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Wednesday, June 4, 2008

1st Track workout and letter stuffing

Thank you for your contribution!
Kathleen and Jesse Liebman

Training-
We had our first Track workout last night. It was great to see everyone again. Coach Jo ran the workout and it was really helpful. The very first thing that we did was play a little name game. It was super helpful to be reminded of everyone's name. I'm really starting to feel like we are a TEAM. The focus of the workout was running form and pace. We started off with a short warm-up and some active stretches. I'm not sure how effective my stretches were. I'm pretty flexible so when we do toy soldier(straight leg kicks while moving forward) I can pretty much kick my nose. I talked to Co Jo after the workout and I think that I'm going to try a combination of dynamic and static stretches as a warm-up.

After warming up, we had a chat about form and then ran a couple of laps thinking about form. It was interesting to see how differently I ran when I was thinking about form. I think that I'm going to have to start focusing on that on my own runs as well, especially on my push off. Rather than using all of my leg muscles to push of the ground, I've been running using my calves and my quads.

After our form laps, Co Jo split us up into groups based on the two mile time that we submitted last week. I ended up in a group with Likeable Laurie, Loony Lisa, and Awesome Ale. We are all at about a 10 minute mile over distance. Co Jo told us that we need to try to hit 2 minutes 30 seconds (our 1/4 mile time) exactly on our training laps. We ran 4 laps, stopping each time to see how we did. The first 2 laps we ran too fast, coming in about 7 seconds ahead of schedule both times. On our third lap we finally hit the time exactly. I think that it is because we figured out where we should be when we got half-way around the track and were better able to gauge from there. I was kind of surprised at how much I felt like I had to slow down, although I guess I need to go slower in order to run the full 13.1 miles in the half marathon. It was awesome to really get a feel for what would be an appropriate pace for me. I'm feeling better about it and I'm going to try to put some of that into practice this week.

We finished with another 1/2 mile, just thinking about form, and then a good team stretch and some snacks (left over from the letter stuffing party). It was really hot and humid, but I think that my body is starting to get a little more adjusted to the heat. I was hot and tired, but I tried my best to stay hydrated and I never felt like I was going to pass out. Yay for improvements.

I woke up this morning and my hamstrings are REALLY sore. I think that it comes from starting to use correct form and use those hamstrings while running. Bootcamp this morning has helped get rid of some of the soreness. I'm hoping that my group run this afternoon will help out even more.

Miles Completed- 24
Miles to Go- 228 (before September)

Fundraising-
I went over to Carol and Jim's house for the letter stuffing this past Monday. I don't think I realized how much I was stressing about the letters until I actually started to get them stuffed. It turns out that I was the only one there who actually needed to work on letters, everyone else was a mentor who showed up to help out. It worked out great for me because everyone helped me label and stuff my envelopes. I didn't end up stuffing all 100 because I had a bunch of partial or iffy addresses, but I got about 70 done at the party and I added probably another 10 after I got home and checked addresses. I've still got some more to research, but I should have the first 100 of my letters out this weekend. I'm going to turn them in at the training session and I know that I'll feel much better about the whole thing. I'm even hoping that I'll be able to qualify for the June fundraising incentive. If I can get $1000 raised in June, through my website, I'll get a $50 gas card. That would be wonderful. I would love to get through the first 1/4 of my fundraising by the end of June, and, it wouldn't hurt to get a gas card too. Tons of thanks to Carol, Jim, Beth, Rachel and Katie for all of their help. I couldn't (or maybe just wouldn't) have been able to do it without you. I feel so much more confident about my fundraising now that I have most of my letters done.

Funds Raised- $510
Funds Remaining- $3490

2 comments:

Unknown said...

dangity dang, this girl sure can run. Maybe its good genetics or whatever, but she's got it going on!

Liebs said...

I'm just trying to be live up to the example set by my little sister! She is the real runner!