Happy Tuesday

It's only Tuesday and already this week has been crazy. I have a major deadline due this Friday and between all the team meetings, action items and work (in general), I have had NO time to do the important stuff... Like reading other runner's blogs and surfing the net! Hehe. Also with various wedding vendor appointments and activities, I also haven't had a chance to even put short runs in. I couldn't go to bed last night because I was mentally checking off all the wedding stuff that I haven't done, yet!

AND, I realized I haven't really planned out what I was going to wear on race day on Sunday! Shorts or long pants? A singlet or a technical shirt? Hmmm...

Again, no run today. I have meetings right up to another appointment this afternoon. And then dinner plans. *sigh*

But, good news! I just found out the Sports Basement near my work is starting a Tuesday after-work run group starting next week! Hooray! I have more incentive to run after work (after the marathon). Oh and carbo-loading is in FULL effect!!

The Countdown Begins

Trying a new look for my blog... again! I feel like this layout and look is more me. Simple and clean. That picture in the masthead "polaroid" is a photo that I took when I went to Martha's Vineyard with my fiance last year. (Boyfriend, then. :-) We were both training for the SFM last year and we did our 18 miler training run on this road. I used to live in New York City (Upper East Side) up until this past April and it was an easy trip to make out to Martha's Vineyard/Cape Cod area last summer. We had a fabulous time.

Yesterday, I did an easy 4 miler on the treadmill. My Nike+ said I had only run 3.9 miles by the time the treadmill said I was done. So I just ran a little longer. But it sure is annoying when the Nike+ and treadmill doesn't match up.

Today is exactly 2 weeks away from my wedding!! Omigosh, 14 days to go. Last night, D and I went to go meet our "ambience coordinator" who's doing our flowers and centerpieces. He's my sister's friend who does interior design but I've seen his work at my sister's wedding and I HAD to use him for my wedding, too. What he showed us last night blew me away. I told him I wanted a paper lantern with some flowers for our centerpieces and this is what he showed us. Yes, the picture in this post is his original work. It's so "Zen" and perfect for D's heritage, I am so excited!!!

Also, it's now 9 days to the SF Marathon. Single digit countdown is now in affect. I keep panicking about various technical difficulties that I really can't prevent (not really).... What if I can't keep up my pace? What if I get a blister? What if I have to go to the bathroom (the #2 kind), What if I oversleep? (That has happened to me before!!) What if, what if, what if??

Ok, I'm telling myself to take a deep breath and relax. But those thoughts keep running in my head...

My Sunscreen Regimen

I always get really dark during my summer runs. I apply tons of sunscreen and wear a running cap, too. But to no avail, I'm usually several shades darker by Fall. Of course, besides getting overly tanned there's the fear of skin cancer, too. This year, I decided to be more proactive and got myself a super-wide brimmed hat made by Sunday Afternoons. I see runners with one of these hats every once in a while and I used think, "wow, they are so hard core!" I guess I'm one of those now. This hat is fairly light but the only thing is when it's windy the hat tends to flop a lot. So I need to hold onto the rim sometimes. Oh and due to the wide brim, I've run into low-lying tree branches from time to time. Oops. Also, it's not the cutest running gear... Not that I'm Miss Runner Fashionista or anything. But it does remind me a bit of a older ladies' gardening hat. Fortunately, I've done my long runs early in the morning (less sun) or in San Francisco (foggy) to avoid major sun exposure. Hence, not needing the big hat. I love my Banana Boat Sport SPF 30 "Ultra Sweatproof" Sunblock lotion but now that I'm almost done with my super sized bottle, I'm looking into another brand. Just to see what's out there.

Does anyone have a good recommendation? Do you have a good sunscreen regimen?

Ran 5 miles after work today. I ran about 8:58 pace for the 5 miles. Much better than my 10:40 pace from yesterday's 4 miler.

Side Note: D'oh. I just checked the Sunday Afternoons website and just noticed that their hats were voted "Editor's Choice" by Organic Gardening!! I guess I am running with a gardening hat... Although, I did notice they have a "sport hat" designed for running. But that's not the one that I have! I have one of the Adventure Hats, I think.

