Another week and 68 miles later!

Hello World!

Another week and 65 miles later and feeling great!  This photo was taken this morning after a five mile tempo run.   Got to the track this morning at 6:05 and I wasn't the first one there... fast Mike beat me through the gates and across the finish line too.  I'll keep up with you someday Mike  :)

I'm thinking about changing my tempo's to being longer efforts at around marathon pace so today I tried that out, subconsciously?,  and ran the miles in 7:00 to 6:40.  Negative splitted and felt decent; made me feel like I should have run 6 miles, coach?...  thoughts?...

Navigated 66 and 81 South today and am now in Fincastle, VA for a little mountainous running.  Beautiful!  Mom says dinner is ready and when someone else is making dinner and calls me to the table, I'm there!  I'll write more later as I have lots more to update...

My father wanted me to make it clear that the RunningBrooke party was possible last weekend because he and my mother took over the parental duties and visited the kids at camp last weekend for Parent's Weekend.  Thanks Dad  :)  I'm sure Draper's cafe at the Greenbrier are thankful that you were there too!  Ha ha....

Cheers and it was a beautiful day for a run.

Success!

Hello World!

The RunningBrooke kick off party was a success!  The last thunderstorm passed through Alexandria about 5 and it poured and poured until 5:30 then, we could see sudden blue skies.  So we dried everything off, brought the patio cushions back out and set up the bar.  Ready by 6!

65+ friends and neighbors came over and RunningBrooke now seems official with the party behind me and even more money raised.  I'll update my website when I get the next fundraising total from Alexandria Community Trust(ACT).  But I know the numbers are growing; with 2 recent $1000.00 checks and many more of other generous amounts!

For those of you weren't able to make the party and for those of your who loved my speech so much that you want to read it this time  :)  here it is...

RunningBrooke Speech

Hi Everybody!  I'd like to make a few remarks.  First, I'm so pleased that you are all here and so excited about the RunningBrooke fund.  As you know, I've tried to transform my passion for running into a fundraising effort to benefit charities in Alexandria.  So far, it's gone very well, with over $10,000 raised.  Thanks for your support.  I appreciate it very much.  Let me give you a little background.

Basically, I've committed to running a marathon on every continent, each of the 50 states and the 5 marathon majors, all to raise money for needy Alexandrians and to bring awareness to what each of us could be doing to help.  I'm so excited to be putting my passion to good use.  But let me back up a bit...  I started running because, at the time, I had three little kids at home and I just had to get out of the house and go somewhere no could follow me!  Sometime later, a friend -- who knew running a marathon was on my life list -- go me into the the Marine Corps Marathon.  I remember my initial goal was just to finish without hurting myself!  And I remember finishing that marathon with 'gas in the tank' and a desire to do it better and faster the next time...  Then the goal was qualifying for Boston and when that became not such a big deal, I began to look for a new reason to run; and that was where the idea for RunningBrooke came from.  Since 2002, I've run the Marine Corps Marathon twice, Boston four times, Chicago, New York and Richmond, VA marathons and now with the inception of RunningBrooke, two international ones, Berlin, Germany and Easter Island, Chile -- where I was the female winner and 5th overall!  These were some of the best experiences, ever.  Next on the calendar is the Steamtown, PA marathon in October, the JFK 50 miler in November, the Goofy Challenge at Disney in January -- it is a half marathon on Saturday and a full marathon on Sunday, and if you register and complete both, you'll get 3 medals.  I'll go anywhere to get 3 medals in one weekend!  And finally, the London marathon in April.  I haven't planned any further out than that, but the London marathon will complete the 5 marathon category:  London, Berlin, Boston, New York and Chicago.

Essentially, I am asking supporters to  match my commitment to running with their own commitment to charity.  All the money I raise goes to Alexandria Community Trust called ACT.  I pay all of my own expenses.  A board member of ACT is here.  Jean, would you mind saying a few words about ACT?

Thanks Jean and thank you everybody for being here and supporting my program.  I have some additional RunningBrooke materials here if you are curious.  Now it is time for a little food and drink.  Cheers and it is a beautiful day for a run!

