no pain, no gain

For temporary foot pain relief i made a small but valuable investment in some new sneaker insoles. They're priced anywhere between $11 and $24 and i picked mine up at the CVS near my apartment.

The inside of shoes (especially for people running 25, 30, 40, miles per week) can breakdown way before the outsides have seen any wear and tear at all. Your shoes might still look brand spanking new but the support and cushion are kaput. back, hip and foot pain are clear signs it's time to replace. New shoes are the best option, however, for this city girl on a budget i have to squeeze a few more miles out of my kicks before getting a new pair. i went with recessionista plan A and hit the foot care isle at the pharmacy.

I usually try to buy the store brand versions of products but when it comes to my face and my feet i stick with trusted name brands. Dr. Scholls makes replacement insoles specifically designed for athletes with their trademark "gellin" in all the right places as well as added arch and shock support. i swapped out the old for the new and hit the pavement.

Germaine was coming in for the weekend to play nurse and take care of me during wisdom teeth recovery. (she's the best) in the event i planned last nights workout around picking her up at the train station.

warming up from 92nd and 3rd avenue to 92nd and 5th i then headed to the 72nd street transverse to cut across the park to Central Park West. From there i did a quick loop around Columbus Circle and then continued south down 8th avenue to 31st street.

going down 8th avenue at midtown was a BAD IDEA. lesson learned, i shouldve taken 9th ave but i was worried about being on time. i probably wouldve saved time in the long run (ha ha) cutting out slowpoke tourist traffic but i was just so excited!

during my run i barely realized it was a thousand degrees because i felt like i was running on clouds! The new insoles make a big difference in my stride and comfort. new shoes to come soon but until then i wont be risking injury.

headed to the oral surgeon now, fingers crossed for an easy procedure and quick recovery!

30% chance of rain

im really glad that the 30% chance of rain waited until i went out for my run to prove itself. it literally poured from the minute i left my apartment until i got back home from my workout. at least i got to test out my new waterproof jacket. uhh... it works!

i did a quick easy and very wet 3 yesterday before heading to the TNT summer social at the park. the restaurant is beautiful! definitely a place i plan to hit up again for dinner or drinks.

thankfully the weather cleared up and the sun came out just as i arrived! i met up with my girlfriend jennie at the party. (shes run/walking the nike 1/2 marathon) we didnt do a very good job mingling with our other teammates. we just gossiped and caught up with eachothers lives for most of the evening. new friend kristin that i met at tuesdays practice did come later in the night with her roommate, [fill in the blank i cant remember her name]. the four of us sat and chatted for a while. i think that counts as getting to know your teammates, right?

the party was still going strong around 11 but by that time this old lady decided it was time to peace out.

working, lunching with erbear, long run scheduled later this afternoon and then picking up mama at the train station! woohoo! teeth out tomorrow morning. boo.

"todays practice is going to suck"

and it did! not because it was a terribly long or hard workout but because it was humid as hell and a quarter of the way through i got my first major side splitting cramp of my running career.

i asked coach ramon for his best cramp advice and he gave me 2 options to try.

option 1; run with your arms in the air. i DO NOT recommend this. not only to you look retarded but it makes it so hard to keep running and it just doesnt work.

option 2; jab your fingers as hard as you can into the cramp and exhale with force until the cramp is relieved. winner! you can do this while maintaining your pace, you dont look as stupid and the best part, it works!

once the cramp was gone the rest of my workout was smooth sailing... er, running... it was nice to finally run with the team. i wish the wisdom teeth werent coming out on friday. i would have loved to participate in the clinic and two races scheduled for the weekend. oh well, next time!

all four wisdom teeth come out friday morning. germaine is coming into the city tomorrow night to take care of me for the weekend. fingers crossed everything will go well with the extractions and i dont die! ay, please keep me in your thoughts and prayers. im very nervous about the whole thing.

tonight is our all team summer social at the park. it will be nice to mingle with other teammates and start to get to know a brand new circle of city friends.

now hopefully the rain holds off again today at least until after the social. im soo tired of carrying my raincoat everywhere and having giant 80s hair! there's a 30% chance of rain, low, but still a chance, ugh!

"rain never hurt a runner... but lightening might!"

fortunately there was no lightening last night and although my run was soggy id say it was refreshing!

last nights workout: run to park (approx .5 mi) 2 times around lower bridle loop (1.66m each/ 3.32mi total) run home. workout total 4.32mi! a nice easy run but my feet KILL today! time for new shoes!

team practice tonight. we're doing 2 lower loops of the park weather permitting. and according to weather.com's forecast, so far so good! starting this week we are working on our effort levels aka figuring out how much we can challenge and how much we should challenge ourselves during workouts. this week E2 and E3.

sending out more letters today. hopefully the donations will start coming in soon!

on your mark, get set...!

ive never been much of a "blogger" but after setting marathon dreams and then getting the opportunity to run one, i figured "hey why not take my friends and family along for the ride?" with that being said, dont worry, you wont have take part in any of the actual running (unless of course you want too!)

this website was set up to let you track my training and fundraising progress, feel my pain and suffering and the highs and lows along the way and of course cheer me and my fellow teammates on to the finish line!

now about those teammates... if you havent received a letter from me in the mail or your inbox yet, expect one soon! i am running the nike women's marathon on october 18th in san fransicso as a team member of the leukemia and lymphoma society's team in training. this dedicated group of individuals is on a mission to raise money and find a cure of blood cancers. team in training has raised millions of dollars over the years to put up a tough fight against these diseases and its not over yet.

i hope that you will join in the fight and support our efforts. there are several ways to make a donation but the easiest way is online. you can visit my fundraising page and click on the "donate now" icon on the right hand side of the page to get started! there is no such thing as a small donation. every penny, nickel, dime at quarter are appreciated and pushes us one stride closer to a cure!

alright enough blabbing its time to start RUNNING! i hope you check back often!

xx, ao