11 Miles + Ice Box Cake

Last night's 12 miler didn't go quite has I had hoped. I didn't start running til about 8pm last night and by the time I was half way through, it was getting really really dark. By mile 10, I started to get a bit spooked. I really wanted to finish the last mile but I figured running in the dark near the hills wasn't the safest thing to do. So I skipped the last mile, which was to run around a park that was known to be a bit "shady" at night. I felt good, though I knew I could have gone longer but for my safety sake, I detoured and cut through a residential area. The funny thing is that the reason why I got started so late was because I was feeling kinda crappy after work and didn't feel like running. I had a really slow start and didn't really warm up until mile 7. But the last 3 miles felt really really good. Anyway, I'll be doing a 4-5 miler today.

My sister got a great shot of the 3 bridal shower cakes so I'm posting them again. As a matter of fact, I am craving more of this cake. I even had a soft serve ice cream cone at McDonalds after lunch at St. John's today! (The ice cream cone is supposedly only 150 calories!!)

Weekend Update

This is the first weekend in a long time that I didn't run AT ALL! No run Saturday or Sunday. And it really felt terrible. I really wanted to but there were too many things going on! On top of that, I ate badly all weekend. There was my bridal shower on Saturday and Sunday was a pure eating fest with friends and family. Apparently, I have an eating disorder, too. I like to "order this and this and this". Get it?? Ha!

My shower was really fun. Very low key and simple, no games and there was alcohol involved. It was just the way I wanted it. Really, no games! There was white sangria, virgin red sangria, margaritas (with blenders in tow) and my favorite, the melinni. It's like a belinni but made instead with melon juice and champagne. The special melon juice was straight from Palencia Restaurant in San Francisco. They have the most amazing brunch cocktails at Palencia. My friends know the owner of the restaurant and he did a huge favor by providing the juice for the cocktail. The shower cake was provided none other than my own fiancee!! As some of you know we've had quite an issue with the wedding cake. It's all squared away now but at one point, we considered making our own. Especially after we had the ice box cake from Magnolia Bakery in the West Village in NYC. For those of you who are not familiar with this delicious treat, ice box cake is basically chocolate wafers layered with freshed sweetened whipped cream. YUM! I loved the ice box cake so much I told him we had to fly in the cake for the wedding. That was a very costly and outrageous option so D said that he would try to find the recipe and make it, himself. He's quite the whiz in the kitchen and definitely is much more proficient in the kitchen than me! Anyway, he found the recipe via Oprah.com and made the cake. It's lot easier than it looks. I told him it's crazy to make our own cake for the wedding and jokingly told him he was more than welcome to make my shower cake. And he agreed! So the night before the shower, he made 3 cakes, enough for 30+ women. The cake was a total hit. More brownie points for my D with my friends and family. I got some great gifts from my registry, lots of risque lingerie (that was really too embarrassing to open in front of D's mom) and one real whip. Yes, a real cropping whip. Um. I also got some pink handcuffs, too. It was just a great time spent with some of my favorite friends and family on both my side and D's...

So anyway, to salvage a bad eating weekend, I'm planning on running 12 miles today after work... Which will be in about an hour! Good thing it's nice and cool today. High of 72 degrees in Sunnyvale. Yay.

TGIF!

The Sunset Run was quite an event on Thursday! Over 100 people showed up for the social run and apparnetly we raised about $1400 for the Live Strong Foundation. It was freezing in San Francisco that night. Very windy and chilly. Very typical summer evening in the city. Ha! And no, I didn't win the raffle for the Nike Women's Marathon. I was pretty bummed. But I did get a nice technical shirt with the Sunset Run design on the back from Nike. And they had free food and even Jamba Juice. I'm always happy with free food! Anyway, I'll have to find another way to get entrace into the marathon now... Anyone want to sell me their bib??

The run itself was great. I felt good and ran about 8:57 pace for the 5 mile run. The run started from the "monkey bars" at the start of the Marina greens (near Safeway) and ended at Hopper's Hands. The route was very flat so that probably had a lot to do with it. The only thing that sucked was the drive back home after I was all sweaty and icky from the run. Note to self: Need to move closer to San Francisco...

I was supposed to do an 8 miler on Wednesday but I got home and totally fell asleep. By the time I got up around 9pm, I had no desire to go run. Just wanted to eat at that point. This morning, I ran only 3 miles on the treadmill, just to make up for Wednesday. But, as Marathon Matt said on his email broadcast this week, "Literally, there is NOTHING more we can do these next few weeks to better prepare you for race day. The best thing you can do is 'maintain' your current level of fitness and focus on rest, recovery, and mental preparation for race day." I think I did a good job this morning, trying to "maintain."

