2 months left

Wow it is already April, well almost. We had another great ride on Saturday up in Healdsburg. We started with a great climb up Pine flat. over the whole ride we had about 2500 feet of climbing. We did also get to ride all throughout the vineyards. We passed by quite a few amazing wineries, but our coach would not let us stop. I even said that I needed to use the bathroom but he said no, I guess he knows us better then we thought =)

Watch out for team "Blur" We go so fast that we also make this sound Wssssshhhhh just so you know that we have been there (ok I realize that usually it is you passing us, but either way we want you to know that we are pretty fast too)

It has been a while

So here is an update.
I completed the San Francisco Nike Women's Marathon with my aunt. It was a beautiful run. I have never seen the city that way before. The hills were not as rough as I though they might be and yes, I would do it again.
I have now joined the Team in Training Cycling team and I am training for the "America's most beautiful Bike Ride" in Tahoe in 6/7/09. I really enjoyed running, but I LOVE riding my bike. This last weekend our team rode 50 miles! I am still learning how to tackle the hills and will be working on getting my speed up, but I love my team and all of the support that they provide.

Please help us save lives and find a cure for cancer. Visit www.leukemia-lymphoma.org and donate today. Every dollar gets us that much closer to finding a cure!

GO TEAM!

Here we go again!

I had such an amazing experience in San Diego and completing my first marathon, that I am doing it again. On October 19 I will be running in the Nike Women's Marathon in San Francisco. To make it even better my aunt will be joining me for this one. Kathi walked me to the finish line and I would not have been able to finish without her help and encouragement, and now I hope that I can offer that back to her. So I am starting training again and am really excited!

10 Days!

It is coming! I get on a plane in 10 days!
It has been a while since I have posted, but things are going well. I never could have imagined how it would feel to complete a 20 mile run or who tired I would be afterwards... it is amazing.

I got a call about 2 months ago from a friend informing me that her brother was in the hospital and had just begun treatment for stage 3 leukemia (not good). Their family has been so supportive of each other and he has been so strong. The good news is that he is back at home! Please keep Mike in your thoughts and prayers.

Check back in soon.
Kristen, Soon to be marathoner

I ran a 1/2 marathon!

On Saturday morning I woke up and drove dowm to Petaluma to meet the group and start our run. I know that the goal for the day was between 12 and 16 miles with a max time of 2.5 hours. I had also heard rumors that there were HILLS. It turned out that there were some hills that felt like they would get the best of me, but I pushed through and made it. Once we got over the hill, we were over the hill it was beautiful and I could really enjoy the run.
I did realize that I do have a barrior to being a True runner... True runners, when they need to go to the bathroom...they just go. I got the urge on Saturday, but decided to stop and take a break and then continue. Oh well there is still time to face this challenge =) (I am not really imagining that I might one day be able to just pee and keep running)
Either way I was able to complete the training and run 13.1 miles in 2.5 hours. Even better I am able to move around without hurting the day after!
7 weeks til San Diego

Run Run Run

I have decided to try and just run instead of run/walk. So far things have been going well. It would be AMAZING if I could actually run the whole marathon. Keep your fingers crossed for me and think strong thoughts.
If you are around Santa Rosa... I am having a fundraiser at Chevy's on Wednesday. I will be there from 6:00 on. I hope to see you there.

50 miles!

This has been an inspiring week in many ways. It started with my fundraising... This Monday I kicked off some fundraisers at my school. By Friday the staff and students had helped Katy and I raise over $200 for our TNT funds. On top of that my 2nd and 6th grade classes started the "pennies for patients" penny drive to go to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. They raised $305 in 1 week! What an amazing group of people I am surrounded by everyday.
Then I got an e-mail from my mentor about a woman who has been diagnosed with Hodgkin's disease (a form of blood cancer) who had decided that she was going to run 200 miles IN A WEEK. She did! That means her average mileage a day was 28.8 miles (yep that is more than a marathon a day for a whole week). If she can do that, what can the rest of us do? A LOT.
The icing on the cake for me this week was a new milestone. I completed my first 50 miles of training! Keep checking on me though because I have set a new goal for myself to help me keep on track. During the week I am going to run double the mileage that I run on Saturday. SO this week I will run 16 miles before Saturday. Keep sending those strong and positive thoughts my way.