A link to a couple pics

Here is a link to some pictures taken of me running at Nike. I swear I am going to write up a post of how the run was soon. This week has just been crazy!

Photographs!

I did it!! - Exactly 3 hours :)

Half Marathon - 2007 Results
FLEMING, KATHERINE
EMERYVILLE CA 94608

Overall - 7,339 (out of 12,196)

Bib - 14951

Final Time - 3:00:01

Class- F30-34

Age -30

Gender- F

classrank 1,282

sexrank 6,988

pace 0:13:44

5k 0:38:46

10k 1:24:37

15k 2:07:46

Link to Results
enter my bib number - 14951 - to see my results in a prettier format.

Introducing my mom

So last night I introduced my mother to the Daughters Grieving their Mothers grief group I attend weekly. I showed the group some photos (including the ones on this page and my fundraising page, as well as some of her as a child, on her wedding day, and us together the day before my college graduation).

I also showed the group some of her artwork which she had made for me - it is a beautiful collage/drawing/writing piece telling me to Seize the Day while angels watch over me. It was a piece of her work that I haven't looked at in years, and considering that it is now only 3 days until my run, it was perfect timing.

So here I am - seizing the day, running to honor those who are still fighting each day, and those who live on daily in our memories.

Tonight I am going to pick up my race packet at the Nike Expotique with my friend Sabrina & my sister in law Amber. Tomorrow is rest, Saturday is rest and the Team in Training Pasta Party, and then Sunday early (6:15am) is when I show up to run.

Running on a treadmill

So this morning when the alarm went off I was in such a deep sleep that I just couldn't get up. When I tried, I felt very sick to my stomach so I just laid back down. Luckily, I didn't have any plans this evening so Justin & I went to the gym where I ran on a treadmill for pretty much the first time. I have walked on a treadmill before but never ran. It is very different! First of all, I found that I tend to veer towards my left when running. When I was first starting out, I actually had to hold onto the rails so that I wouldn't run into them. I ran for 3 miles (37 minutes) - I was alternating between a 12:14min/mile pace and a 12:30min/mile pace. I felt really good that I was just able to do the 3 miles. Obviously, it is much shorter than my race (in 4 days!) but it was also not much of a problem for me to just go run that.

I was running in my race outfit which is pretty styling (sarcasm). Everyone in Team in Training has to wear the shirt they provide so that you can be identified on the course by staff. So the runner's all get a bright purple tank top which is pretty small. I ended up getting both the medium (which I thought was too small) so then I got the large. The large is just wider though, not longer which is really what I was looking for. So I am sticking with the medium tank top. I don't wear running shorts - instead I actually wear spandex pants which were intended for use in yoga. But they have worked for me so far in training, so they are what I am going to wear for the race.

I also tried these arch support pads which you wear over your sock. I am not sure that I am going to wear them for the race. I haven't been having any more symptoms of the plantar fasciitis, and they weren't very comfortable.

Monday night - taping clinic

So, I went to a taping clinic this evening at La Foot. Basically we learned some exercises to do to prevent common foot/knee injuries, types of shoes to look for, and then how to tape feet, ankles, & knees to prevent pain while running. I had them do a gait analyses on me and the good news is that they said my feet weren't all that messed up. So if I had shoes which had more torsion and vertical control I probably wouldn't have had any injuries (at least, not like I did). So that is really encouraging. My calves are really tight right now though and my left one hurts when I run. It isn't shin splints, just a inflammation of the calf muscle. They showed me a stretch I should be doing pretty much constantly.

Overall it was a pretty helpful clinic. I think we all wished it had been much earlier in the training season, since the race is in 5 days!

Independent Distillers fest

So, Saturday night Justin & I went to the Independent Distillers Festival in San Francisco. Basically it was 4.5 hours of tasting vodka, gin, bourbon, whiskey, tequila, etc. Not too conducive to running on Sunday, let me tell you. It was a lot of fun though. Sunday I didn't really have a hangover, but I did end up getting a migraine later in the day. So no exercise at all. Now, I am drinking nothing but water until the race. Only 6 more days!

Sleepy Katherine

So, all day Friday I was in Portland Oregon for work. I went straight from the airport (landed at 7pm) to a friend's house where we hung out until 1am. That meant I didn't get to sleep until 2am. Which meant that I did not get up in time to go to the mentor-led run at the Berkeley Marina which started at 8am. I haven't made a single mentor-led run, why start now, right? :) What I did do was go for a light run around noon. Course, it was sunny and hot then so it was a very short light run. It was just 2 miles just running in our neighborhood. But it was better than nothing.