Technology is only as good as its user

Welcome to week three of training! I started yesterday off at Woodland Hills Physical Therapy but skipped Bar Method because I was feeling lazy. I took the dog for a walk instead which is actually still a pretty intense workout because it requires a lot of upper body strength to keep him from running.

Today we had our first tempo run at Fleet Feet Encino. We did 3 one mile loops and our fearless leader Trey is going to use our times to determine our expected marathon pace. I would love to tell you my time based on Garmin but I made TWO mistakes that prevent me from knowing what it is. First I forgot to allow enough time for it to locate the satellites so wasn't able to start it until about a quarter mile into my run. Then I completely forgot to stop it! You can see my route here and I walked all the way back to the store before realizing that it was still going! Good thing Trey was timing us but I'll be totally in the dark til he gives us our results on Thursday.

I'm hoping his prediction will help a lot because I'm terrible at pacing myself. I have no idea what pace I can maintain for any given distance. Sometimes (rarely) I'll run 3-4 miles at a comfortable pace and realize I averaged 9 minute miles but then other times (most of the time) I can intentionally try to maintain 9 minute miles for 3 miles and feel like I want to die. I say my most comfortable pace is 10 minute miles but even that can feel exhausting sometimes. I would be thrilled if I could keep a 10 minute pace for the marathon. I'd even be happy with 11 minutes. Hopefully I'll get some good news Thursday and while we are waiting feel free to visit my donation page:  http://www.crowdrise.com/crystalarrieta

So far I've raised $65 toward my first goal of $500 by Thanksgiving so I've got a ways to go. I've gotten some really good fundraising ideas which include taking orders for my famous macarons, cupcakes, and cake pops so let me know if you are interested and I'll be sending out emails with more info soon. I'm also looking into getting a tour of the Center for Assault Treatment Services. It’s the only program of its kind serving victims of sexual abuse in the San Fernando Valley on a 24/7 basis. The CATS team collects evidence, like DNA, to help law enforcement catch the abusers, and provides counseling to help victims begin the recovery process. I'm thrilled to be helping raise money for them and hope I can surpass my goals!

I finally got around to ordering a picture from the last 10k I did, the Santa Monica Lexus 5000. Highlights my poor form but still a pretty good picture and it's all I have to share today so deal with it.