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Miles for Meals Marathon Fundraising

Posted in Inspiration, Marathon, Miles Log, Race, Race goals, Running, tagged , , , , , , , , , on February 4, 2021| 1 Comment »

Miles for Meals virtual marathon route on the Santa Ana River Trail

Just two more days until I run 26.2 miles down the Santa Ana River Trail to raise money for the Second Harvest Food Bank of Orange County! Thank you to all who have donated to the fundraiser so far. Donations are still desperately needed though with less than 1/4 of the goal reached at $602 of $2,620. If you have the means, please consider donating here. Remember, every $1 donated provides at least three meals for those facing food insecurity during the pandemic.

Training has been going very well. It’s been four long months of five workouts per week — a speed workout, a tempo run, a long run, and some combination of biking and rowing on two other days. Here’s a peek at the last month of training leading up to Saturday’s virtual marathon:

Marathon training log from January/February

I had to shift some workouts around — even moving my 20-mile long run to a Friday instead of Saturday — but I managed to get them all done. I feel ready, although I have the usual butterflies in my stomach now that the big day is so close. I definitely am at the “what have I gotten myself into” stage! For today’s taper run, the last run in the training plan, I ran three miles at 6.6 mph pace. It’s a little crazy that on Saturday I will run 26.2 miles (8.73 times longer than today’s workout, to be exact) at that approximate pace. I am reminding myself to trust the training and remember that the magic (okay, fine, science) behind tapering will help carry me through the additional miles in the marathon.

I don’t have a particular time goal in mind, although I do want to stay around a 4-hour marathon time. We’ll just have to see how I feel and how much time it takes me to stop and refill/mix my own Gatorade bottles along the way. My husband Mike will help for the first leg, and meet me with two of my girls at the end (I’ll have to FaceTime my college daughter from the finish!) but I’ll be on my own the rest of the time.

I plan to listen to podcasts and audiobooks to entertain me. But the main thing that is going to power me through is the thought that donors generously gave money to the food bank, and I want to honor their generosity. One last plea to please donate to the Second Harvest virtual food drive here!

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Miles for Meals – Donate or Join!

Posted in Inspiration, Marathon, Running, tagged , , , , , , on January 3, 2021| Leave a Comment »

Miles for Meals fundraiser for Second Harvest Food Bank of Orange County

It’s very bad form not to post for six months and then pop back up and ask for charitable donations. But hey, we’re in the middle of a pandemic, and it’s for a worthy cause. Plus, if you’re looking for a reason to swim/bike/run/walk/paddle etc., you can form your own team and raise funds as well! Check out the Miles for Meals fundraiser for Second Harvest Food Bank of Orange County, and read on for more details.

After the virtual Fontana Days Half Marathon last June, I kept on training and participating in virtual events such as the 1,000-mile Run Across California and the Coronado 130 team event. Starting in September, I got on a marathon training plan — a beginner one, nothing too crazy. I just like to have a plan to follow. In November, I took the bold step of signing up for the Death Valley Marathon. It would be my 10th marathon, and I wanted a small, local race in an epic place. At the beginning of November, Los Angeles County (where I live) was averaging 1,200 confirmed coronavirus cases per day. Now two months later, our average daily cases over the last week are 12 times that number! So I knew deep down that the marathon was going to get canceled, but it sure was disappointing when the cancellation email arrived this weekend. With a little over a month to go until the race date of February 6, I have done the bulk of the training. In fact, I had run 18 miles a few hours before the organizers canceled the race.

I want to run my 10th marathon, but I need a cause to get me through 26.2 miles on my own! What better cause than Miles for Meals — running to ease food insecurity during the pandemic. Every dollar donated provides at least three meals through Second Harvest Food Bank of Orange County! I have done in-person volunteer work for the food bank both before and during the pandemic. I know it does amazing work and puts any funds raised to good use. Please help me by donating here. And if you cannot donate (times are tough – I get it!), please consider forming your own team and sharing your mileage and fundraising goal with family and friends. Just leave me a comment using your real email (it doesn’t display) and team name, and I’ll set up a page for you. The Miles for Meals virtual food drive runs (ha ha) through February 14, 2021, so you have plenty of time to set and meet your goals.

I also would love to hear from you all in the comments. How are you? Have you stayed well or dealt with illness? Are you training at all or has it all gone out the window as other things take priority right now? I need the miles to keep me sane, so I’m doing my best to keep moving forward.

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