Challenges and a Long Run

  Where to begin.....hmm. Well I've been glued to the news watching Hurricane Sandy news. The devastation has affected so many and I certainly hope that power and services get restored soon and people can start to rebuild their lives. 

In the midst of all the storm coverage was the whole NYC Marathon fiasco. What a mess that was. I think cancelling was the right decision but I wish they had called it off earlier, before so many people had travelled so far and invested even more into a race that never happened. 

I saw on Crazy Running Girl yesterday about a Virtual Race for Hurricane Sandy Recovery. Proceeds will go to the Red Cross. 

Basically you pledge at least $10, run any race during the month, send them results and pic after you do the race. For all info click here.http://crazyrunninggirl.com/

I'm already signed up for the Big Sur Half  so now I will be running it to benefit those affected by the storm. Living 3000 miles away while we are enjoying 80 degree weather   you feel so removed from it so I think it's important to get involved and see how you can help. (So sign up!!)

On the lighter side:  I am doing a Plank Challenge thru Carrots N Cake. It's a 4 week challenge and its hard. On Mondays we do a plank on elbows for as long as you can hold it. On Wednesday she posts a plank workout that takes less than 10 minutes. Then Friday you do another timed plank to see if you've improved time. I started at 1:20 and I'm up to 2 minutes now. It's hard but you sure feel it in your abs. 

I'm also doing the Pile on the Miles thru Run Eat Repeat.  It's a challenge to pile in extra miles instead if pounds during this holiday season. I figure I'm already doing this little marathon training counting the miles should be easy. I'm just going to add more easy walking as recovery from longer runs. 

You may be desperately wondering how my long run went. It went fantastic!!! 18 miles!!! WooHoo! Saturday morning I met up with my friend Melissa (who is running the Big Sur Half with me) and we ran 11 miles all around our tiny town. I went home and needed to run 7 more but it heated up to 80 degrees so I waited for it to cool down a bit. Those 7 miles were so daunting and my little mind was trying to figure out how to get out of it. I just went for it and kept going. It really wasn't too bad. I did walk a bit at the end and I certainly was slow. I've decided to really not focus on speed at all anymore. I'm all about getting to the start healthy and uninjured and then just finish. Hoping for an awesome experience and if I ever run another marathon I will work on speed next time. 

All last night and this morning I'm rocking the compression socks and shorts and resting. Tried to enjoy my extra hour of sleep but my 9 year old was up at 5am! What the heck!?! (May e I can sneak in a nap later?

Have a great day!