Try This At Home

If memory serves correctly this was our workout yesterday morning.
Walk 20 yards each as follows:
on your tippy-toes
on your tippy-toes with toes pointed outward.
on your tippy-toes with toes pointed inward.
on your heels with toes pointed up toward knees
on your heels with toes pointed outward
on your heels with toes pointed inward

Now skip 40 yards.

On your toes jump back & forth 10 times (repeat 3x)
On your heels jump back & forth 10 times (repeat 3x)

Run 1/4 mile
15 squats
10 push-ups
10 crunches
15 squats

Run 1/4 mile
10 squats on one leg (do both sides)
10 "supermans" (while on tummy lift head, arms & legs off the ground for count of 3)
10 squats on one leg (do both sides)

Run 1/4 mile
15 squats
10 push-ups
10 crunches
15 squats

Run 1/4 mile
10 squats on one leg (do both sides)
10 "supermans" (while on tummy lift head, arms & legs off the ground for count of 3)
10 squats on one leg (do both sides)

Run 1/2 mile.

I will enjoy my day of rest today.

A nice Saturday run

Saturday morning runs! Wake up earlier than wanted. Drive to wrong park entrance. Panic because I gave my group wrong directions. Find correct location and check to make sure all in my group made it to the right place. Phew! We were scheduled for a 2-4 mile run along the Damon Marsh Trail. The sun was out and everyone was in a great mood.

In an effort to avoid the raging case of shin splints that I experienced last season I'm running the minimum distances. I knew I could do the four miles but I don't want to aggravate my legs. So I ran short & returned to the meeting spot to cheer in those who went out further. All the participants of my small group ran the full four & did great.

The weather is going to be a big difference this season. The sun was up & getting hot when we met at 8AM. I will need to carry my water bottle even on short runs during the summer. Stay hydrated or go home!

How to Make Your Brain Happy (story from CNN.com)

Brain gets a thrill from charity - CNN.com Another reason to donate now to The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society:

Brain gets a thrill from charity
CHICAGO, Illinois (Reuters) -- Knowing your money is going to a good cause can activate some of the same pleasure centers in your brain as food and sex, U.S. researchers said Thursday.

People who participated in a study got a charge knowing that their money went to a charity -- even when the contribution was mandatory, like a tax. They felt even better when they voluntarily made a donation, researchers found.

Ulrich Mayr, a psychology professor at the University of Oregon, said the research sheds light on the nature of altruism and could help people feel better about being taxed.

"It shows that in an ideal world you could have a tax situation where you could be a satisfied taxpayer," said Mayr, whose study appeared in the journal Science.

The women were shown their money automatically being transferred from their account to a local food bank.

When the money reached the food bank account, it activated portions of the brain -- the caudate nucleus and the nucleus accumbens -- known for pleasure. The effect was even greater when the people got to choose to give the money away.

"What is interesting is that these pleasure areas are for really basic needs, like food, sex, sweets, shelter and social connection," Ulrich said in a telephone interview. "It's the area that tells the brain what is good for us."

As it turns out, "That very same brain area not only tracks what is good for us, but what is good for others," he said.

He and colleagues were hoping to find out whether there was something in the act of giving itself -- and not just the social and egotistical reward of being a philanthropist -- that offers satisfaction.

"The fact that we find pleasurable activity in those mandatory tax-like situations strongly suggests the existence of pure altruism," he said.

Of course, simulating a tax is quite different from paying taxes to a government with policies you may or may not support, he noted.

"What it shows is that, in principle, we are capable of feeling good about doing our share," he said.

"The question is, 'Why is it that so often we feel bad about filling out our taxes?' Our study shows it is worth looking for an answer."

Copyright 2007 Reuters. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

Some people have wondered why I'm doing this again

Well I've got a reason. Her name is Vanessa (click that link then scroll down to see her pic & read her story). Vanessa's mom, Trish was on my team last season training to run Anchorage - the race is next weekend. Trish brought Vanessa & her sister, Salina, to most of our workouts so I got to know them through the weeks of training. This AM at our track workout I asked Trish is she was ready for her event & this is what she said.

I think of Vanessa's chemo mantra when she didn't want to take meds or was hitting the wall: " I've done this before; I know I can do this - I can do this!"
She used to cry and repeat this to me over and over(age 6) when she just couldn't take another syringe full of medicine.She would finally relax herself enough and just do it. Bless her heart!

So if you need for me to have a reason to train, a reason to ask you for a donation this is it. I run for Vanessa. I run because I can. I run to find a cure for cancer.

Season 2 - electric boogaloo

We have officially kicked-off the summer season. Our first coached run was this past Saturday & let me tell you... it's going to be much different running when it's hot out. Wow - Saturday was a perfectly beautiful day for sunning, not running.

I'm still working on making contact with all the runners assigned to my mentor group. It's been busy and hectic on the home front with a switch of roomies & remodel going on. I feel like I haven't put the best face forward to my group. I must work on that in the next two days.

I'm at 22% of my fundraising goal for summer! If you haven't yet made your tax deductible contribution what's keeping you? Help me cross the summer fundraising finish line early: give now