The group all ran hard today  (20 miler)  along the C & O canal through high humidity, drizzle then downpour.  We got 'er in though!  Cheers and it was a beautiful day for a run!

RunningBrooke

Kick Off Par-Tay!

Hello World!

Okay, I wish it were December so I'd have writing here in this blog more often than once a week as my New Year's resolution.  Oh well...   Summer isn't supposed to be this busy and especially with no kids in the house for three weeks, YES, I said that there were NO kids in the house right now!  It has been fun doing other things; walking 18 holes of golf, seeing the Washington Kastles win in the last game of ladies singles, going out to dinners...  Life will be complete if I can get a movie in  :)  

Updates!

The RunningBrooke kick-off Party is tomorrow...  The number coming keeps rising as people are getting back into town and getting to their stack of mail or -- and this is the best one -- people are reading their magazines and finding the invitation inside.  I'm so pleased that 65+ people are going to be here and I keep calling Rockland's Bar-B-Cue to up the numbers.  Now just hoping that the weather holds up so it is poolside and not inside...

The Crystal City Twilight race was a success for Pacer's Running Stores.  They doubled their running entrants from last year and of course, that works for me too as I had a RunningBrooke information card that went out in every race packet.  And thanks to my friends who volunteered to man the beer truck for the thirsty runners.  Kathy over at Pacer's will now be donating some money to my fund and I can't thank her enough for that but also for the exposure she gave my fund in this race!  I hung my banners proudly.  It's amazing what a little duct tape and a little sweat can accomplish...

Training Update

Up to about 65 miles a week now with 6 days of running and 1 day of swimming.  Feeling good running through the Washington heat and humidity.  Now it feels like summer!  The last track workout (Tuesday) was Yasso 800's -- which (supposedly) predicts your marathon time.  Averaging the 800's ( 2x around a track), we did 8, time indicates your total marathon time.  This hasn't worked out for me yet but I am hopeful as that would have me running pretty fast!  The long run the Sunday before that had us going 18, fine, no problem...  Tomorrow is our tempo run so we'll see how that goes.  I'd like to do a 5 mile tempo starting at about a 6:40ish pace and coming down from there, but we'll see.

Okay, that's it for now!  I'll plan to take plenty of pictures tomorrow at the kick-off party and I'll feature one on my next post.  Cheers, and it is a beautiful day for a run.  RunningBrooke

What's under your kitchen sink: a little housekeeping...

Hello World!

So this post is dedicated to a few housekeeping items....  These are my updates...

1.  The Crystal City Twilight Race is this Saturday in Arlington.  It's tons of fun!  Good race, good people and good beer.  I'll be working the beer truck so stop by to say 'hello!'  Pacers, the sponsors of this event, is donating a portion of the proceeds to the RunningBrooke fund. Basically, the more bodies I produce to volunteer and man the beer truck, the more funds go directly to RunningBrooke.  This year, the movie Twilight will be shown at dark, so stick around!  Better yet, if you have no plans, help pour  :)  We'd love to have you.

2.  The Official RunningBrooke fund kick-off BBQ and pool party is at the house from 6 to 8 on Friday, July 31st.  If I missed sending an invitation to you, sorry, you're invited!  Let me know and I'll give you all the details...  703-989-4945  It should be a lot of fun!  All donations will go into the RunningBrooke fund...  We're up to about $9,000.00, people!

3.  Something new, something new!  I thought up this one on my run this morning...  Anyone training for a fall marathon, or really training for anything, and want to put purpose into their efforts?  Run, bike or swim for the RunningBrooke fund.  Would you consider supporting Alexandria and beyond with your sweat equity?  I would, through ACT, Alexandria Community Trust, support you with all the needed paperwork and other assorted filings/forms/receipts. How awesome would that be?!  Contact me directly at 703-989-4945 or brooke.sydnor.curran@gmail.com.  We could have a great time doing something great for others...

4.  Oh yeah and my running  :)  ...  I ran my first 80 second 400 yesterday on the track yesterday!  Firsts always feel so, so good.

Currently out of town in Fincastle, VA and will try to capture the beauty of the mountains once the fog lifts.  Unbelievably beautiful...