12 miles tomorrow morning... Right before my bridal shower!!! I am so excited. About the bridal shower, that is.

Sunset Run on Thursday

Just signed up to do the 5 mile Sunset Run with SF Fleet Feet Sports this coming Thursday. The Sunset Run is a social run sponsored by Nike and FFS and 100% of the entry fee will be donated to the Lance Armstrong's Livestrong foundation. Registration fee is $10 and if you're in the SF area and interested you can sign up here, too! You also get a t-shirt for running, as well as (and most importantly for me) a chance to win a spot for the Nike Women's Marathon in October. This race has been sold out for months now and pretty much the only way in is via Team In Training. TNT is a great training group with a fantastic cause but I just don't have the desire to do fundraising... I was talking to another runner this morning from boot camp and she told me someone from her running group may not be running the Nike Marathon due to an injury. Oh that would be so awesome if I could take her spot!

Planning to do a 5 mile run after work today, with some hill training.

Less than 3 weeks to go!

Yep, less than 3 weeks to go until the SF Marathon! I completed 20 miles on Saturday, last of my long runs. From here on out, it's all about tapering baby! I'm actually thrilled that I only have to run 12 miles next weekend! (What's wrong with me, thinking 12 miles is light running???!!) It's a good thing, too, since Saturday is my bridal shower. Yay!

D and I ran the 20 miles starting from the AT&T Park along Embarcadero, Fort Mason, Marina Greens to Golden Gate Bridge and back. This is one of my favorite runs in the city and I'm very familiar with it! Not only because it's part of the marathon route but because I ran this route quite often when I used to live in the Russian Hill area of the city. Actually, the route that I mentioned is only 18 miles so we doubled back to Mariposa (on 3 Street) to get our additional 2 miles. The weather was absolutely perfect (mid 60s) and a bit overcast, which is just how I like it. The usual hills at Fort Mason and up to GG weren't as tough as I remembered but still, wasn't easy by any means. And there were TONS of people out running and training, too. The Avon 2 Day Breast Cancer Walk was in full swing on the GG and it was tough dodging and weaving the pink-clad women (and some men). But to see so many people supporting such a great cause was really heartwarming. We also saw the Aids Marathon training group running and the Nike Women's Marathon training group along the route, among others. It was quite encouraging to see so many other runners out there and made me feel like part of something bigger than me.

We started our run a little before 7am and not sure exactly what time I finished but my Nike+ said that I ran 20 miles in 3:35 at about 10:45 pace. Which isn't the best time but I'm happy I finished the run. So at this point, I may not look like I'll be running a sub 4 hour marathon but I'm going to try my best to run it close to 4 hours as possible! By the way, I found out that in my age category, I need to run 3:40 marathon to qualify for Boston. Next year, when I go up to the next age category, I would have to run it under 3:45. That might be more doable...

As for the wedding cake, D must really really love me because he told me today that I could go with my new favorite cake maker Amy Peeples!! So we're going to Peeples Baking, afterall. No sheet cake. But, I may get a small grooms cake for D from his favorite bakery. It will be a nice surprise for him. :-)

Blackout

So, I'm trying a new look here. It's a bit more "cutesy" than "sporty" but the little birdie was so cute, I just had to have it. Maybe I can ask for a running bird, instead. Haha.

I'm glad to hear that other women find Angelina hot, too. ;-)

And, yes, I am running a marathon 5 days before my wedding! And, yes, I still don't have a cake. But hopefully, more updates to come after the weekend.

It's super hot today and there's a blackout in my neighborhood. I'm typing by candle light, actually. It's a bit of a paradox, typing on my laptop by candle light. Hmmm. Anyway, I wanted to go run at the gym again but apparently the entire area is dark. No electricity = no treadmill. And the gym is a quarter of a mile away. Darn. Maybe I should go run over there and see... BRB.

"Wanted", Nike+ Issue & Wedding Talk

So I watched "Wanted" tonight and it wasn't the best action flick ever but definitely entertaining. I really was on the edge of my seat! And, Angelina Jolie is friggin HOT in this movie. It's really not fair how pretty and sexy she is. Seriously, I love D but if she ever wanted me, I may have to switch teams. Ok, kidding. Really! All kidding aside, I had a good time tonight, especially because I got to escape the heat (high of 102 degrees!) for a little bit and spend time with my BFF (maid of honor).

