HAPPY THANKGSIVING!

I still hate running, but now it is a definite fact that I cannot stand running by myself!

Wednesday Garrett and I got to the SFO airport nice and early for our 11:30am flight to Atlanta. I can't believe it was a total breeze to go through security! We were able to sit and have breakfast and still had to wait a bit to board our flight that ended up only being about 15 minutes delayed - can you believe that? The "biggest travel day of the year"?

Another bonus, we were seated in the middle of the plane in a 3 seater row... and the 3rd person didn't show up so Garrett and I got to spread out, it was so nice! I haven't done that in years... planes are always packed full these days. Again, isn't this supposed to be the day no seat on a plane is empty?? Weird, but great for us!

We landed at about 7:30pm in Atlanta and Garrett's cousin JJ picked us up and headed to Peachtree City to Grammy's house where some homemade chili was waiting for us. I forgot to mention the other bonus we received, Grammy's neighbors are out of town and offered their guest bedroom for us to stay in! I was also able to cancel our hotel reservations in time, yeah!

So back to training... Garrett & I set the alarm for 8:00am (mind you this is 5am SF time and we couldn't get to sleep until after 1am) and we snoozed a few times, but finally dragged our butts out into the 32 degree morning. Garrett, even if he tried to run slow which he didn't, wouldn't be able to keep pace with me, so he went off at his own pace to get in about 4 or 5 miles. I was going for a duration of 45 minutes so I took off and at 10 minutes stopped to do my warm up stretching. For some reason it was SO HARD to run this morning! It could be 1) that I was running alone and had no one to help me keep pace or motivate me to not walk to often or 2) I might have been a bit dehydrated from the long day of flying and not drinking enough water... or both, but it was not fun. My legs felt like they were lead weights, my breathing was really rough and on top of that I bruised the arch of my left foot yesterday! I'm going to blame Garrett only because usually most injuries are due to my lack of grace... a roll of duct tape was for some reason on the floor by the foot of our bed. We have a very high loft bed that we have to climb/slide down from and I slid right off and my arch landed hard right on the edge of the roll of duct tap - Ow!!! It hurt so bad and immediately I could see a bruise and it only got bigger as the day went on. Sigh... I just know all my injuries are going to be like falling off a curb, barstool ;) or landing on a roll of duct tape... no fancy running injuries here.

We cleaned up and went to next door to Grammy's for her famous cinnamon rolls and mimosas and JJ's (and Grammy's) egg strata..mmm... now we are watching Kristen and Grammy making her birthday cake. Yep Kristen is 30 today! And of course, making room for a big turkey dinner later today.

I hope everyone is having a wonderful Thanksgiving and safe travels!

Much Love,
Shelby

Wednesday Track Night - Now Tuesday Core Night

Due to Thanksgiving, we are meeting tonight, Tuesday, for a core workout at Sports Basement. I have a feeling I'm going to wish we were running instead.

In the spirit of Thanksgiving I'd like to thank everyone who continues to give me the encouragement I need to continue with this training. I still can't believe that I am winded after a lap and I'm supposed to reach 13 miles in less than 3 months! Big thank you's also go out to those of you who have already donated to my $2,000 fundraising, ALMOST half way there!!

To remind everyone what I am training for and where their donations are going, this week we were sent a story from veteran marathoner and one of our mentors, Andrea Beresford. We wish her mom well!

My mom just finished her 2nd course of chemo for CLL. Her first one was two years ago, and her spleen was down to her pubic bone, so it was time for more chemo. She's 83 years young, and did very well. All her hair fell out, and her new gray wig looks better then her own hair. Her eyelashes fell out and she learned how to apply fake ones. Her blood counts are CLL "normal", whatever that is, and she's vacationing in Florida for the winter. GO MOM!

Monday Buddy Run & the F-word

Alarm went off at 5am and the first word out of my mouth was F#*! Probably a bit premature for the season... But the sweetest thing was Garrett, half asleep mumbling: "proud of you baby...love you" :)

I met Annie and Mike up at Lake Merced and we did almost 2 miles. Still not running the whole time, I have to walk for a few seconds here and there to get my breathing under control. I'm still pretty proud! I just gotta keep on plugging away and in a month read this blog and laugh at how far I've gotten! ... i hope!

Saturday Run in Marin

Saturday morning we met up at the College of Marin. It was a bit chilly at 8:30am but going to be a beautiful sunny day... again! (we've been so spoiled and I'm not looking forward to the real winter days!)

We started with a 1/2 mile warm up and then stretching. After that we left in groups to head out on the course for our run. We could choose if we wanted to turn around at the mile mark, the 1.5 mark, 2 mile or 2.5 mile mark depending on our current level. Annie & I chose to turn around at the 1.5 mile mark to make it a total of 3 miles. I did pretty well... I had to walk every so often, but only for about 15 seconds here and there and kept a good, although slow, pace. My right foot was bothering me a bit so that was annoying. It started with the tips of my toes being a little numb, so I untied my shoes and retied them, thinking they might have been too tight. Then while running, the arch had a tight pain and the right edge had a dull pain. I talked to some of the coaches and it could be a couple of things: 1) if it happens again I should stop and mess with my laces, because you never know when they might be putting the slightest pressure on a specific nerve or 2) I sprained my ankle about 3 months ago, so it could be a little weak still and I need to strenghten my foot/ankle with stretches. It didn't bother me last Saturday, Monday or Wednesday so we'll see.

After the run and more stretching we all went up to Coach April's house on the hill for fruit, juice & pancake breakfast! Not only were the pancakes awesome as well as all the fresh fruit everyone brought, but the view was amazing. The whole patio and front of the house has a completely open view of Mt. Tam.

As the season goes on I hope to have more pictures of the team to show you. I am meeting a lot of great people, survivors, and team members who's friends or family are battling the disease. I am in awe of them and am glad that my own personal challenge is also helping to fight for such a great cause. Every little bit helps!! To donate, click here. Thank you Everyone!