Back to San Fran

If you had the opportunity to go to an event that thousands of people try to get into by entering a lottery system and many never make, and you were being given the chance to sign up without all that hassle, would you take it?

I did. Therefore, I'm running the Nike Women's Half Marathon in San Francisco this year. Did I mention that this is the weekend before my fundraising event, the L.A. half mary? Yes. Back-to-back weekends of half marathons in October. What better way to train for Rock Legend?

So now we're making plans for our weekend trip to San Francisco. I'm not sure where we'll stay yet. Hotels are so expensive and even more so for this weekend but it'll be worth it.

I've heard so many awesome things about Nike Women's and so I'm excited to be able to experience it for myself. An added bonus is that many of my running friends will be there with me. So that will feel awesome!!!

Did I mention I'll get a necklace designed by Tiffany & Co. for finishing?

Strength Training: Venting

As we move through the strength portion of our training season, I remember what it feels like to be sore from lifting weights and doing squats and lunges and those hateful crunches. I hate ab workouts so much. Nothing makes me want to puke more than sit ups. And I don't like walking away from a workout session feeling nauseous. Sweaty? I don't mind. A little bit light in the head? Not a problem. Finding it difficult to grip a water bottle? Sure, okay. Nauseous? Not acceptable. Not ever. No thank you.

Fortunately our coaches only have us do those little crunches and leg lifts that work the area, which I can tolerate a little here and there.

I find that punching exercises are the most fun. Take a wide stance with a little bit of a squat, holding in your core (tummy) twisting your trunk as you punch across your body from side to side. This reminds me of karate in high school. I must suppress a kiai with each fist jab. I don't want my team to think I'm crazy.

I have done a miserable job of trying to practice these strength training moves at home. Tuesday nights, once a week, that's all I do. I find my work and volunteer schedule allow little time for me to sit and play on the computer to amuse myself, let alone get to the business of planks and bridges.

This Saturday - 6 or 7 miles at Dockweiler Beach for the All Team Event! This should be awesome.

Let the training begin...

It's only July, but the training for the big 7 event year in 2011 is already beginning.

The Kick Off for the winter season of Team In Training was today. All these endurance sports teams from all over the Greater Los Angeles area met in Pasadena for a big pep rally, basically.

Two things are great about Team In Training:

1) This is for an unbelievably great cause. TNT raises funds for The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society which has helped fund research grants that are directly responsible for a lot of cancer patients still being alive today. They do this by offering endurance sports training for the volunteers who are individually raising money. And their training is amazing, which leads me to...

2) The training is amazing. It doesn't matter what level of runner/cycler/hiker/swimmer you are, their coaches have solid experience and know-how to help you step up your game while being healthy and helping you prevent injuries. I may be able to train myself for a half marathon, but when it comes to a full I doubt that I have yet to attain the level of motivation and discipline I would need to do it without my coaches and my team.

So we will be training with TNT for the inaugural Los Angeles half marathon in October. Yes, it's another Rock 'n' Roll event! And that also means that we'll be raising money for the LLS!

• My campaign site: http://pages.teamintraining.org/los/rnrla10/thenness

• Jason's campaign site: http://pages.teamintraining.org/los/rnrla10/jhenness

The winter season will carry on through to January as some members of our team will be training for the P.F. Chang's Rock 'n' Roll Phoenix Marathon! The very same marathon that I plan on making my #1 event of 2011!

Fortunately, we're able to continue training with the team through the end of the season and will be able to have our coaches helping us toward our full marathon goal.

UNfortunately, we slept in and missed kick off.