January 10, 2009 - Video C

Chris and Jessie post-run thoughts.  Coming soon...more runner bios from Lena and Ashwin.  We will probably never get a bio for Brian up.

January 10, 2009 - Video B

Lena and Brian post-run thoughts.

January 10, 2009 - Video A

This is Lena before the run.

Th

Happy Hour and Hills

As people returned to DC, we had a pretty good week with Team-in-Training.  This past Thursday, a few of us met up with our captains and other runners at Rocket Bar for happy hour.

Brian, Ashwin, Brandon, Jessie,  and myself are part of Scott's team.  This is a picture of Scott  with a few of us.  Lena and Chris are on Captain Sarah's team.

Barry, another captain or coach just sent us an email today about another happy hour.  Under the WHY section he writes To quote a certain teammate of ours: "I like to run and all, but I like beer a lot more!"   I'm wondering if that was referencing one of us....

 

Saturday we had our 6 mile run.  It was a hilly, cold run along the Custis Trail and WOD Trail in Virginia. While Brandon and Shwin were away (we missed you guys - glad you're back!), Jessie and Chris ran a solid 8 minute pace while Lena, Brian, and I finished with a 9 minute pace.  Brian and I enjoyed the hills while the rest of the group didn't share the exact same sentiments.  Brian also won a fan out of Captain Sarah.....that was a joke.

After the run was the Honored Teammates' Picnic.  With food in our bellies, we listened to the three honored teammates about their battles with various blood cancers and how Team-in-Training has taken value in their lives today.  Here's a photo of one of the honored teammates who sat right next to us and whose two sons are absolutely adorable.  The picnic was great in that it reminded us once again why we're really running this marathon and raising money.  

I'll post a few videos on the next post.  I still haven't figure out how to do it on the same post.  I hope to see many of you at the Inaugural Ball on Saturday that our good friend and my old roommate Joey and Francesca are throwing to celebrate our new President Elect and to help raise money for our cause.  Happy Inauguration Week!

January 3, 2009

Here was my attempt to partake in some filming action this morning. Till next time~

Happy New Year - Helllooooo 2009!!

Hello Friends and Supporters,

     This is my first blogpost ever in life but here I go.  First of all, Happy New Year!  I think my number one resolution for the new year is to succeed in this marathon.  I was the lone ranger who met up with the Team-in-Training crew at the mall today.  Coach Charlie, Captain Scott, and others missed the "Group of 8 (that's really 7)" but I assured them everyone would be back next week.  Brian and Lena are in sunny Florida, Brandon is skiing in Montana/ Wyoming/ somewhere around there, Chris is in frigid Boston, and Jessie is down in Atlanta.  That left me and Ashwin in DC but Ashwin decided to run in the afternoon today.  So, I recruited my friend Erin to run with me this morning and it was actually my favorite run thus far.   Here's a quick pic of a Erin who is a great example of one of our many friends who are supporting us wholeheartedly.

The weather was a little chilly but perfect to run in, the city was sunny and beautiful, and running along the mall passing  the museums, monuments, reflection pool - it is truly breathtaking.  As a pretty longtime DC resident, you take the city for granted today but running today without tourists and school groups everywhere made it really enjoyable.  

Erin was also an awesome friend by proposing brilliantly to play the geography game while running.  I was impressed at how many places we named that began with the letter 'A.'  

I'm looking forward in having everyone back from holiday and upping the miles starting next week.  Thank you everyone for the support so far! xx.

How Bout Those New Shoes

Over the past week we've met several more team members as well as heard from some of our holiday travelers.

Now it's my turn as I'm off to Boston this evening for a few days to celebrate passing into the New Year (woooooo party). My ratty old running shoes are long gone and my new pair is taking up valuable carry on luggage space.



I'm hoping to get two training sessions in since I'll be missing our group run this coming Saturday although I'm thinking it may be a bit ambitious.

Last weekend a number of us got brand spankin new kicks but I've been hearing mixed reviews thus far. I took mine for a longer run over about 6 miles as a trial and while about halfway my feet were feeling a bit foreign, by the end things were pretty comfy.

Others haven't been so lucky. Both Brandon and Ashwin have come up against tight leg muscles and shin splints they weren't experiencing with their older shoes. We have varying theories on what might be the cause but I imagine a few more miles to break them in is all that's needed.

So aside from the obvious trial of running a marathon and the purging of aging running equipment, there a few smaller running related goals I have for the coming year.

One will actually be finishing well in my first competition of the year, as I'm joining my roommates in the half-marathon portion of the Shamrock Marathon in Virginia Beach this March. To make a strong time, I'm learning better pace myself during training. Also, as I'm writing this in Reagan airport staring at a McDonald's, I'm hoping that training for the marathon will help me eat better (Taco Bell excepted).

So, any goals for the New Year? Tips on breaking in new shoes? Eating tips? Feel free to share them below.

I'll try to update with some photos from running in Boston - in the meantime check out some of the photos from last weekend on our Flickr page - and I hope that everyone has a happy New Year!