There's something wrong with my Nike+... The LCD screen seems to have broken segments and looks like there are these squiggly lines on the left side of the screen. Kinda reminiscent of a Etch Sketch drawing by a 2 year old. :-( I honestly don't even know how I got those lines. It was fine during the duration of the run but then when I looked down to take off the watch, I noticed the lines. I'm going to take it back to 24 Hour Fitness tomorrow, where I bought my Nike+. Good thing I still have the receipt and it's within 30 days. I don't think I should have any problems exchanging the product. But I am keeping my fingers crossed. Maybe this could fix the calibration issue I've been having since I bought it (by replacing it with a new one)!!

On the wedding front, I can't believe there's 29 days to go until the BIG DAY. There's still SO much to do. I have to finalize favors, head count, programs, menu, find wedding shoes, bridesmaid gifts (which I have NO CLUE what to get) and most importantly, NO WEDDING CAKE. D and I have gone to several wedding cake tastings and we have yet to find a cake maker that we both like. The wedding cake topic has been the biggest issue to date and something we've actually argued over! *sigh* Not sure what to do at this point. We've agreed to disagree but that still leaves us with NO cake! We have two runner ups one that we each both like. A cake maker in Redwood City that bakes out of her house (a pastry chef, working mom, that made us huge sample cakes for free) and a bakery in Cupertino that Apple (yes, the iPod maker) often orders cakes from. I love the home cake maker because of her soft white cake with custard filling and fresh raspberries but D loves the Viennese style cakes (bakery in Cupertino) with mousse fillings. We both want our cakes and eat it, too, and that's where our stand-off is at currently. We really need to resolve this ASAP and come to a compromise somewhere...

Sore Sore Sore

I am so sore today. Went to bootcamp this morning for the track workouts, then was motivated enough to go run 8 miles at the gym. However, I was only able to run 4. It was a very hard run for me this morning on the treadmill. After every mile, I had to walk for at least .25 miles to recover. I wanted to keep going but my heart wasn't it in after 4 miles. (The 5 miles yesterday was such a breeze!) I'm going to try to run outside after work tomorrow and see how far I get. May have to go very very late due to the heatwave this week. I also ran another fast mile today: 7:02! :-) And back to being sore... It could be the mile run this morning or all the jump squats I did this morning but I am so sore. Ouch. Every step is painful...

Gonna go watch "Wanted" tonight after work with a girlfriend of mine. I seriously love Angelina Jolie. Seriously, LOVE her!

Great Running Quotes

Here are some of my favorite running quotes... found from the About.com site:
(My favorites are bolded)

1. "You have to wonder at times what you're doing out there. Over the years, I've given myself a thousand reasons to keep running, but it always comes back to where it started. It comes down to self-satisfaction and a sense of achievement."
- Steve Prefontaine

2. "I always loved running...it was something you could do by yourself, and under your own power. You could go in any direction, fast or slow as you wanted, fighting the wind if you felt like it, seeking out new sights just on the strength of your feet and the courage of your lungs."
-Jesse Owens

3. "The will to win means nothing without the will to prepare."
-Juma Ikangaa, 1989 NYC Marathon winner

4. "In running, it doesn't matter whether you come in first, in the middle of the pack, or last. You can say, 'I have finished.' There is a lot of satisfaction in that."
-Fred Lebow, New York City Marathon co-founder

5. "Running is the greatest metaphor for life, because you get out of it what you put into it."
-Oprah Winfrey

6. "Racing teaches us to challenge ourselves. It teaches us to push beyond where we thought we could go. It helps us to find out what we are made of. This is what we do. This is what it's all about."
-PattiSue Plumer, U.S. Olympian

7. "Running is a big question mark that's there each and every day. It asks you, 'Are you going to be a wimp or are you going to be strong today?'"
- Peter Maher, Canadian marathon runner

8. "We run, not because we think it is doing us good, but because we enjoy it and cannot help ourselves...The more restricted our society and work become, the more necessary it will be to find some outlet for this craving for freedom. No one can say, 'You must not run faster than this, or jump higher than that.' The human spirit is indomitable."
-Sir Roger Bannister, first runner to run a sub-4 minute mile

9. "Ask yourself: 'Can I give more?'. The answer is usually: 'Yes'."
-Paul Tergat, Kenyan professional marathoner

10. "The miracle isn't that I finished. The miracle is that I had the courage to start."
-John Bingham, running speaker and writer

All of these are so inspirational and empowering! The last one is especially special to me. It makes me really proud that I run.

