March 15--Recommittment Day

Did you know that it is pitch dark at 5:30 AM? Did you know you can get from Hollywood to Santa Monica in 20 minutes at 6:30 in the morning on a Saturday? I DO! I managed to get to Santa Monica on time and without getting lost, 2 major accomplishments.

All of the Train to End Stroke teams met at Clover Park in Santa Monica for a big celebration for recommitting to the training program and reaching the individual fundraising goal of $525, (25% of the total fundraising goal).

Training this week had not been good simply because I was super busy with work and didn't have time to do a lot of long walks. I did about a mile on the treadmill at the gym, then did about 2 miles of walking/jogging on Thursday. So I was a little worried about Saturday. I even did the unthinkable and didn't have any beers on Friday night ::gasp:: Didn't help much with training, however :). But I did make it through all 7 miles at a 16.2 minute pace (why am I stuck on 16.2 minute pacing?????) and didn't die, so that's a plus. We were promised ocean views, and we got about a mile along the ocean. If I was training for a full marathon, I would have run from Santa Monica to Venice and back. But that's just crazy talk. But as we hit the ocean, I thought it looked strangely familiar. Even though I didn't take my camera, I can show you EXACTLY what it looked like:


I did not wear my short shorts, however. Having maintained a firm "Avoid the Westside like the plague" stance in my 10 years in LA, I had no idea that Santa Monica was hilly. But it is, apparently, including the last hill from the ocean back to the park that was straight up evil. EVIL! Oh, and I will quit complaining about Griffith Park and the Los Feliz Loop, because it is MUCH nicer to train in a park than to run through neighborhoods, avoiding cars and bicyclists and curbs and trees, etc. We are totally spoiled training in Griffith Park, where runners have the right of way, there's a big run/bike path, and no stop signs or lights every block.

Accomplishments this week:

Met 25% fundraising goal (THANKS EVERYONE!) Now at 50% of my goal.
Did 2 days of training during the week
Got a new, smaller MP3 player
Actually figured out how to work said MP3 player
Did all 7 miles of training
Discovered where they filmed the opening of Three's Company
Recovered quickly on Sunday--minimal soreness

GOALS for this week:

Faster, Faster, Schnell, Schnell! (Get under 15 minute mile)
Work on endurance/do longer training. I seriously hit a wall at 5 miles and want to kill myself, so I need to focus on longer training
Less beer/More calcium (since I feel a cold coming on, maybe this won't be hard. OTOH, St. Patrick's Day)
Train 3-4x