Great news - I am going to New York this weekend for work. I am attending the G'Day USA New York Gala on Friday night and working from the NY office on Monday. All very exciting but for the fact that this means that I can not run my scheduled 18 miles with the Roadrunners in LA on Saturday morning.
18 miles by myself is a very daunting task. Just as well my faithful running partner, and fellow Running Back, Danielle has agreed to run with me.
So tomorrow afternoon we will set out for a casual 18 mile run through the streets of Santa Monica, Venice and Marina Del Mar. It should take us just under 3.5 hours.
So if you spot the two of us tomorrow on the streets, delirous and exhausted, please stop and offer us ride home, or at least a glass of water.
Will update you once we are done.
Thanks to everyone for the contributions to our cause. Michelle's treatment is going really well and it helps both of us to know that you are all in our corner. x reb
Wednesday, January 26, 2011
Monday, January 24, 2011
8 weeks until the marathon...pain is weakness leaving my body, right?
I am exhausted and starting to feel the pressure of only having 8 weeks to go.
On saturday we ran 16 miles at race pace in the heat and it was hard. My left leg seized up for about an hour in the middle of the run and at the end I was totally smashed. I have realised however that i am really good at pushing through and getting an extra burst of energy at the end of the race. I hope that is true on Marathon day.
Last Friday I spent the entire day at an Asia-Pacific policy forum and didn't get to do my usual Friday routine of drinking lots of water and eating a really healthy dinner. Instead, I drank three coffees and got to bed at midnight. After the run, I had a busy day with Josh visiting for 24 hours, brunch with Josh and Zach then off to the G'Day LA gala dinner in the evening. On sunday I had another work event, an afternoon fundraiser for the Brisbane floods. So why am I telling you all of this? because I am feeling the effects of not following my usual routine big time today. The combination of not preparing properly for the run and then not giving myself time to recover has made me super sore and super tired.
I also worked out that there are only 8 weeks til the marathon which is stressing me out. I also have a massive work project that culminates in an event 2 nights after the marathon.
This is going to be a massive 8 weeks and I am going to need help to get through it.
I am committed to making this experience enjoyable and having a great time while everyone involved and not focusing too much on the sharp pains shooting up my legs!
oh and my toes are all bruised from the run. I know I am complaining a lot today but I want everyone to know that this is not easy and it is fun and it hurts and it is happening and I am excited.
It is all of those things wrapped up in one big throbbing knee soothed by an icepack.
For those of you who think I am crazy, I am. I am crazily committed to Michelle and her treatment and supporting her through her journey to straighten up her spine. It is what motivates me to keep training and to keep icing my aches and pains. She is such an inspiration to me and I would really appreciate any contribution that you can make to help support her by helping with her medical expenses. The first year will cost around $30,000 and I want to try and cover half of the expenses through this effort. I am running along with eleven others all supporting michelle. So please give what you can.
I really appreciate the support
x Rebel
On saturday we ran 16 miles at race pace in the heat and it was hard. My left leg seized up for about an hour in the middle of the run and at the end I was totally smashed. I have realised however that i am really good at pushing through and getting an extra burst of energy at the end of the race. I hope that is true on Marathon day.
Last Friday I spent the entire day at an Asia-Pacific policy forum and didn't get to do my usual Friday routine of drinking lots of water and eating a really healthy dinner. Instead, I drank three coffees and got to bed at midnight. After the run, I had a busy day with Josh visiting for 24 hours, brunch with Josh and Zach then off to the G'Day LA gala dinner in the evening. On sunday I had another work event, an afternoon fundraiser for the Brisbane floods. So why am I telling you all of this? because I am feeling the effects of not following my usual routine big time today. The combination of not preparing properly for the run and then not giving myself time to recover has made me super sore and super tired.
I also worked out that there are only 8 weeks til the marathon which is stressing me out. I also have a massive work project that culminates in an event 2 nights after the marathon.
This is going to be a massive 8 weeks and I am going to need help to get through it.
I am committed to making this experience enjoyable and having a great time while everyone involved and not focusing too much on the sharp pains shooting up my legs!
oh and my toes are all bruised from the run. I know I am complaining a lot today but I want everyone to know that this is not easy and it is fun and it hurts and it is happening and I am excited.
