1/2 Marathon Mark

Hi Everyone! Hope you are enjoying the weekend! It was a cold one here in WI! To update you on my progress - I didn't run the rest of the week until yesterday. My knee was feeling good, and I was feeling almost back to "normal." (Am I ever normal?!) I was planning to run with the 1/2 marathoner group for the 9-mile group run on Saturday. Luckily the route was a loop around Lake Monona in Madison, and the 1/2 marathon group was taking the same route, but they were to be picked up at the 9-mile part. I ended up feeling good and ran the whole 13.25 mile loop! It was awesome to be running along John Nolen Drive towards the Sheritan (where we started) and look across the lake and say "we ran around that!"

The morning started out cold - there was a slight rain/snow mix falling, but luckily that stopped pretty quickly. Once I started running I wasn't cold at all - perfect for me! Anyway, this time I ran with 3 others and we did the run in intervals of 8-minutes running and 2-minutes walking. This was great because it gave my knee and joints time to recover. I felt great the whole time - I took 3 "gels/gu's" and wasn't starving or just pooped out towards the end. I honestly probably could have kept going - so that says a lot about how effective those lovely little shots of energy are!!

The run was just beautiful - I really did have a great time! I remember thinking about people that talked about getting a "running high" were crazy - I had always run in the past because it was "good for me" and exercising. Maybe it's the longer distances, or maybe it's the reason I'm running, but either way, I've been getting these "wow! I feel great" moments while running, and I'm becoming a total running geek!!

I was nervous after the run that my knees would start to hurt again, but now I know more of what I need to do to prevent it from happening - inflamation reducer pills, ice, and rest! We had a nutrition clinic before the run yesterday, which was really informative about what types of foods we should try to eat before, during and after runs, and in general. This running stuff is pretty intense! I have to say I sure didn't see how involved (and expensive!) this would become. But, I think I'm hooked, and I'm looking forward to continue running after this event!

Fundraising is going great - checks keep coming in (made out to the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society!) and online donations are still happening! Thank you all so much! It is so awesome to be part of this and be raising money for such a great cause. We just found out yesterday that a past team in training participant (who is also signed up and still planning to do a 100-mile bike ride in Lake Tahoe for Team in Training) just found out she has a brain tumor. And another past participant, who had fundraised and trained and ran in honor of their grandparent, lost their grandparent to cancer. It makes it all the more important why we need to keep working toward a cure - so thank you all again for your support!

I hope you all have a great week - and thanks for your interest and support!
Katie