The craziness that is my life...

WHEW! It's been a very eventful and busy few weeks...I'm not even sure where to begin! I'll start with the bad, so I can end on a positive note!

Long story short, the past few weeks I haven't been my usual up-beat and chipper self - my body is still doing the crazy things it was doing a few weeks back + some. I have been having some weird running "side effects" that I hadn't experienced before. Out of nowhere (during a run) my body turns ice cold, a wave of nausea and the "I'm gonna pass out feeling" comes over me. My breathing is not like it used to be - now it actually feels HARD to breathe when running, I have been experiencing very painful migraines that tend to last for a day or two, and last but not least insomnia. The sick feeling and headaches usually leave me dizzy and disoriented - which is nothing I have experienced before. At first I thought this was just my tired body telling me to slow down - oh no...not quite.

One afternoon Scott and I went for an easy 3 mile jog...nothing crazy...piece of cake, right? Ohhhh no. Around the 1.5 mile mark the sick feeling came at me full force, causing me to *GASP* walk. Just as I'm trying to shake the feeling, it happens. There I am, in front of someones cute 'lil house throwing up for a good 2 minutes. Uhhmmm....not normal! Thank goodness Scott was with me - I get so scared when stuff like that happens. The rest of the day was a blur - I had a terrible migraine and was weak as could be. I chalked it up to just having a bad day and onward I went...

Fast-forward to Friday. I was at work - again not feeling like myself. Despite it all I was pumping myself up for the 18 miler I was going to run in the morning. I decided to run it on my own instead of with the team, I needed to do this on my own to get myself back. That night I could not fall asleep...not even for an hour or two. It was now 1 am and I saw no signs of falling asleep. Not sure what got into me, but I decided to start my 18 mile run at 2:30 am...yes, you read that right. Surprisingly, it was a great run! Well, great until mile 15. It was actually REALLY nice to be outside when the rest of the world was sleeping. Very peaceful! I didn't see many cars on the road, except of course a police officer. He drove up behind me reeeeaaallly slowly - trying to figure out what in the world a person was doing outside at 3 am. I'm sure I was a big disappointment - no, I was not some rebellious teenager sneaking out of the house...just some crazy girl going for a run in the middle of the night. I think my reflectors gave it away :)

Then it all went down hill. Out of nowhere I felt like I had been kicked in the stomach 10 times over and felt like I was going to pass out. I was about 2 miles from home and turned around as quickly as I could! When I got home I made a b-line for the shower hoping it would calm me down a bit - no such luck. I have never felt so sick. I tried to sleep it off, but that only lasted an hour. I tried to make my way to the bathroom and came THIS close to collapsing onto the floor. My body turned to ice, but I was still sweating bullets and I'm pretty sure my eyes were rolling back into my head or so it felt. I yelled for someone to come help (I was at my parents), but they were both gone - I started to really panic. I honestly thought I was going to have heart failure right then and there. I called Scott - he was working and I didn't want him to leave because it's such a pain to get coverage and he was 30 minutes away. I mustered up the energy to make it back to my bed and waited for someone to get home. For the next 6 hours I was sick as a dog. Scary stuff.

After realizing that this was anything but normal, I decided I needed to see a Dr. After multiple attempts at drawing blood, they got a teeny tiny bit - good news...everything came back normal. Next Thursday I will go in for a stress test and see if anything else is up.

Tomorrow I am running 12 miles with the team (much better than the 19 I THOUGHT I had to do) - I am planning on taking it nice and easy! Wish me luck!

* This is not "long story short" as I promised...and in true dana fashion - very dramatic (Scott can vouch for that!)...I apologize!

Please (and I mean PLEAAASE!!), if you have not and would like to donate to this great cause you may do so by clicking on the link at the top right-hand corner of the blog. Fundraising has come to a stand still and I would LOVE to see that number go up ASAP! My deadline is September 25 - but I can take donations until the middle of November. Some very kind souls have passed my link on to friends - the offer still stands for anyone who hasn't and is willing!

Race day is in exactly 1 month!! Wooooo hoooo!

T-Minus 51 Days...