It is all of those things wrapped up in one big throbbing knee soothed by an icepack.
For those of you who think I am crazy, I am. I am crazily committed to Michelle and her treatment and supporting her through her journey to straighten up her spine. It is what motivates me to keep training and to keep icing my aches and pains. She is such an inspiration to me and I would really appreciate any contribution that you can make to help support her by helping with her medical expenses. The first year will cost around $30,000 and I want to try and cover half of the expenses through this effort. I am running along with eleven others all supporting michelle. So please give what you can.
I really appreciate the support
x Rebel
Wednesday, January 19, 2011
14 miles - faster faster
This week I feel like I am back in the game, with a 14 mile run on Saturday at the faster marathon pace that felt great.
I also spent quite a bit of time in the gym working on hills and interval training as it is supposed to be good training and good practice for teaching your muscles to process the flow of lactic acid. making your muscles burn and then letting them recover and then making them burn again is supposed to be great preparation for the end of the marathon when everything starts to hurt.
At the gym I also had a full body assessment, including fat pinch test and coordination test etc etc. It turns out that I have put on 8 pounds since starting to train for the marathon, but I am choosing to believe that it is all muscle. Apparently I am 25% body fat which is in the healthy range but now I am shooting for 20% which is the indicator of a fit person....
I got really frustrated because of the weight gain so started googling marathon training and weight loss and there were so many posts and articles about how it is really hard to lose weight while training for a marathon because you need the calories to fule yourself.
I guess this means my desire of losing 20 pounds while training for this race may need to be revised. That's ok. I would rather be fit and strong that hot anyway!
This training thing is getting really hard, I am always sore and always tired. I think part of the actual race will be enjoyable knowing that I can not run again for a while once the race is done.
I also spent quite a bit of time in the gym working on hills and interval training as it is supposed to be good training and good practice for teaching your muscles to process the flow of lactic acid. making your muscles burn and then letting them recover and then making them burn again is supposed to be great preparation for the end of the marathon when everything starts to hurt.
At the gym I also had a full body assessment, including fat pinch test and coordination test etc etc. It turns out that I have put on 8 pounds since starting to train for the marathon, but I am choosing to believe that it is all muscle. Apparently I am 25% body fat which is in the healthy range but now I am shooting for 20% which is the indicator of a fit person....
I got really frustrated because of the weight gain so started googling marathon training and weight loss and there were so many posts and articles about how it is really hard to lose weight while training for a marathon because you need the calories to fule yourself.
I guess this means my desire of losing 20 pounds while training for this race may need to be revised. That's ok. I would rather be fit and strong that hot anyway!
This training thing is getting really hard, I am always sore and always tired. I think part of the actual race will be enjoyable knowing that I can not run again for a while once the race is done.
Saturday, January 8, 2011
New Year, new attitude
Well it is the New Year and while I would like to say that I am bursting in to 2011, eager to take on the year and all of this running, unfortunately that is not the case.
After the 18 mile run, which felt great, i went and got sick and have had two weeks with pretty much no training. So I am a bit out of the zone with my running and the eating/drinking excesses of the holidays have me feeling below average.
I did get myself back in the gym and am feeling better. I was really apprehensive about our first training session back, which was hill training at Dodger stadium in down town but the actual run was quite good. i felt good and could take the hills pretty well. A few extra blows on the tissue and i was ok.
then on sunday, Michelle and I decided to hike Temescal Canyon and we raced up to the top of the hill in under 30 mins (usually takes about 40-45mins) and I felt great.
My body was sore afterwards and as i was resting i realized that part of the reason why i am having trouble getting motivated is that i feel like i am generating a lot of the motivation from myself. I thought that this experience would feel like more of a team experience with the other runners and yet (apart from Patty and Danielle who are doing the roadrunners with me) I feel a bit disconnected from the other runners and I am worried that they are not enjoying the experience of training for the marathon.
The next few weeks are going to be really busy with work and michelle will be busy with australia week and I want to spend more time in the gym getting stronger and pumped up to motivate all of the other runners to achieve the goals they set for themselves.
it is funny how when you are focused on yourself, you don't always have the ability to be there for others, but when you focus on others, you seem to get what you need.
