Dinner: Red Pepper and Basil Pesto on Whole Wheat Pasta

With a side of rosemary roasted green beans and walnuts!

Pesto recipe from Veganyinzer.com and green bean recipe from Vegetarian Times.

A New Kind of Cardio

This weekend I volunteered at Camp Sunshine - an overnight "summer camp" type facility for children and families affected by terminal illnesses such as cancer. Camp Sunshine is located in Casco, Maine. As I was packing Thursday night I looked at the weather report and was disappointed to see a forecast of snow, rain, and a wintry mix for most of the weekend. Being the baby I am about snow and freezing conditions, I expected not to run at all while I was at camp. I brought my workout clothes though in case I had time for weight training or something.

I originally felt extremely guilty that I wasn't going to get my training runs in this weekend. I know I'm just at the very start of my training, but I'm out of shape from taking some time off during this winter's string of snow storms that I didn't feel like I could afford it physically.

However, once I saw the schedule for the weekend I felt much better about leaving my running shoes at home. On Friday night, after the families arrived at camp and we had dinner and the opening ceremony, I spent an hour playing freeze tag with my new 6 year old friends, Lily, Joey, and Maddie. On Saturday, I was assigned to the teen group, and together we spent an hour playing basketball once the rain cleared up, an hour playing nuke 'em volleyball, an hour rock climbing, and over an hour dancing our butts off during the "masquerade ball" after dinner. And on Sunday, we had a half day before the families were to depart after lunch, and played nuke 'em volleyball for another hour, floor hockey for an hour, and even tried out some archery (talk about weight training!).

So, at the end of the weekend, I felt fulfilled. I was exhausted from all the cardio I had done with the teens all weekend, and was so tired when I got home at 6pm that I fell right to sleep. But I also felt like my heart got a workout in another way - I had the opportunity to meet some amazing families that have overcome tremendous obstacles in their lives and that wanted to share their stories and time with a group of rag-tag volunteers, some of which they had just met for the first time. In just 2 short days we built a community of mutual love and support. The families trusted us with their kids who were healthy and/or recovering from cancer treatments, and they trusted us with their stories and their feelings about their experiences.

In many ways, this is how I feel about Team Challenge. We started out as a group of strangers, but every week when we get together for a couple hours we have the opportunity to get to know one another, and to share our stories about how IBD has affected our lives and our loved ones. I am so grateful for this opportunity to build this community of runners and to be raising money for such a worthy cause. Every week when we get together, and every week when we train on our own, we are not just conditioning our bodies for the half marathon that awaits us in July - we are also exercising our hearts and giving them an opportunity to share the experiences we or our loved ones have undergone dealing with Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis.

Thank you Team Challenge!

Group photo of all the volunteer counselors at Camp Sunshine this past weekend.

1st Group Training Run with the Napa Team

Updating our team fundraising progress.

Today I met the rest of the Napa team, got some tips on footwear and nutrition, and ran about 3 miles or so in the chilly wind. Collectively, our team has raised over $180K for a cure! I'm about a third of the way to my personal fundraising goal, but couldn't be prouder of our team :)

I'm pretty confident right now in my speed and endurance. I was near the head of the pack for most of the run this morning, but also got to chat with Marisa, Leslie, Kristen, and a few others. 

We also received 20% off at Greater Boston Running Co, where they did a footwear clinic for us. I picked up a water bottle belt to use while I train. Previously I really only brought a water bottle with me on longer summer runs, but never really went beyond 4 or 5 miles until my 10K training in the fall. But if I'm going to be out on the road for 2 hours at a time in July I wanted to get used to wearing the belt now. Especially because I've always been told not to try anything new for race day. I want to get in the habit and have my body adjust to wearing it before then.

Anyway, I had a great morning in Lexington with the crew. I won't be joining the group run next weekend as I'll be in Maine volunteering at Camp Sunshine, and the week after I'm working. But I'll be joining the group on the 27th at DW Fields Park in Brockton - back to my roots!

Still waiting for spring...
ashley

The Team before the run warming up inside at GBRC.

Aaaaaaaand....They're off!

This weekend marks the official start of my training for the July 21st Half Marathon in Napa Valley! That means that the rest of my Napa crew will be at training with us tomorrow. We're going to be doing a 30 minute run while the Virginia and Chicago race teammates will be running 8 miles (their Halfs are in early June).

While we are also going to receive some footwear tips and a discount for the Greater Boston Running Company, I am most excited for the opportunity to meet and get to know the other people that I'll be training with over the next 16 weeks. This is going to be a huge undertaking, so it's great to know that we're all in it together!

I bought a new planner just to track my training.
Don't ask how this is all going to fit in with my work schedule...

Over the last few weeks I've been trying to get back into shape and to re-build up my baseline from the month that I took off when we got all the snow. Right now, I'm back up to being able to run 3-4 miles without completely exhausting myself. However, I'm not back up to the speed that I was so proud of last year. Right now, I'm doing around 10-10:20min/mi. In the fall, I was running 8:30-9min/mi. But my plan for the coming weeks also involves some interval training and some strength training to whip me back into shape :)

I'm excited to be starting my official training plan. Having a plan for each week and month on top of what I need to do for the day definitely helps to keep me on track. I can plan ahead for my work and volunteering schedule so they don't interfere too much with my training. And if I'm really tired one morning and don't want to get up for my 5am run, I know I can move things around a little bit to ensure I'm getting in the mileage that I need for the week. Also, as a side note, with the mileage I'll need to be getting in each day come June and July, I may have to change my running pattern and start going out after work. I just honestly don't think I'll be able to wake up any earlier in the morning for a 7 or 8 mile run...

Looking forward to the group run in Lexington tomorrow, and I'm sure I'll have some photos to share then!

Run strong,
ashley

P.S. I am not running the Boston Marathon like my picture above might suggest. However, I do know an awesome group of people that are running Boston for the nonprofit I work for, Cradles to Crayons, and I'll definitely be there to cheer them on!

My first group run in March. That's me in the back row in the bright pink fleece. 
It was freezing that day on the beach!