles

Tuesday- 2 miles/REST

Wednesday- 2 miles/5 miles with group

Thursday- 2 miles/4 miles

Friday- 2 miles/REST

Saturday- 8 miles with group

Sunday- cross training day (aka-- long walk with Lilo and kickball game)

Team Sprinkles

I'll save my weekly training report post until tomorrow. But in the mean time I had to share the story of Team Sprinkles. Sprinkles is a gourmet cupcake shop in Dallas (also located in several other U.S. cities). I was excited to discover this given that I've always had a weakness for baked goods! So several months ago, I confessed my love of cupcakes to a friend and we met up at Sprinkles one day. Well, over time one idea led to another-- and more of our running friends wanted to join in on the Sprinkles outings...

This week our July-Summer Cherry meeting welcomed in our 100th Team Sprinkles member!! We now have officers (I share the responsibility of co-president with
Genevieve), which also include Secretaries (Pat and Sheila), Photographers
(Danielle), and Vice President of Marketing -- (Tamara) who worked on getting the
Sprinkles company to help sponsor us, use their artwork for our shirts, and give
us free cupcakes!!! Unbelievable what this has turned in to.

Group photo---

And- making a surprise appearance at the meeting, DRC Training program coordinator Chris (Oklahoma Mile 23 sponsor). The man who months ago had warned us, "Step away from the cupcakes!", has apparently since come over to the dark side. Especially confirmed when he forgot to pace himself and ate two Sprinkles cupcakes before the meeting even started. (Not recommended for beginners).
Happy cupcake consumers Ashley and Roxanne (Oklahoma Mile 14 Sponsor)---Genevieve (Oklahoma miles 6 and 13 sponsor) and I running the (ahem) 'business' portion of the meeting. (Oh yes, you'd be surprised the serious business management cupcakes can require).
Hari (Oklahoma Mile 1 Sponsor) and son Jay--

Secretaries Pat, Sheila and other members attending to meeting proceedings---Team photographer Danielle (Oklahoma Mile 25 sponsor), finding cupcakes are also useful for Chicago Marathon training---

And our special treat this meeting was a juggling performance put on by two of our more talented members Max and Denise (Oklahoma mile 3 sponsors)...

(Trying to post a video of the juggling act here, but having some downloading problems-- check back soon). :)

Just an update on one of the more fun ways I'm managing my carbohydrate intake training for the Texas Marathon!

Texas marathon miles open for sponsorship in just 1 week!!!! :) Don't miss out!

Off and running...

Week 1 of Texas marathon training down. So far things seem to be off to a great start. My weekday short runs are going well, and I'm starting to be able to pick up more distance again on my weekend runs. Last Saturday I did a lake loop (9.3 miles) with some friends that felt GREAT! It was the farthest I'd run since the Oklahoma marathon and physically and mentally it was fantastic.

I've been meaning to post pictures or videos of my Monday workouts because they are my favorites. Danielle drives down from the suburbs and joins me on an adventerous run through Uptown followed by a strength training workout that just about kills us every week! As much as I love getting in a few runs each week on my own to clear my head, there's nothing like having a great workout buddy. The miles definitely fly by more quickly and I usually end up running a little faster pace than I would on my own without even realizing it.

Today we took advantage of Danielle's Garmin and departed from my regular Katy Trail route. Our jaunt through local neighborhoods ended up in a beautiful little park and trail near my house I never even knew existed. Apparently I need to start bringing my camera on runs, I was sorry to miss capturing all that.

I'm counting down the days until Texas Marathon miles open. :) Can this be marathon #3 already???

On the schedule this week...
Monday- 2 miles / 3 miles
Tuesday- 2 miles / REST
Wednesday- 2 miles/ 4 miles
Thursday- 2 miles / 3 miles
Friday- 2 miles / REST
Saturday- 7 miles
Sunday- Cross training day

1st Group Run- Let's get this party started!

Saturday's first group run generated a lot of anticipation and excitement for all of us. Many commented on how it felt like the first day of school...new pace leaders, new groups, new friends. I was surprised how out of my 'Saturday morning group run routine' I'd gotten this summer. I thought I had managed to get myself and my gear together fairly well and left the house at 6am that morning feeling ready to go. When I was just a few miles away from Winfrey Point I'd realized the one thing I'd forgotten that morning...deoderant. Hmmm....now, there are probably several things I normally could get away with not having on a long group run, but for a first run with a new group in Dallas summer- I decided that deoderant shouldn't be one of them. Thank goodness for grocery stores that open early. :)

Once I made it to White Rock Lake it was already filled with excited runners and I ran around trying to snap as many pictures as quickly I could to catch some of the excitement.

