It was supposed to be another 20 miler over the weekend but strong winds kept us inside. My walking buddy Carrie and I headed to the gym and hit the treadmills (those evil contraptions). I was worn out from the holidays and dehydrated for some reason so after 3.5 hours on the treadmill, I waved the white flag. I'm sure I got in somewhere between 14 and 16 miles...the treadmills at the gym restart every hour and I kept forgetting how far I had gone. The race is only 11 days away and we leave in just over a week for Disney World! I'm so excited. I feel like I'm well trained but I can't help but be a little nervous. I know I can do the distance but I want to get my PR so bad I can taste it! Whatever happens will happen. As long as I have a smart race, everything else is beyond my control at this point. I also hit 300 miles in my training this week!

(14 miles) Last weekend was the first 20 miler for this season. It started to snow at mile 11 and by mile 14 it was getting really slick. My wonderful support crew met me along the way and by the time mile 14 rolled by, I got word the roads were bad also. So wonderful Marcia drove me the 6 miles back to my car. As much as I really wanted to go home and get warm, I knew I still had 6 miles to go. So it was off to the gym. And reconfirmed how much I hate the treadmill!

Today was only 14 miles but it rained off and on the whole time so that wasn't much fun. But again, Marcia was my walking buddy and kept my mind from wandering. My pace has remained pretty steady during the past few weeks but I will need to pick it up on race day. My fingers are crossed that the weather cooperates and the temperatures stay down. After all this winter training, the heat will get to me for sure! Only 26 days!!!

15 miles) So after a sudden "light bulb" moment with a fellow marathoner, I realized that my "injury" really wasn't an injury after all. It was just a problem caused by my shoes so I switched back to an old pair and was able to get in 15 miles wihtout too much trouble. The only lingering side effect is a cranky toe. I have new shoes to try out this week and I will be aiming for 18 miles this Saturday. With that in mind I think I will enjoy a second piece of pumpkin pie on Thursday! Happy Thanksgiving everyone! The Society and myself are thankful for all of you that have donated and continue to support my training and this amazing cause!

(3 miles) I'm still at it! I had to take a rest week due to some nagging pain. Hopefully the week off will patch me back up and I can get back at it next weekend. I'm still trying to raise about $1,000 more and I know I can get there! A friend of the family has recently been diagnosed with a blood cancer and it just keeps fueling my fire! We WILL find a cure!

The Nike Women's Marathon last month in San Francisco was amazing! The whole team finished the race and it was amazing to see all of the TNT athletes. There were over 20,000 people in the race and over $18 million was raised! The TNT Pasta Party was incredible! Over 400 coaches and staff lined the "red carpet" to cheer for the more than 7800 athletes and their supporters. There were a lot of tears and smiles throughout the evening. It was really cold on race day but it was incredible. The last few miles were on the Great Highway which was the first time I've seen the "real" Pacific Ocean and not just a bay or sound. I don't know that I'd ever do the race myself...even though the medal is a Tiffany's Necklace...those hills are INSANE!!

It's been a chaotic few weeks! I did a roadblock fundraiser a few weekends ago so I have officially raised over $10,000 since I started my TNT journey 4 years ago. I am going to continue towards my goal of raising $4500 this time around and I am getting so close!! Thank you so much to everyone that has supported me and continues to support me! I've backed down in the mileage some to rest up for this weekend. The Nike Marathon in San Francisco is in just 5 days! I will be coaching over 20 people (mostly runners!!) so I am a little anxious but definately excited. We are going to have so much fun and from what I've heard, this race is even bigger than Disney. Disney usually has 2 seatings with about 2500 people at each for their Pasta Party the day before the race. Nike has one seating...but there were over 8000 people in one room last year. And we are all there for the same reason! I can't wait to share with you the grand total of how much the event will raise for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society once I get back to town next week!

(14 miles) It was an early morning (what was I thinking when I agreed to a 7 am start??) but the weather was PERFECT. I was only going to do 10 miles but it was so nice out and I was having a great conversation with another Disney participant that I just kept going. I'll be headed to San Francisco to coach the Nike Marathon in just 18 days!

(13.1 miles) Today was the New Albany 1/2 Marathon and I had a great race! I got a personal record of 3:18 (unofficial)! I was even faster for the second 1/2 of the race which means I'm improving with my starts. If I start slower and warm up, then I can have a faster average. My fastest mile was mile 11 and I did 14:12 which might be the fastest mile I've EVER done!

