After going to the office for 4 hours on Saturday I promptly went for a 10 mile walk with my friend Michelle! Crazy, I know, but it felt great. More importantly, I finished the 10 miles and didn't have any blisters on my feet and my knees felt great!! That's always a good feeling. I also kept my food in check during and after the walk.

On Sunday I did well with my calories but overall I did not have a good day. My very dear friend called me to tell me that she has been diagnosed with breast cancer that has spread to her bones already. I was in a state of shock and when I got off the phone with her I cried and then just laid on my bed curled up in a blanket and watched Hulu all day. My husband finally got me out of the bed and convinced me to play cards and eat some dinner. I just feel terrible for her and I don't know what to do to help. I'm going to ask my sister what I should say and do, I think she might be able to help.

On Monday I worked for 8 hours and got my CV updated for the new job that I'm applying for. After work the husband and I ate dinner at Costco because we are really pinching pennies and didn't have time to go home. After dinner we picked up a friend and went to the hospital to say hello to baby Audrey. She was born on Monday morning at 2:30 am and I got to see her at 6:15pm that same day. She is beautiful and I'm so excited to watch her parents grow in their love for her. Simply amazing!

Today I finished my cover letter and am still at work doing some tedious data entry. As you can see my emotions are on a roller coaster right now, I am so sad for Rachel but so incredibly happy for baby Audrey. It's crazy feeling so mixed up right now.

Monday, April 06, 2009

So, I'm walking in the Breast Cancer 3-day again and I'm super excited! I walked in 2006 and didn't quite get through every mile. This year, I'll make it the entire way and have more fun doing it! I've started my training and I think the most difficult part is going to be training for this and running a marathon at the same time, I need to strike a balance between walking and running although I think the running will help with my walking endurance.

Also, the more weight I can lose the easier the walk will be because I won't be carrying around so much excess weight. I hope to be down to at least 160 by then which will help a lot! So, here goes, I'm off for my afternoon walk/jog.

Half-Marathon Training

Okay, so, now with all of the updates out of the way here is what I really want to talk about: training. I am signed up for several events this fall that require lots of training. The first is a half-marathon. I'd like to complete the Long Beach half-marathon in 2 hours and 30 minutes. It took me 3 hours and 15 minutes to complete the Indy 500 mini. Terrible, I was basically hobbling over the finish line because I hadn't been training properly. This time I want to do it right. So, I am going to run 3 miles 3 days a week and have a long run on Saturday that starts with 4 miles and each week I'll increase the long run until it is 13 or 14 miles. I need to pay extra attention to my hips and knees to make sure that I don't have an injury flare up.

The second event that I am training for is the Breast Cancer 3-day in San Diego in November. In this event I will walk 60 miles over the course of three days. I'm very excited about it and am particularly happy that I won't have to do it alone this year. I'm not sure how to fit in the walking and running but I think that if I train for the half-marathon with a few long walking hikes thrown in I should be okay. I'll talk to the track coach about that to see if he has any advice. I really need to get some running shoes but am short on cash so I hope to get a few bucks for my birthday so that I can go to the running store. I also need walking shoes as well. Goodness, this is all so expensive!

My ultimate goal is to be in a place where people think of me when they are putting together a relay team, I'd like for my running friends to think "we need another team member, do you think Suzie would do it?" and not laugh :) I want to be a runner and while I will never be fast I want people to take my running seriously. Right now I often feel like they are thinking "yeah, right, she didn't really run a half-marathon!" Wow, that's pathetic! I doubt my friends think that at all, if they do they aren't very good friends.