Cheers and it's a great and hilly day for a run!

RunningBrooke

Feelin' Good

Hello World!

After a week or 10 days of struggling through the tough workouts, it felt great to kick some b___ today and to feel that last-minute surge of energy that is so amazing!  So we met at 6:30 on the track today to do 5 X 1000 repeats and 2 X 400.  These were the numbers: 3:51, 3:44, 3:41, 3:40 and 3:38.  The 2 4oo's were 84 and 81 seconds.  Yea!  And since I didn't have a corresponding photo to go with this theme, you get a picture of our dog 'Cubby,' named after the Chicago Cubs...  Go Cubs!  Anyone ever been to Wrigley and sat in the bleachers?

More later and what a beautiful day for a run!

RunningBrooke

NJ... Should have taken my camera!

Hello World!

So I just spent the last days in Baltimore -- National Futsol Tournament -- and New Egypt, New Jersey -- Lax for the Cure Lacrosse Tournament.  I've been to Baltimore and the Inner Harbor many times so the camera didn't go there and with New Jersey, I thought that I wouldn't want to take any pictures.  Ha, ha!  But really, that state gets a bad wrap... everyone likes to joke -- including me -- about it's ugliness...  For me, no more, well at least until the next time I'm in Hoboken -- that's for you Leong!!!  We stayed at a beautiful and rural Bed and Breakfast surrounded by horse farms and fields.  My run, a 10 miler and a 16 miler, we're along winding country roads with mist rising from the fields as the sun was rising.  That was definitely picture-worthy.  But since I didn't have my camera, you get this one from my back yard!

Running has been tough lately as I'm pushing myself harder than ever but forgetting to run within myself -- relaxed and loose, not tight and tense -- and that I'm not there to race the other people on the track but to work with them.  I was forgetting that it's only myself that I should be focusing on and improving on and comparing with...  Positive Mental Energy (PMA) is back!

More soon when I have more time to post.  I'd like to revisit some of my older posts...

Cheers and it's a great day for a run!

RunningBrooke

P.S.  One more great thing about NJ...   Full Service gas stations!

What's with the bike?

Hello World-

So are you thinking 'what's up with the bike, Brooke?'  I do other things than run people!   :) Some may argue that I don't do other things often enough but when I do, watch out, because I have plenty of cardio power...

After doing an easy 8 miler, Chris and I did an amazing Saturday morning bike trip  -- hours before anyone else in the household woke up.  We took off through Old Town and linked up with the new pedestrian path taking us across the Potomac River on the North side of the Woodrow Wilson Bridge to Prince George's County.  Great views and well done!  My only complaint was that the bridge seams along the way were deep and wide so a biker, in particular, had to watch out for those so as not to catapult oneself over the railing!  But, back to the positive, the path was wide, well landscaped with historical makers and places to take a rest or check out the beautiful scenery.  We rode to National Harbor and then back over the bridge to the Belle Haven Marina -- yea, the water station is back in operation -- and then headed north towards home.   We took a few hours to rest and watched Serena defeat Venus in the women's finals and then Chris and I decided to play some tennis ourselves...

All this leads up to why my legs feel like lead!  You'd think that I'd rest up before the first long run of the season (Sunday).  You know, take it easy, rest a little bit...  but that's the problem when you feel good, you can't help yourself and you go out and do a Saturday like I did.  So, I met up with the group Sunday morning at 7 at Fletcher's Boat House.  We divided up into our distance and pace groups and took off for our 16 miler.  Eight miles up through and past Bethesda and back.  It's a constant uphill on the way out and at the turn-around I made the mistake of asking what our average pace was (7:50).  All I can say is that the group took off from there, dropped the hammer...  I was the second to last to come in and I clocked my last mile as a 6:30...  Ice bath...

Today on the track my legs still feel like lead, but got it in...  We did a 2000 (7:37), 1600 (6:08), 1200 (4:39), 800 (3:01) and 400 (1:26).   Another ice bath...  Hopefully, I'll recover in time to feel great for Friday's tempo, only a 10 miler and a mile swim to go...

Cheers and it's a beautiful day for a run!

RunningBrooke