Here's Danielle...eager to break into that baggie of Swedish Fish/Gummy Bear running fuel...

Amanda (Oklahoma Mile 24 sponsor)- jumping for joy at being back running and recovered from last season's hip injury...

Vicki (Oklahoma Mile 10 Sponsor) showing off her new water belt...

Roxanne- (Oklahoma Mile 14 Sponsor)- ready to start training for her FIRST full marathon this season. Roxanne is also competing in her first Olympic distance triathalon next weekend. (Yes, she is WonderWoman).

Me and Danielle- no, Danielle didn't grow- she's on tiptoes. There's still a 10 inch difference in our heights.
And here we have speedy pace leader Mark in what has turned out to be the most popular picture of the week...lol. (For those of you starting to wonder about DRC, yes- Mark is wearing shorts behind that sign.) But as one new runner (Michelle) put it... "Now there's a picture to get a girl running!"

And a few more running friends, Jay and mom Nirisha, Pat, and Jean....
Just a little of the morning chaos which ensued before we head out for a HOT, HOT, HOT, 6 miles on the trails.

And a hot run it was, and much too sunny for my liking-- but I did finish. Week 1 of training for Texas officially complete.

After the run I enjoyed a post-run Einstein's bagel breakfast with Vicki and Roxanne. (By the way-- Cinnamon Sugar Bagel with Honey Almond Schmear...highly recommended! :)

Week 2 Training Plan:

Sunday- Cross-training day (which for me will be an evening kick ball game with Team Sweedish Fish)

Monday- 3 miles

Tuesday- Rest Day

Wednesday- 4 miles

Thursday- 3 miles

Friday- Rest Day

Saturday- 7 miles

Just a few more weeks until Texas Marathon Miles officially open for sponsorship on August 1st. Make sure to mark your calendars in order to grab your favorite marathon mile number!!

Let the Texas Adventure Begin!

Who's ready to run a marathon in Texas??? Wednesday, July 8th marked the kickoff meeting for the Fall 2009 Training Season for the Dallas Running Club. This is the program that will officially prepare us for the Dallas White Rock Marathon on December 13, 2009.

To say this training program has generated some interest is a bit of an understatement. Program registration was capped at 450 participants, and demand far exceeded capacity. The kickoff meeting was packed with both new and returning runners ready for 23 weeks of running adventures.

Here are a few familiar faces in the crowd... James (Oklahoma training season pace leader and mile 18 sponsor), Paul, and Danielle (Oklahoma season training buddy and Mile 25 sponsor). You may remember Danielle also known as 'hypothermia girl' from last season. Well I'm glad to report that 'h.g.' seems to have hit her stride in Dallas summer weather and is halfway through training for the Chicago Marathon in October, along with James and Paul. Whether the 3 of these guys will be recovered from Chicago and ready to also run White Rock in December remains to be seen. I think they're taking things one marathon at a time for now. :)

Me helping out at the DRC Merchandise Table.

And a room full of eager runners.After the meeting, I ran a very hot 5 miles with Team Goldilocks (more on that story later) around White Rock Lake.

Training season Week 1:

Thursday- 3 miles

Friday- rest day

Saturday- 6 miles

Sunday- cross training

Summer Training Update

Happy 4th of July!!!

My favorite holiday-- and one of my favorite things to include in the day is participating in a race. Last year I was in Arizona for the 4th- and understandably finding races in Phoenix in July is pretty much impossible. However Dallas, with its' slightly more reasonable summer weather came through with the Independence Day 5k and 10k at White Rock Lake this morning. With nearly 900 participants-- this was a fantastic event. This was the goal race for the Couch to 5k Program I started working with earlier this summer. They all did an amazing job and many are excited to continue their new found love for running by participating in half marathon training programs this fall.

I volunteered at this morning's race rather than running it. Fortunately I think volunteering at DRC races might actually be more fun than running them-- although I am looking forward to racing again myself. I've been dealing with some nagging back problems for a while now and just started working on getting those resolved in the past few weeks. Now that my spine is lined up again-- probably for the first time in way too long-- my body is taking awhile to adjust to the new, correct allignment. This is proving to be a more involved process than I anticipated, but I am making progress. I'm slowly building back miles to my runs, although I still have quite a few to go to earn the donations for my 100 sponsored summer miles before September. But I'm confident I can get it done! :)

Texas marathon miles open for sponsorship in less than a month (August 1st) and I'm really getting excited. This Wednesday is the first meeting for the DRC fall training program, and fall training officially begins on Saturday. I'll be sure to bring along the video camera so you can meet the newest 'cast of characters' for the Texas Marathon training season!