Monday was a fabulous day! Started out at Woodland Hills Physical Therapy which wasn't the same without Joe but I was happy for him that his second daughter was born over the weekend. Then I got to see my great friend Lorie who is brilliant and an amazing runner! On her suggestion we headed up the coast for some shopping, lunch, and a shortish run. Before we got started we had a passerby snap our picture to make her friends in Montana jealous of the beautiful weather.
Apparently this was not looked upon too kindly because almost immediately the fog began rolling in. It got very windy and since we were running along the ocean there was nothing to shield us. We finally turned off the beach path onto city streets and she took us up a 400 foot hill, from sea level. I'm no stranger to hill training but this one was a beast! I had to walk a little but the view was pretty amazing, especially with the fog rolling in.
We finally reached the top at Serra Cross Park which was only too fitting given the amount of praying I did to get up the hill. I pray a lot during my runs because I know I could never get through a run alone. I pray for myself to be able to finish the run and I also pray for my friends and family. If you need any prayer let me know, I don't run with music so I take that time to pray and it also keeps my mind distracted!
Tuesday I joined the gang at Fleet Feet Encino for a short run! It felt so weird to only do one loop. We still had our usual hill but it really didn't feel all that hard. When we got back to the store we did extra ab work to make up for the shorter run.
Wednesday I had the night off since I ran on Monday and for once a night off didn't mean getting up before dawn the next day. Thursday I was back at Fleet Feet for yoga with Ko. We worked on balance and I was reminded that it's something I really need to work on.
Friday I went to WHPT and realized I was feeling great. My shins, the original problem I went in for, don't even hurt anymore even though I've been running a ton. And even my little aches and pains that have developed during training were not too bad. I'm so grateful for these guys keeping me injury free!
After PT I went back to Fleet Feet (third time this week) to watch Fire on the Track with my teammates to raise money for the Center for Assault Treatment Services. We are doing all we can to raise nearly $13,000 more so CATS meets their required $50,000. You can help them reach their goal, me reach my goal, and help victims of sexual abuse and assault by donating here: http://www.crowdrise.com/crystalarrieta
Saturday was our last "long" run before the marathon. For the first time in about five months, I started out in the front of the pack. I figured this run wouldn't make or break my training so it didn't matter if I went out too fast. I ran with Kasia, one of the running coaches and the captain of my Ragnar team, and Theresa, a fellow teammate. We didn't quite keep up with the frontrunners but we weren't far behind and it was a pretty speedy run for me overall. Lorie showed up a little late but of course caught up and we had a great time chatting through the second half of the run. When we finished I asked Trey to take a picture of Lauren, Kasia, Lorie, and me. Of course he had to leave me a present before doing so...
After the run, my teammate Karen was kind enough to host a pool party which also raised money for CATS. It was a beautiful day but it's still March so the water was a chilly 56 degrees. Luckily Trey had already promised to do a flip into the pool and we held him to his word.
I'll post one more time before the marathon but in the meantime you can go here to send me a message that will be shown on the course: Support Me
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