Can you believe it?? I surely can't! The big day is ALMOST here!! So exciting :)

Last Saturday 8/23 I ran my longest run yet - 15 miles! It was insane. After taking a 3-week hiatus I did pretty good! My only complaint is that the coach forgot water stops after mile 3.5 and I started to panic because I felt like I was going to pass out - around mile 8.5 I was in complete panic mode but happened to be running by the barber shop that my dad, Ross and Scott go to - so what did I do? Ran in of course declaring, "I'm Craig Weinstein's daughter, I 'm sorry to interrupt you...but can I PLEASE have some water?! I'll explain later!". Luckily Phil the barber loves all 3 of them and happily directed me to his mini fridge - thanks Phil! The last half of my run didn't go as smoothly, but that's expected. I started to hit a wall around mile 12-13 but pushed my way to the end. I am pretty pleased with the end result considering my "break" 3 weeks prior.

I have been experiencing a few mental road blocks, but I refuse to let them stand in my way. I am so excited for this race and how far I have come in my training - I can't wait to get out there and show everyone what I've got. Thank you to everyone who has been there for me - it really means the world to me to have such wonderful friends and family...brings a tear to my eye :)

By The Numbers...

Miles Run: Appx. 310 miles
Minutes Spent Running: 3,100 minutes
Hours Spent Running: 51.6

Wow! That's insane. Seeing that errr on the computer screen makes it seem so real! I am excited to see what my final total will be.

As of today, August 28th, I have 1,375 in my donation bank. I still have $2,485 left to raise by September 25th. If I can get 24 people to donate $100, or 48 people to donate $50, OR 96 people to donate $25, I will pretty much be at my goal! If you haven't (or have!) donated and would like to - I suggest that you do so by the September 25th deadline:) If you are willing - PLEASE pass my blog on to anyone you know who may be interested in supporting this great cause!

Thanks Again!

D

Quick Update!

Hey everyone - it's been A WHILE since I've posted anything - time for an update!

3 weeks ago I got injured - hurt my knee so badly I was limping around...even swimming put too much pressure on it...not a good thing when I have a marathon less than 2 months away! I have spent the last 3 weeks resting up and nursing my poor knee back to health. My body is spent - I am tired of running/sweating/blisters/energy gel etc. These past 3 weeks were spent doing a lot of "thinking" and psyching myself up for my last 2 months of training. I am physically and mentally exhausted as I have so much going on in life at the moment, but I refuse to give up...I have worked TOO hard for this. So, as you can probably imagine going from 30+ miles a week to 0 for 3 weeks did a number on me. Last Monday was my first day back and it was miserable! Since I haven't been training I decided to ease into it and walked 1 mile/ran 2. Well, it was anything but enjoyable. I almost passed out at the very end of the run, I was huffing and puffing and sweating BUCKETS. Luckily, I was pretty much home when I started to feel sick and was able to calm myself down. It was not an empowering run to say the least. I knew it would take me a few days to feel like myself out there again so I refused to get down about it. Yesterday I hydrated properly, ate well and had a fantastic 4 mile run!

I am starting to feel the pressure and for a short time I was letting it get to me - I have come too far to hold myself back. As of yesterday I have 2 MONTHS to prepare for this race and I plan on giving it my ALL.

Tonight I have a nutrition clinic with my team followed by a short run - I am hoping I get lots of good ideas tonight - I am officially back in marathon mode, BABY!

Tomorrow I am heading over to Marathon Sports to replace my shoes (and maybe a cute running outfit...or two!) - they say you are supposed to replace them every 300 miles, depending on the person. I am just under 200 miles so far, but I am certain my knee pain has something to do with some worn out sneaks - time to upgrade! I am hoping it will help with the knee and relieve some of the lower back pain that came out of no where.

I *think* my run on Saturday is a 16 miler....ugh...crazy! I will be sure to update you on how that goes and I promise to be more consistent with my posts!

And the begging begins....:)

I have around $2700 left to raise by race day...that's A LOT! I'm asking for your help in getting there! We can do this! Any little bit helps. Please pass my information on if you know of anyone who would be interested in supporting this wonderful cause!

If you would like to donate on-line, you may do so by clicking the link at the top right-hand corner of my blog.

Thanks Again!

xxo D

I was TESTED!