5 Miles on Treadmill

Ran exactly 5 miles on the treadmill this morning, along with my trusty buddy the Nike+ SportBand. I had reset it back to the factory setting last night so when I finished the run and it said I ran 5.4 miles, I knew it was definitely off. But I just recalibrated via the Nike+ Utility software so I am hoping the next run with be much more accurate.

I was already quite warmed up after an hour of bootcamp class this morning. I was up at 5:40am to get ready for my morning workout!! The session started yesterday but had a hard time getting up at crack of dawn after a nice long weekend. (Not that it was any easier today!) I actually ran the 5 miles at about 9:13 pace the whole time and it seemed really easy. Of course, there were times when I wanted to slow down but I kept up the pace since these days 5 miles seem like a breeze. With the weather being super HOT (today's high is 104 degrees in San Jose) I had no desire to run outside. I'm supposed to run 8 miles tomorrow and I think I'm going to run at the gym in the morning again.

By the way, I really enjoyed the bootcamp session this morning. I really missed it while we were on a week-long break. Tomorrow morning is the track work out session and looking forward to running that mile to see how fast I can run it.

Oh wow, I just realized today is exactly one month away from my wedding date!!!!

Happy Birthday D!

Happy belated 4th of July! I had a really great celebration with my fiance up in Sonoma this weekend for the holiday. It's also his birthday today so we had a good reason for a mini-get away. I booked the Fairmont Sonoma Mission Inn from a great deal on Travelzoo a little while back and I've been really looking forward to staying here. I knew someone who got married here once and after I saw the photos from the website, I just had to stay here at least once. And I'm so glad we did. We drove up Thursday afternoon after work and really enjoyed ourselves. The service at the Fairmont in Sonoma is fantastic. (I should really Yelp this hotel!) The staff in general were very happy and attentive, which is really a great combination. We had dinner at Sante the first night and very wine-country worthy and definitely lived up to it's hype! Now that I've been away from Manhattan for good 3 months, I've been craving restaurants of this caliber. Too bad Sonoma is so far away... I guess I need to scope out more restaurants like this in San Francisco. Anyway, I highly recommend Sante! On Friday, we got a couples massage treatment at the Fairmont spa and hello, it was again, amazing. We've stayed at fancy hotels and received spa treatments but the couples massage at the Fairmont at Sonoma was very memorable. The "Bathing Ritual" is quite fun, if not good for the body. We celebrated Independence Day by having dinner at the General's Daughter and watching the spectacular fireworks that put many other Bay Area fireworks to shame! (Apparently, they also have a parade in the morning, but we completely missed it!) Not only were the fireworks quite diverse in type but the length was really amazing for a small town fireworks! I think it went on for at least 20 minutes, if not 30! I really can't recall because by this time, I had about 4 glasses of delicious wine from the open bar. Yes, you heard me, open bar. I was quite impressed with their all-inclusive July 4th Annual BBQ at General's Daughter. There was live music, too, which really made the mood quite festive. As you can imagine, I was in no shape to run Saturday morning... Too much wine = painful hangover. On our way back, we stopped by the Napa Premium Outlets and did some more damage to the wallet. Me, mostly at the BCBG and Barney's Outlet and D at Perry Ellis and Kenneth Cole stores. We even had a quite evening by watching WALL-E. Which I highly highly recommend. And today, we celebrated D's birthday with both his family and mine. And I gave him his presents... one of which was the NIke+ SportBand. He wasn't as thrilled about this new device as I was. But then, he only started running because of me. Once he sees how it works, I'm sure he'll love it! I think...

The 14 Miler

I went out for my long run of the week this morning on the Eastshore Trails (along the Eastshore State Park) starting in Point Isabel in Richmond, running through the Berkeley Marina to Emeryville. On a clear day, the panoramic view of San Francisco is breathtaking from this trail! The link here gives a good description of the state park area and trails, along with maps/directions. I ran about 14 miles and all seemed to be going well until I hit about 8 miles and I struggled quite a bit to keep my 9 min pace. I dropped to almost 11 min pace at one point. The last few miles, I was able to pick up my pace again but it was difficult to maintain that pace today. I'm almost wondering if my Nike+ is somehow subconsciously affecting my runs lately. Now that I'm aware that my distance and pace are being captured, I might be "stressed" about running fast and in turn affecting my runs. It could have been the smokey NorCal air or the heat... I'm just happy I finished my "tapering" long run today. Next weekend is 20 miles again... the last one!