(12 miles) The weather was beautiful this morning for the group training! We had a few sprinkles but then the sun came out. It was only about 62 when we started. I wish we could order that kind of weather on race days! It was a good 12 miles and I did it in 2:50 which is a great pace for me but I was definately feeling it in the last mile. My goal is going to do the New Albany 1/2 marathon in 3:20, which will be a personal record at the 1/2 marathon distance.

(10 miles) I had a great training today despite climbing the hill at Highbanks twice. Though there is a mile loop that we all think is short, my best pace was a 14 minute mile. I even managed a 15 minute mile as I climbed that evil hill. The New Albany Walking classic is just 21 days and I'm really excited for it. It is a sold out race and should be a lot of fun. If someone told me 4 years ago that I would be this excited to walk 13.1 miles, I would have laughed.

(8 miles) It was good to get some miles in after not having a great training last weekend. I coached for 4 miles and then was able to get in another 4 miles at my race pace. I have the best walk trainers that help me out and they are now coaching me and will be in Orlando with me to push me along! It was really hot when I finished today and I'm over the heat! I'm ready for fall training! Only 27 days until the New Albany 1/2 Marathon and 139 days until the Disney Marathon!

I didn't get any training in today. I did hear that one of our team heros (honored patient or survivor) passed away last night. It is a sobering reminder that we still have a long way to go. There is a cure out there but the funding hasn't caught up so a clinical trial can be done to make those cures become a reality. This is why I'm going to keep fighting, keep training and keep fundraising! Please spread the word and pass along a link to this website to everyone you know!

(8 miles) I had to work yesterday and didn't get to train with the team but I headed out on my own today. The weather was amazing and I was feeling extra speedy. I maintained race pace for the whole 8 miles...I even had my fastest mile EVER: 14:48!! My mind wanders when I walk alone and I start to slow down so I really had to concentrate on what I was doing so its good practice to be able to get that pace on my own.

(7 miles) It was a great training day! The sun was intense this morning but the temperature and breeze were wonderful. We are busy recruiting for the winter season teams (which includes Disney!) so we had some new people at training. We also had people doing 14 miles so I did a lot short trips out and back. When we have Saturday trainings, I don't coach so those will be the days I will focus on my own training and pace. I'm staying pretty low in miles right now but will be doing a 1/2 marathon next month so I will start to build up some for that. The donations are still rolling in! Despite the thermometer, I have over $2000 already! Each day I get closer and closer to my goal and each day we get closer to a cure!

(7 miles) Despite having good weather, there weren't too many people at training this morning. I was able to focus on my own pace though and did 7 miles in 1:46:09 and I am very happy with that pace! At this point I wouldn't be able to maintain that pace for 26.2 miles, but I could probably do a half marathon at that pace so I'm headed in the right direction! 56 days until the New Albany Walking Classic 1/2 Marathon and 168 days until the Disney full marathon!

(7 miles) I coached this morning and I'm so proud of my current walkers! They are doing awesome and are so motivated! Once the 1/2 marathoners were done I headed back out to see if I could catch up with the full marathoners. I wasn't able to catch up (my full marathoners this season are all alumni and are SUPER fast walkers) so I ran back with some of the runners. Yes...the walk coach was running. It was only about a mile and a half but I'm paying the price now. I think I'll stick to the walking. I did manage to get in a 15 minute mile walking which is my goal pace for race day.

(2 miles + cross training) I didn't get much training in over the weekend. A bad sunburn (as in I'm boycotting Banana Boat Spray SPF 30) caused some issues but I'm back at it today. I start a new job tomorrow but I already have plans to make sure I still get my miles in this week while I adjust to the new work environment. Fundraising is going great! A lot of checks have come this week but they won't post online for at least another week. Thank you so much to my wonderful supporters!

(6 miles) We had a group training this morning. It was hot and humid and there is a BIG hill that many of us had to climb...some of us TWICE! But we all survived. I will be coaching the Nike Women's Marathon in San Francisco in October so I will be doing a lot of hill training this summer!

(4 miles) There was a group training tonight. We were worried about another round of storms that were rolling in but this is a hardcore group! It was 90 degrees and about 90% humidity. We were all pretty stanky but no one ever said marathoning was a glamourous sport! We did manage to beat the storm though!