And it wasn't pretty. Yesterday was our 12 mile team run in Grafton - I was all ready to go, just the usual early morning wake up that leaves me dragging - something I usually snap out of, apparently not yesterday. I have no idea what got into me, but I just felt like I couldn't do it. My body felt like rubber and wasn't in sync - terrible combination. Kristina and I both weren't into it and at mile 3 decided we'd had enough. As we approached our first water stop, I saw coach and Annelle (our mentor) shaking their heads at us, "I'm just done, I'm having a bad day and I just want to stop". They weren't having it. They wouldn't let us hop in the back of the jeep and call it a day. I was NOT happy to say the least. Yes, I will admit - I am was being lazy and making excuses and when I have my mind set it's hard to change it. I was PISSED to say the least. Thankfully they didn't let me give up. I set small goals for myself throughout the run and I am proud to report I DID finish. It wasn't all pretty, but I got it done. It really wasn't until mile 8 that I decided to finish the entire thing (coach said he'd come by every 2 miles and if I really felt like stopping he'd pick me up, of course he didn't end up checking on me because he knew I could do it!), of course at that point I was in a lot of pain - something I hadn't experienced 'til now. It wasn't muscle pain - all joint pain. My hips were SO sore. So sore that if I stopped for a water break, I was in tears when I started to run again.

All in all, it was a tough run but a very necessary one. I was miserable and MAD pretty much throughout the whole thing, but it was a lesson that will help me get through the tough times.

This week I plan on following the schedule to a T. I made a pact with Kristina that we'd work hard/push each other this week. Starting tomorrow morning (Monday) with a nice run at 6 am, can't wait for that! :)

It's been a few weeks since I've sent out my blog and fundraising link - fundraising has plateaued a bit and I'm hoping we can work on that this week! Does anyone work for a company that matches donations? Or knows someone who does? It's very easy - All you need to do is fill out the paper work (which I'd be HAPPY to do) and they will match my total (usually $1,000). It's very easy on your end and would be a HUGE help in my fundraising efforts! If anyone would be willing to help me out please e-mail me at danarunsnike@gmail.com.

If you would like to donate on-line, you may do so by clicking on the link at the top right-hand corner or my blog. Thank you all so much for your words of encouragement! This is a tough time in the training process - I need all of the motivation I can get!

xxo D

7/22/08

Wahhh...not my best day. I was SO tired after work all I wanted to do was nap but I had promised Kristina I'd run with her...what was I thinking?! Today was a bit rough so my goal was to get out of the house and be active. We got a mile into our run and decided to walk the rest...I know I know, I swear it's the first time! Eating on the other hand? BAD BAD BAD.

B: Starbucks Banana Chocolate smoothie (it's only got 250 cals and has a bunch of protein, didn't feel so bad!)
L: Small wheat/garlic baguette slices topped with rotisserie chicken, watermelon and a glass of milk
D: (this is where is gets bad...) 1/2 potato w/ a little veggie chicken pot pie. WW club crackers and late night macaroni and cheese (eeeek, at least it was whole grain!)

11 Miles & A New Agenda...

Hola! A few days late on my weekly post, I apologize! I had a pretty good week last week - 2 strength training workouts (upper/lower body), treadmill workout (blech!) and a nice 5-miler around n-boro. Saturday was our 11 mile team run - it was STEAMY! One thing about living in New England that sucks is the weather. It's never dry heat, theres always gotta be some humidity thrown in there.