Nike+ SportBand Round 2

Just took the Nike+ SportBand out for a easy 5.75 mile run. Looks like it recorded better than yesterday's run. The Nike+ said that I ran 5.93 but route is actually 5.77. I probably need to calibrate again and see how it goes. But so far, I'm happy with the results. It was a difficult run, even though the route was mostly flat. It was too warm for my liking and honestly, I didn't have the energy to run it any faster. Here's my run graph for today's run:



Really wish the run graphs didn't looks like a earthquake graph...

Nike+ SportBand = Confusion

sSo it took me a little while to figure out how to set this puppy up. I don't normally look at user guides or quick reference guides (for electronic devices), but I wanted to make sure I got everything right to capture the mileage, pace, calories burned and the time. So I strapped on the Nike+ SportBand, planted the sensor into the Bozzee cradle and went out for a run. Btw, Bozzee is great! You can use the Nike+ sensor on non-Nike shoes. It worked great on my Asics GT-2140. Once I got it started, it seemed to be working just fine. However, about half mile into my run I noticed the mileage recorded on the SportBand was much higher than the actual distance that I ran. I run this route quite often so I know where my mile markers are. I had that disappointed feeling the whole time, knowing that I wasn't really running 8:40 pace. It felt more like 9:30 pace, which is my usual pace. The SportBand said I ran about 7 miles in an hour. I didn't think I ran that far so when I got home I mapped my run and as expected, I only ran 6.5 miles. I added the true distance in the calibration tab and we'll see what tomorrow is like. Granted, today's run was a bit hilly and I did have some stomach cramps so I wasn't very consistent in my run. (I probably should not have had that slice of pizza before I went out running but I was SO hungry!) Tomorrow, I plan to take out the SportBand on a more flat run. Stay tuned... Oh and here's my run graph from today's run:

Nike+ SportBand

I just went out and bought the Nike+ SportBand!!! I've been wanting this ever since I saw it at the Nike booth at the Bay to Breakers Expo. I'm not the sharpest tool in the shed so it took me a little while to figure out how to charge the battery on the Nike+ link and install the utility software. But I got it figured out!! I think...

I am dying to go out there and use the Nike+ SportBand after work!! I think I'm going go for a 6 mile run today. Training guide said 5 but I'm in the mood for 6!! So excited. I got one for my fiance, too, for this birthday!!

Boot Camp

I just signed up for another 4 weeks of boot camp with AlaVie Fitness. They used to be called Bay Area Boot Camp but recently changed their name. They provide boot camp 3 to 5 times a week, both at 5:30am or 6:30am and all over the Bay Area. It's a miracle that I wake up early enough to get to boot camp at 6:30am! I don't know how other women do it at 5:30am. They apparently have co-ed programs, too but I've only participated into the women only boot camp. I've completed two boot camps so far (June and July) and have noticed significant improvement in my core strength and fitness ability. (Haven't lost much weight but then, maybe it's muscle gain?) They also provide track workouts on Wednesdays and I've noticed I have improved in my mile time, too. Just last week, I ran my fastest mile ever: 7:07!! I mean, running a 7 minute mile is an amazing accomplishment for me. I don't think I ran that fast when I was in cross country or track in high school! Overall, I really enjoy the camaraderie of the fellow women in the boot camp. This week has been my off week and as much as I've been loving the extra few hours of sleep, I miss working out early in the mornings. I can't wait until Monday. And, the track workouts leading up the SF Marathon will be really helpful.

Spinning vs Running

I'm supposed to run 5 miles today, according to the training schedule. With the bad air quality in the Bay Area lately, it concerns me a bit to run outside. I have heard long term affects are not-too-pretty when you inhale smoke and such. Yesterday morning, I woke up to lots of ash on my car!! Good thing it was my rest day. I'm thinking about going to the gym and spinning for an hour. I'm not crazy about spinning (I could never adjust the seats correctly and I'm usually sore for a day or two)! But is that a good enough alternative to running 5 miles? I sure do sweat a lot if I spin for an hour... While burning calories is great, not sure if it's good enough training for a marathon. I could run on the treadmill for 5 hours (which I've done before) but the 24 Hour Fitness near my work limist cardio equipment to only 20 minutes during peak hours. And I always feel guilty if I go over that time limit and I see there's a line to the treadmills. spinning