we're truly amazing
At the karaoke social last night, I won tickets to a NY Yankees game. We LOVE door prizes! I told you we were lucky! :-) Although, I have to admit I'm not the biggest Yankee fan. I'd much rather cheer for the Red Sox or Astros, but it should be fun anyways just to go to Yankee stadium (a very NY thing to do while I'm actually a New Yorker).
And, over lunch today, we met with Michael -- the owner of a company called
NYC RUN. He's going to help us with our fundraising by donating proceeds from some ticket sales and special TNT runs this summer!!!! Very big deal and super super awesome. RUN NYC does guided running tours of the city for tourists and locals that just want to go for a run and see the places that we normally don't pay much attention to in our every day wandering about the city. Anyways....he was really cool and open to doing this with us (he already donates 10% of proceeds to St. Jude's), so we're really looking forward to working with him. It would be amazing for both Lindsay and I to exceed our fundraising goals!
tick tock...
So, yesterday we did "fast miles." OUCH.
One mile (E 90th St. to W 102nd St.) at our regular, relaxed pace, then stop. Turn around. Run back one mile at an increased effort level (deeper breathing, faster running...not quite a sprint, but faster than you would normally run). The run back is timed.
When you get back to the starting point...do it all over again. One easy mile, one timed fast mile.
I was ready to die. 4 miles total -- 2 regular, 2 fast.
At least I found running buddies in my pace group, so I wasn't tempted to cheat and stop running -- okay, I did walk a little on the last mile since they did, though. That's why my 2nd timed mile wasn't too great. I was dripping with sweat and my legs felt like jelly....who knew it was humid in NY? Not me.
At any rate, my first mile was 12 min 22 sec. Not that great, but not too shabby either. Speed Racer Lindsay did 8 minutes on her first mile and 7 on her second one. CRAZY. She's an athlete, though. The only sport I excelled at was tennis and running around a court isn't the same as running around a field! Well...I also only played on a team for 2 years, while she played in school all the way through college. So...I'm just happy I finished without giving up and/or dying. Looking forward to the social tonight. Should be a ton of fun. One of our training captains already has a "setlist" (yes...he said he has a setlist) picked out....and I've been told he does an awesome Springsteen (dance and all). Before that, though, Lindsay and I have a meeting with a potential fundraiser...it'll be awesome if he decides to participate, so keep your fingers crossed for us!
(p.s. that picture of the watch is the one I had to buy during my lunch break at work yesterday so I could time my miles. isn't it pretty? mine is actually more of an off-white/cream color with gold. Lindsay has the white with silver. I know....we're cute, right?)
Playing Catch-Up
So.....I fell off the wagon for a bit.
After last weekend's four mile run, we ventured out for a short run on Sunday that just about killed me. It had to be the hottest day of the year in New York...sweltering. I attempted to run about 2 miles, which killed me. I don't know really what went wrong, but we'll say it was the weather.
After that, I basically skipped a week of practice for various reasons.
So...today was the first time I have been out there in a week!!! Weather wasn't so great but at least it wasn't super hot...kind of rainy and humid. Just a tad bit more than 3 miles. Felt good.
Tomorrow, we have a "test" at practice....and WEDNESDAY....is our KARAOKE SOCIAL!!! If you know me at all, you know how excited I am. :-) I am my father's daughter. haha.
Update....Spanish Style
So...our coach (guapo #3342 up there) actually told us that it's a good idea to keep a running journal....I'm way ahead of you, Ramon!
So, today, I'll write like he did in his journal example....
Hola! I ran freaking FOUR miles today! Struggled a freaking lot but looked very cute in my running gear, at least.
Kim: 4 miles
Lindsay: 6 miles (overachiever!)
Effort Levels
So...Tuesday's workout was pretty rough on a lot of us for some reason. Maybe our bodies are still getting acclimated to this new warm weather we're having in New York (finally!), because we didn't increase our distance by too much but it felt like I added another 2 miles to my regular 3!
We worked on "effort levels" -- not fun. Basically, we have our normal pace which is the comfortable pace you would take on for your everyday running...but when you increase your effort level, you basically breathe a little deeper, run a little faster...push yourself to work a little bit harder. Perhaps that was another reason that so many of us were dying.
We ran the lower loop twice, which equals 3.4 miles. I got separated from the small group I was running with, so as I was nearing the end of my 2nd loop, I thought I was lost because the 2nd loop felt soooo much longer than the first one. I swore I did ran one more mile than I meant to! But alas....ran a few blocks more just to be sure and then, of course, I found them. I made it in time for most of the stretching session which was killer!