After the 18 mile run, which felt great, i went and got sick and have had two weeks with pretty much no training. So I am a bit out of the zone with my running and the eating/drinking excesses of the holidays have me feeling below average.
I did get myself back in the gym and am feeling better. I was really apprehensive about our first training session back, which was hill training at Dodger stadium in down town but the actual run was quite good. i felt good and could take the hills pretty well. A few extra blows on the tissue and i was ok.
then on sunday, Michelle and I decided to hike Temescal Canyon and we raced up to the top of the hill in under 30 mins (usually takes about 40-45mins) and I felt great.
My body was sore afterwards and as i was resting i realized that part of the reason why i am having trouble getting motivated is that i feel like i am generating a lot of the motivation from myself. I thought that this experience would feel like more of a team experience with the other runners and yet (apart from Patty and Danielle who are doing the roadrunners with me) I feel a bit disconnected from the other runners and I am worried that they are not enjoying the experience of training for the marathon.
The next few weeks are going to be really busy with work and michelle will be busy with australia week and I want to spend more time in the gym getting stronger and pumped up to motivate all of the other runners to achieve the goals they set for themselves.
it is funny how when you are focused on yourself, you don't always have the ability to be there for others, but when you focus on others, you seem to get what you need.
Monday, December 20, 2010
18 miles in the rain - Action creates inspiration
18 miles in the rain.
Three and a half hours of running and being rained on constantly.
And actually, it was good. I felt strong and I think the extra stimulation of having to watch where I was stepping and trying to avoid pot-holes and trying to keep warm actually made the run go faster.
I got home from the run and felt great. Not overly exhausted or sore.
With Christmas a few days away I am very grateful to myself for the gift of running and for the experience of committing to something and just doing it.
I had a chat with a friend who said that they were jealous of how inspired I was about running for Michelle and if they could just get inspired that would take something on.
Inspiration is great. But what I am learning is that inspiration often comes after action and not the other way around. I was not inspired to run in the rain. Not at all. But I had a commitment and so I did it. The inpiration came at about mile 16 of 18 when i could experience myself running easily and knowing that I was building towards creating something amazing for Michelle and everyone else involved in this project.
The inspiration for me comes when I choose to inspire others and often for me, that means taking action before I feel inspired.
Either way, it is the commitment followed by the action that has me sitting here smiling and knowing that I have run 18 miles and there are still three months to marathon day.
Here is a quote that my friend Alicia puts on the end of her emails. I love it:
"The irony of commitment is that it’s deeply liberating — in work, in play, in love. The act frees you from the tyranny of your internal critic, from the fear that likes to dress itself up and parade around as rational hesitation. To commit is to remove your head as the barrier to your life." - Anne Morriss
Three and a half hours of running and being rained on constantly.
And actually, it was good. I felt strong and I think the extra stimulation of having to watch where I was stepping and trying to avoid pot-holes and trying to keep warm actually made the run go faster.
I got home from the run and felt great. Not overly exhausted or sore.
With Christmas a few days away I am very grateful to myself for the gift of running and for the experience of committing to something and just doing it.
I had a chat with a friend who said that they were jealous of how inspired I was about running for Michelle and if they could just get inspired that would take something on.
Inspiration is great. But what I am learning is that inspiration often comes after action and not the other way around. I was not inspired to run in the rain. Not at all. But I had a commitment and so I did it. The inpiration came at about mile 16 of 18 when i could experience myself running easily and knowing that I was building towards creating something amazing for Michelle and everyone else involved in this project.
The inspiration for me comes when I choose to inspire others and often for me, that means taking action before I feel inspired.
Either way, it is the commitment followed by the action that has me sitting here smiling and knowing that I have run 18 miles and there are still three months to marathon day.
Here is a quote that my friend Alicia puts on the end of her emails. I love it:
"The irony of commitment is that it’s deeply liberating — in work, in play, in love. The act frees you from the tyranny of your internal critic, from the fear that likes to dress itself up and parade around as rational hesitation. To commit is to remove your head as the barrier to your life." - Anne Morriss
Friday, December 10, 2010
16 miles - we did it our way
This Saturday we are scheduled to run 16 miles. I couldn't join the Roadrunners because Michelle and I are doing the Communications: Power to Create Course at Landmark.
