Thursday, December 31, 2009

Ran 5 Miles Today

My last run on the treadmill at the Prudhoe Bay Hotel, until I return to work the month of March.  It will be nice to run outdoors or on the indoor track for a change, after I get home tomorrow.  I didn't have any pain in my knee so for sure, it must be all healed.  I wanted to run a little longer but I was short on time.  I had to do my last batch of laundry, pack the duffle bag that stays here, and figure out how to fit everything that goes back home with me into my backpack.  It looks like I got it all done.  I'm ready for the "Blue Moon" flight home from Deadhorse tomorrow, via Barrow this time.  I moved my seat to a window seat so I could admire the second full moon this month.  I hope it is a good sign for the new year.

I'm hoping to find a few more donations in my mailbox when I get home and check all the mail that arrived in December.  If I don't meet my minimum, Team In Training will charge my credit card for the rest.  If I have no new donations in the mail, I will just jump online and donate the rest myself.  Hoping a few people out there will want to make a last minute charitable donation for this great cause, before midnight December 31st. 

Don't forget those with cancer.  Please help!


Tuesday, December 29, 2009

Ran and Rode

I had a nice 3 mile short run on the treadmill here at the Prudhoe Bay Hotel today.  Then I rode the bike in the exercise room for another 30 minutes.  I love that bike.  It gives my legs the greatest workout.  I have this dream of one summer riding my mountain bike all the way home the 800 miles from Prudhoe Bay to Palmer, Alaska.  I always work up here for June, so July 1st would be the perfect time to start south on my bike.  24 hours of daylight then too.  But right now we have 24 hours of darkness so I do all of my workouts indoors.

I go home in a couple more days and can finally see the sun again.  Maybe get to run outdoors a little or at least on the indoor track at the Wasilla Sports Center.  It will be nice to get off the treadmill and do the real thing again.

Phoenix PF Chang's Marathon coming up next month.  I hope I will be ready after my little setback when I hurt me knee.  It feels fine now though. 

Don't forget, just a couple more days for charitable donations to be deductible for 2009.  Help me in my race to cure cancer by donating to my Team In Training fund.


Monday, December 28, 2009

10 Miles on the Treadmill

I finally got in a really good run.  The first one since I fell and hurt my knee a few weeks ago.  The knee feels fine so I guess it won't give me any trouble on the marathon next month.  Now I just have to do some catching up and make sure I am in shape for the marathon. 10 miles today on the treadmill here in Deadhorse at the Prudhoe Bay Hotel.  I will go home on Thursday and can go back to running on the indoor track or maybe even outdoors if the weather isn't too bad or too icy. 

I'm coming up on my fundraising deadline, still about $600 behind.  My required amount is $3800 but my goal is however many millions or billions it may take to cure cancer.

If you want to help click here!


Wednesday, December 23, 2009

No Pain - No Gain!

Well, I decided to just ignore the pain in my knee and run.  I ran only 3 miles just to see how it would do.  Sure it hurt, but it really didn't get any worse.  I think at this point, running, and biking will just strengthen it and probably help it heal.  I rode the bike for 45 minutes too.  That really makes my legs feel great.  I hope to ride my mountain bike home the 800 miles to Palmer from Deadhorse one July - hopefully in 2010.  So, riding the bike is a great thing to do along with my running.

I feel like I'M BACK now!

Not quite able to run outdoors up here now though.  This is the view at noon the other day - Winter Solstice. I miss the sun!



Almost Ran

Well, I gave it a try today on the treadmill but after just a couple of minutes I had too much knee pain to go on. Then I tried the elliptical for a while, then settled for the stationary bike. I found I could ride the bike for 30 minutes with no pain. That seems to work well, so for the next few days I will spend time on it and try again each day to run. I'm running out of time because the PF Chang's Marathon in Phoenix is now less than a month away. I will do it if I end up walking all 26 miles. But I hope it doesn't come to that.


I still need more donations so if you would like to sponsor me, check my Team In Training website and make a donation. Every little bit helps. Curing blood cancer is the goal.



Monday, December 21, 2009

Resting my Knee

These last few days have been agonizingly difficult for me.  I want to run, and I feel like I am having withdrawals from running or maybe from endorphins.  But my knee still hurts from my fall last week and running seemed to be aggravating it. So, I have been taking a break until it no longer hurts when I walk up stairs. It seems to be almost better.  I may give the treadmill a try when I wake up, unless it hurts too badly.  I can't take the chance of a serious injury with only a month left before the PF Chang's Rock and Roll Marathon in Phoenix next month.

Fundraising for Team In Training has been agonizingly difficult for me also.  I just donated another $500 myself and will probably have to donate the remaining required $635 myself.  But it is for a very important cause.  My required goal is $3800 but my real goal would be $900 trillion, or a cure for blood cancers, whichever comes first. 
You can help by making a donation to my Team In Training Fund here:  HELP!

I will try my best to do a treadmill run tonight.

