Celebrating Obama, Supporting LLS [Update]

Saturday night some gracious friends (many, many, MANY thanks Joey and Fran) hosted an "Inaugural Ball" with proceeds from the door going to our fund raising efforts for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.

The mood was great, there were some seriously impressive dance moves on display late into the evening and the turnout was better than we could have imagined especially on such a chilly night.

The big guy made it:



Everyone was lookin sharp:



We filled the house:



We all want to extend a MASSIVE thank you to everyone that attended and to those that helped make the event such a success. While having a blast with the likeness of newly inducted President Obama looking on, you helped us raise more than $1,300 almost $1,500 for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society in one short evening.

More running updates and inspiration on the way. Until next time, enjoy the video below and as always, if you'd like to donate to our cause fund raising links are on the right side of the page.

Moment of Inspiration for a Frozen Day

"At that point, I knew what had happened. I knew my leg was broken pretty badly. And I knew I couldn't get up again. So I started crawling."

Courtesy of Jessie: the story of a high school runner who broke her leg in multiple places 45 feet from the finish line of the Ohio state cross country championship and still finished the race.

*I couldn't get the video to work, but I imagine it might be kind of brutal. Just a heads up.

...

What Markwardt saw in the video might not be visible to the rest of us. She saw a teenage girl who, a year earlier, watched the state meet from the stands and made a personal commitment to run in that race in her senior year. She saw a girl who fulfilled that commitment, and then, with a badly broken leg 45 feet from the finish line, had a choice: Finish, or don't finish.
To her, it was a no-brainer.

...

For the full story.

A Brief Introduction - Lena

Five things about Lena Feldman:

On joining Team in Training: I always considered running a marathon, but only wanted to do it if I had a great group and some live music to get me through. Although I'm not a huge country music fan, I definitely think it will be a good time!

On training habits: I like training the most in the mornings, but I find it easier training in the afternoons. In my headphones while I run I've got anything that will pump me up: Rihanna, JT, Fergie, Beyonce, Madonna... It just has to be fast-paced and fun!

On running experience: My longest run before this was a 10k. My biggest hurdle to training is my crazy schedule in the spring with classes, working, and internships... yikes!

On goals: Finishing in under five hours. It's my first marathon though, so as long as I cross the finish line, I'll be happy!

On stuffed animals: My favorite: Hyacinth. It's a ballerina hippo.

Lena will be spending much of her little free time figuring out how to beat Brian (see photo above) to the finish line and avoiding sneak attack signs of friendly affection (see photo below).

Saturday Round 2 - Georgetown

On a chilly but comfortable D.C. December morning, 6 out of 7 survived our second Saturday session with Team in Training, a four mile jaunt up the C&O Canal in Georgetown. Our seventh runner Jessie was out of town but likely ran faster and farther than the rest of us on her own.

The group, which all arrived in punctual manner after some late arrivals last week, started at the foot of M Street and headed West past the entrance to Georgetown University before doubling pack along the dirt path and finishing up at the Georgetown Running Company for a breakfast of bagels and hot chocolate.

As a group we were all extremely pleased with our efforts. Brandon and I led the group out with two others while the rest of the pack followed closely behind and finished with some gas left in the tank. One guy had running goggles on which I'm convinced give you super powers.

The highlight of the morning may have been our visit to the running store where most of us picked up some fresh kicks on discount. Dealing with some smelly bodies and feet the knowledgeable and patient staff watched us take strides to help us choose the perfect pair. My poor shoes were in particularly bad shape and have been abandoned (RIP) for the next generation of Nike.



According to our training schedule, we've all now completed a total of 17 miles over two weeks not counting any bonus work anyone might have done. Looking forward it seems like a meager distance, but the hard work has only just begun and the support and confidence of those around us has gotten us off to a strong start.

Some more things learned:

Use the potty before you leave the house. An early morning four miles in Georgetown on a muddy trail doesn't provide many options.

The city is a much different place in the early hours of a Saturday and is going to be a joy exploring over the coming months. An empty M Street is an oddly pleasing sight when it's typically jammed with cabs, shoppers and party goers in the evening.