Danielle, my trusty running partner agreed to to run with me on Thursday night so that I had someone to run with and it was so great.
We set off at about 3:30 and ran down Rose, along Main St, up Abbot Kinney, down Washngton, along Pacific to Marina Del Ray, back along speedway and the beack up the Santa Monica Pier, then to the end of Palisades park, up Adealiade to 7th and then up San Vincente to 26th, across 26th, down Montana and then right along 4th back home.
Now if you don't live in LA, what that means is that we ran across four suburbs and ran just under 30kms. It was such a great run, we talked the entire way and both felt really good. The last 10 minutes for me was a bit tough but the motivation of being home soon carried me through.
After the run we ordered dinner and I absolutely crashed. I felt like I was slipping in to a coma and I couldn't eat or even talk. soooo tired.
I went to be at about 10pm and it took my hours to fall asleep. I was so pumped and proud of myself for completing the run and my mind was racing. My body on the other hand so was sooo tired. I got so frustrated that I couldn't fall asleep that I started crying out of sheer exhaustion.
It is funny how emotional you get when you are that tired and when you push your body to new limits. Good emotional detox.
Thanks so much to the ever intrepid and committed Danielle for running with me
x x
Danielle, my trusty running partner agreed to to run with me on Thursday night so that I had someone to run with and it was so great.
We set off at about 3:30 and ran down Rose, along Main St, up Abbot Kinney, down Washngton, along Pacific to Marina Del Ray, back along speedway and the beack up the Santa Monica Pier, then to the end of Palisades park, up Adealiade to 7th and then up San Vincente to 26th, across 26th, down Montana and then right along 4th back home.
Now if you don't live in LA, what that means is that we ran across four suburbs and ran just under 30kms. It was such a great run, we talked the entire way and both felt really good. The last 10 minutes for me was a bit tough but the motivation of being home soon carried me through.
After the run we ordered dinner and I absolutely crashed. I felt like I was slipping in to a coma and I couldn't eat or even talk. soooo tired.
I went to be at about 10pm and it took my hours to fall asleep. I was so pumped and proud of myself for completing the run and my mind was racing. My body on the other hand so was sooo tired. I got so frustrated that I couldn't fall asleep that I started crying out of sheer exhaustion.
It is funny how emotional you get when you are that tired and when you push your body to new limits. Good emotional detox.
Thanks so much to the ever intrepid and committed Danielle for running with me
x x
Monday, December 6, 2010
Recovery Week - 8 miles (puh-lease)
It's funny to think how quickly I have been able to get to the mindset that 8 miles is an easy week.
I remember the first few runs of 3 and 4 miles where I was so stressed and wanted to go to bed early and was really worried that I wouldn't be able to keep up with the group.
This week was a Recovery Week, so we dropped back to 8 miles. I spent the week so relaxed and looking forward to the run. The change in perception and experience in just a few shorts weeks is awesome.
The run was easy and recovery went well.
During the run, I got to thinking abouth the idea of a recovery week, or a moment to take stock and consolidate what you have achieved.
Michelle and I have been so bust over the last few months with courses and her treatment and work and training and socialising and everything that we love to do. We both love being busy and squeesing the most out of our time. And I love it.
I also enjoy those times when I can just chill and relax and 'recover'
I'm going to build some more of that time in to our weeks. i want to plan recovery before we need it. It just makes sense.
I remember the first few runs of 3 and 4 miles where I was so stressed and wanted to go to bed early and was really worried that I wouldn't be able to keep up with the group.
This week was a Recovery Week, so we dropped back to 8 miles. I spent the week so relaxed and looking forward to the run. The change in perception and experience in just a few shorts weeks is awesome.
The run was easy and recovery went well.
During the run, I got to thinking abouth the idea of a recovery week, or a moment to take stock and consolidate what you have achieved.
Michelle and I have been so bust over the last few months with courses and her treatment and work and training and socialising and everything that we love to do. We both love being busy and squeesing the most out of our time. And I love it.
I also enjoy those times when I can just chill and relax and 'recover'
I'm going to build some more of that time in to our weeks. i want to plan recovery before we need it. It just makes sense.
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