Wednesday, December 16, 2009

Short Run

I need to go in to work early tonight so only did a short 3 miles.  Also I am still fighting with my sore knee so it probably appreciated that I only ran 3 miles!  I really need a good long run, but don't want my knee to make me regret that.  I still have a month before the marathon, and have done two full marathons since I started training for this one.  So, I guess I am not too far behind in long runs.  But I would like to get one or two good long runs in before the real thing.

It sure hasn't been outdoor running temperatures the last 24 hours.  It was minus 38 this morning.  The wind chill was minus 63 which was even more inviting!

I'm still pretty far behind in my fundraising too.  Please help me in my fight against cancer by making a small donation to my Team In Training Fund.


Monday, December 14, 2009

Did 5 Miles Today


I had a pretty good treadmill run today.  I didn't have much time so had to keep it to only 5 miles.  I was still having some knee pain but it didn't seem to be too much of a problem.  I sure didn't want to run outdoors today.  It is -22 and the wind chill is about -50!  Thank goodness for the treadmill.

I finally finished upgrading my website completely so now all of my photos there are for sale. All of the sale price goes to my Team In Training fund for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. You can view and order them on my website - Habataku






 

Saturday, December 12, 2009

I'm Back!

Wow, I'm so happy.  My knee was still bothering me but I decided to try to run since it seems to work ok when I walk on that leg.  I ran slowly and carefully on the treadmill but did 3 miles with no problem.  Then I rode 30 minutes on the stationary bike, and that actually felt terrific.  I think I can safely go back to my training. 


I've been updating my Habataku website so that I can offer all of my photos for sale. You can click on any of the links and order prints. The entire price of any of my photos goes directly to my Team In Training fund for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.

Tuesday, December 8, 2009

5 and 5

I ran 5 miles today on the treadmill followed by 5 miles on the stationary bike.  It was quite a relief too because two days ago, I had a bad fall and hit my kneecap so hard that even walking was difficult.  Yesterday it was impossible to run due to the pain.  But today, I decided that I really needed to try to run so I could see just how bad the pain was.  After a few minutes, I could tell that I just have a simple bruise on my knee and running didn't seem to aggravate it at all.  I certainly don't need a serious injury right now!  But I suspect it is nothing more than a simple bruise.

Here is my Nike+ run from today. 

Help me in my fight against cancer here.



Sunday, December 6, 2009

Ran & Biked on a "Fake Road"

I seem to have shin splints again so kept today's run short, only 3 miles.  But then I rode the cool new stationary bike they have here for 6 miles to get some cross training.  I have a dream of riding my bike home from work here in Prudhoe Bay, in July, the full 800 miles to Palmer, Alaska.  So, I guess a little biking practice is a REALLY GOOD IDEA!

Here is my run on Nike+

Help help help, I'm still quite short with my required fundraising for my Team In Training run in January.  Help me cure cancer - please!  Every little bit counts.  Here is my fundraising page.


Saturday, December 5, 2009

5 More Miles

I had kind of hoped to do a long run today but whoops - I woke up too late, so didn't have time.  I'm working 7 nights a week so I have to do my runs on the treadmill when I wake up, and be done before I have to go to work.  I find it is hard to get up right now because the sun went down November 25th and won't come up again until January 18th.  It's really easy to sleep too long!  But I did have a really good and invigorating 5 mile run today.  I'm still getting used to the new treadmills here at the Prudhoe Bay Hotel.  I hope to get in a really long run in the next few days if I can drag my lazy bones out of bed in time!!!!!
Here is my run today on Nike+.

But most important of all, the reason I am running is to raise money for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society to help fund life saving research to cure and prevent these devastating cancers.  I really need your help, so please help sponsor me by making a donation through my Team In Training website.

THANKS SO MUCH!  Go Team!

Wednesday, December 2, 2009

Short Run Today

I really didn't want to run today.  I wanted to make sure I got enough rest in between runs, but I guess I am just plain addicted.  I couldn't do it.  I couldn't NOT run.  So much for a rest day!  But I tried to run a little faster, and just ran 3 miles.  I notice my Nike+ shows me running a lot slower, but that is just because I stopped for almost a minute because I had some weird leg pain.  But that went away so I hit the resume button on the treadmill.  Today's Run on Nike+.

That was a GREAT run!

Tuesday, December 1, 2009

Back in the Arctic

I'm back up north for the month of December and did my first run on the brand new fancy treadmills here at the Prudhoe Bay Hotel.  It really is the nicest one I have ever used.  Not as nice as running outdoors in the sunshine, but then, this time of year there is no sunshine up here.  It's pretty cold and windy too.  I will have to do all of my training indoors while I am up here.  I also did some time on their new stationary bike machine.  Very nice equipment now.  I was still a bit tired from my first night working so only ran 5 miles today.  I need a 20 mile run this week, so it will be on the treadmill.  I hope I can find enough enjoyable music on my iPod to entertain me during that exercise.

I track my runs on Nike+.  Click here to view today's run.