Friday nights are going to be much more subdued as we move along. If this past one was any indication (minus two nameless individuals), they're going to involve a lot of chick flicks and Mario Kart:



Yea, Love Actually. Ashwin's fave.

For now, most of us are headed our separate ways for the holidays but will hopefully stay on course and reunite for our next Saturday session on January 3 ready for the step up into even more challenging distances.

Keep checking in, we'll have some outstanding video clips and more bio pages up shortly.

This is Marathon Running... There are Rules

There are several rules Team in Training institutes during their group running sessions. No iPods (tough break), no baby joggers (not a problem), and a required water bottle.

I'm wondering if the problem of finding a comfortable water carrying device could be solved by the Can Grenade.

Things got hectic this week but there is much more to come shortly including more bios, a potential Pre hair growing competition, our Saturday morning session in Georgetown and hopefully some info on our first fundraising event. Stay tuned and enjoy the stache.

More from our first Saturday

We are also working on creating a video diary series of our experience, but here are a few clips from this past saturday:

Let's go!


Ashwin's morning adventure


B. Lee's initial thoughts, waiting for the metro


We'll get our videos going - there's definitely more footage before the running, after the running and at our end 0f season soccer party. All in all, the first training session was positive for all of us. We had a great athlete's clinic for the first hour - learned the ins and outs of the great running products of Body Glide, Nip Guards, sexy running tights - and I know Brandon and I will be going shoe shopping this week! I will definitely be getting the free consultation from the physical therapist, but the one positive I will be taking from this first experience is that no matter how slow I was, I never quit. We have each other and its pretty beautiful. After the running, the seven of us headed to opened Union Jacks to watch some Premier League and at the end of our meal, no plate was left behind (read: we cleaned house on our meals). I'm looking forward to the rest of the trainings in December and our first group fund raising effort will be held at our friend's Christmas party on Saturday night (906 T Street).

Off We Go - First Saturday Team in Training Session

First of all, welcome. This is post number one to the "If Diddy Did It..." blog that will tell the story of seven friends (Ashwin, Brandon, Jessie, Brian, Lena, Crystal and Chris) training and fundraising for our first marathon.

What you'll find will hopefully be a regularly updated account of our training, fundraising efforts and thoughts along the way as we prepare for the Nashville Country Music Marathon on April 25, 2009t with a group from Team in Training.

For those that don't know, Team in Training is "the world's largest endurance sports training program" that raises funds in support of The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. The roots of Team in Training were established in 1988 when 38 runners raised $322,000 for the Westchester/Hudson Valley LLS Chapter.

So while we prepare our bodies to complete the marathon, we'll also each be working toward a fundraising goal of $3,000 (and hopefully more!) in support of an important cause. Team in Training provides a nice breakdown of where the funds for our running will go in the LLS's efforts to cure blood cancer.



Saturday morning at 8 AM, our group of seven fearless individuals turned out in Arlington for the first DC area Team in Training session for the spring marathon season. It was not warm. Six out of seven participants were late to the meeting. Most of us were very hungry.

Despite the adverse conditions, all of us finished our 5K timed run in under 30 minutes, with results ranging between 22 to 28 minutes. All in all, some strong first steps down the long road to 26.2 miles in April.

Training day number one taught us a few things:

The early wake up calls on Saturday are going to take some getting used to as well as more than a little self control on Friday nights usually reserved for some stress busting beverages after a long week of work or school. As the training gets more intense, a rested body is going to be crucial.

Grabbing a snack before a long run is vital. Banana, toast, something. For me, it ended up being some chocolate and caramel Chex Mix from the vending machine after I ran out the door empty handed. Being low on fuel or thinking about a growling stomach is going to make some already tough running that much more difficult.

We're going to make some great friends along the way. The group of strangers jogging through Arlington hours before we'd usually be awake on a Saturday were all enthusiastic, friendly and supportive.

That's all for now. Look for personal profiles on our runners in the coming weeks. Note: There are links to the fundraising pages for each of us on the sidebar of this site. If you're feeling inspired after reading about our training please contribute to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society through one of our donation pages.

Hopefully after runs we'll start seeing less of this




and more of this