I have a new way of tackling long runs. I only "start" the run when I get to the half-way point. For example, last Saturday I kept telling myself the first 5.5 miles was a "warm-up". Once I reached the half-way point, even though I was VERY sweaty and tired, I told myself what's another 5.5 miles? It sounds weird I know...but it works! Granted by mile 9 I was on the verge of tears - my hip flexor was pretty close to cracking in half I think. Thank goodness for Kristina, once we reached the top of the North St. hill I let out a little cry (a noise, whatever you want to call it), basically letting her know I was about to throw in the towel. At that point we had less than a mile and she wasn't letting me give in. This is the point in any run where you are pretty oblivious to everything around you (pretty sure I almost got hit by a car...or a side view mirror), look like you are going to drop dead and/or throw up. Kristina could see I was struggling and brought up "sam's girl". Every week we have a dedication and person we run for - Saturday it was for "sam's girl". Sam is a med student working in pediatrics, one of his patients was a little girl who had Leukemia - she hated being cooped up in the hospital while all of her friends were free to enjoy summer, in turn she was not fond of any of her Dr's...except for Sam. She would light up when Sam was around, making him pictures, one of which said "my favorite dr!". Dr's had hope for her, but she took a turn for the worst and passed away a few weeks back.
So, as I was in my moment of panic Kristina looked over to me and says "sam's girl, dana"...without hesitation I yelled "SAM'S GIRL" right back. As I said it tears filled my eyes. The least I could do was finish strong for this little girl who went through more pain than I'm sure I will ever experience in my lifetime.
Those last 2 minutes of my run were definitely the most meaningful. K and I began singing "Sweet Caroline" at the top of our lungs while doing a little dance (more like flailing our arms). I'm sure everyone who saw us thought we were insane and that was OK. 11 miles down, baby!

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Now, don't get my wrong, I am VERY happy with the effort I have been putting into this, but in true Dana fashion, I can always find something to criticize (haha!). Now that my workouts are improving, my next area of business is eating. I am still enjoying big delicious dinners, most of which come within hours of my long runs, and the occasional trip to Bedford Farms for homemade ice cream after work. All of which is fine as long as I am consistent with my HEALTHY eating. Sooo...for the next few weeks I am planning on updating DAILY with my workout and eating plan. I am hoping this will keep me somewhat accountable knowing everyone will see it. For the past week I have done my best to cut out processed foods and focus on eating "clean". Please feel free to yell at me if I begin to stray :)

JULY 21, 2008

WORKOUT: Goal was to work on my speed, so I broke my 4 miles in half.
2 miles hard on TM - took me 17 minutes.
20 mins. upper body
2 miles "easy" on TM - took me 20 minutes.

FOOD
B: 1/2 dry oatmeal, 1 tsp. brown sugar, 1/4 cup milk & 3/4 cup fresh blueberries
L: Trader Joe's Roasted Veggie Enchilada (spinach, mushrooms)
S: Banana
D: Rotisserie chicken, 1 cup WW pasta w/ chopped pepper, onion, cherry tomatoes, kalamata olives, cucumber, feta drizzled w/ olive oil, (and this is where I became weak) 1 cup of "mexican shells".

Land of DOUBLE DIGITS!

I can't believe it, I am pretty much halfway done with training...insanity! Yesterday marked my entry into double digits...pretty scary but very exciting!:)


I did my best to make up for my bad week prior, but recently I've been feeling like something always gets in my way.


I was definitely feeling my slump during my 1st run of the week, but refused to stop or give in to to the heavy breathing and soreness. I never realized how competitive I am with MYSELF. It's actually a little ridiculous. If I don't perform consistently, I get so down on myself. If I don't run fast enough, or meet my goals I can't let it go. After our team run yesterday this came up. I was chatting with Byron, one of our mentors. I was asking how his first marathon went and if it was a total disaster (to which he replied "yes") and what advice he had for me. He said the mistake he made was over-training - he will never again follow the training schedule to a "T", because it was just too much. I can totally relate to this. Pretty much from week 1 I haven't followed the schedule, and was a little ashamed to admit it. Now, not so much. I always want to do more than is asked, something that is good for most everything except training for a big race. I guess that is my lesson of the week. My over-all goal is to FINISH the race, throw the desired times out the window. I am leaving it at that before I start over-analyzing :)


Yesterday I finished 10 miles. It was definitely a milestone:) We had water stops every two miles beginning at mile 3, and I swear that is what got me through! Once it was over, this wave of emotion came over me...10 miles is one of the many milestones I will reach, and damn it feels GOOD!

No specific goals for the week, just wanna keep on keepin' on as they say...

I am SO happy to report that as of today, July 14th, I have raised $1225!! It wouldn't have happened without your love and support...thank you all!!

If you haven't (or have!) donated and would like to, you may do so by clicking on the link in the top right-hand corner of my blog. THANKS AGAIN!

xxo D