I also had to part ways with my spirit cape on Tuesday. Here are some pics of the finished product....
If you can't see the detail, Lindsay's artwork is at the top where it says "San FranFREAKINcisco" and I added "Ramon's Freakin' Counter" underneath it. We have fully taken on our head coach's language, so we thought it would be funny to put a counter on there to keep track of how many times he says "freaking" during our whole 5 months of training. I also added a picture of my mom to the left of it. YAY mom! You're famous! haha.
Running Machines!
Lots of running this weekend! Saturday was the Circle of Friends 10K race in Central Park, so that's where the majority of the ladies were for Saturday morning training. The rest of us had a 7:30am workout, which means that Kim slept through it of course! Too early for me! So...basically, I made my way to the reservoir around 8:30 and did 2 loops (3 miles) on my own and then managed to find the sea of runners doing the race. 10k is a little bit more than 6 miles, which is why I didn't run it....I haven't gotten to that distance in training yet, so that would've been pushing it.
Anyways....I was surprised I was able to pick the girls out of the crowd! When I found them, I proceeded to be their personal cheerleader, yelling encouragement from the sidelines. Go Lindsay!! :-)
On Sunday night, Lindsay and I met up again to run another 3 miles around the Reservoir. Since I had been lazy all day prior to that, I was definitely not in the best running mood. She had to push me to finish those 2 loops....I was ready to quit after the first half mile!
But, of course, we practically reversed that workout not to long afterwards. Strawberry margaritas at Cilantro and THEN a giant pizza back at my place while we watched the Mavs whoop on Miami. No bueno!
lindsay: 9 miles
kim: 6 miles
Teacher's Pet
So...Lindsay and I are embarrassing.
We like to think of ourselves at Teacher's Pets....haha.
Back at the info session at the end of April, I won a goodie bag for answering a trivia question.
At the kick-off, we sat in the 2nd row so we could be front-and-center for all the fun.
I got the spirit cape on Saturday.
THEN, tonight, Lindsay's webpage was used as an example at the fundraising clinic and this blog made a cute little appearance, as well. They left her site up for all to see for the last half hour of the clinic so everyone was treated to the sight of our faces on the giant projector screen (she has a pic of us on her page).
It's so fitting for us to be the overachievers since I think it's safe to say that we absolutely love TNT....like....if TNT had a cheerleading squad, we'd be the captains, for sure. HOW EMBARRASSING.
Spirit Cape!
So....our social captain, Elle, came up with this idea of a "spirit cape." Each marathon has its own spirit cape -- Nike/SF (the one Lindsay and I are doing), Chicago and NYC.
And, every week or so, these spirit capes are awarded to someone in our 150+ training group after being nominated by their mentor. We're broken up into even smaller groups of 5-10 people and each group has a mentor that serves as a group leader and their contact for TNT. If they feel so inclined, a mentor will nominate one of their group members that they feel deserve to recieve this honor for various reasons.
This past Saturday was the first day that these spirit capes were being awarded, and I happened to be the first Nike Marathon participant to recieve it!! :-)
It's such a huge honor and I was completely taken by surprise when I heard Elle talking about me and then eventually saying my name.
From her follow-up email:
SF NIKE Team:
Kim Arenas – Kim's mom, who lives in Texas, is currently getting treatments for blood cancer. She was diagnosed soon after Kim moved to NYC, so this is Kim's way of helping and staying connected with her mom despite the miles between them. As her mentor Jen said "she is so motivated, and such a good sport – she's amazing!"
I gave my mentor a big hug after I recieved it. She's such an awesome gal. I was truly touched, because when they were introducing me, they mentioned my motivation for doing this -- my mom. I truly do hope that I'm making her proud. Every mile that I finish is for her, and she's what is on my mind whenever I feel like I can't run another step.
And I can't thank all of you enough -- those that have already made such generous donations and those of you that are still waiting on that big paycheck (right??) or have said even just one prayer for my mom. I won't let y'all down. I'm doing this for all of y'all, too!
so....that was 3 miles on Saturday. Tomorrow is a fundraising clinic (Lindsay and I already have a few ideas up our sleeve for a fundraiser in the city) and then practice on Wednesday. By the end of this month, we'll be running 4-5 miles during our long runs on Saturdays!!! I'm actually looking forward to it. I must be nuts!
Oh...another thing about the spirit cape -- it gets passed around to a new person each time, so when we get it, we're supposed to decorate it in some way so that by the end of it all, it's covered in decorations from all the recipients. I'm working on it today and will post a picture of it as soon as I finish!
edit 9:08pm: met up with Lindsay at the Reservoir after work for a quick run. add another 3 miles onto to tally! :-)
