Lights, Camera, Action!

I haven't been up to much lately, until this past Saturday. This past Saturday was the first day that I was able to meet my "teammates" for the Marathon training Local News reality show.

Everybody on the team is really nice, and they really did a good job in picking the team. I don't say that because they picked me, but our group is very diverse. No two people have the same story or the same background--which I think is really neat. Each one of us on the team is going to be able to 'speak' to a different crowd of people and really drum up interest in the marathon and living healthy lifestyles. I am looking forward to the next 5 months. This should be really cool.

There is a slight downside to this whole experience--but it's really not a downside--the cameras. On Saturday, we took a lot of pictures. They filmed us doing a lot of different things as well. I ended up in a step aerobics class (...) and most of it was filmed. It's going to turn out really funny, because I had never done a step class before. This one was "prostep" or something like that, where there is a routine that you either know or you don't. I didn't know the routine, obviously, and by the time I figured out what they were doing, the song was over. One of the songs was "2 legit to quit" by MC Hammer, and that at least made the class halfway cool. I was 2 legit to quit.

I guess this will start showing up on TV after Dec 1, and after that date I won't be able to go to the grocery store without bodyguards and a gun. I'm mildly curious how many times someone will come up to me with the "Aren't you on TV..." line. The preliminary over/under on that is 10 if there are any bettors out there.

Sunday, Nov. 11 I ran a 5K! It was really the first time I had run since the marathon with any effort. I ran 2 times on a treadmill last week (1 mile and 2 miles, respectively), and I got on the bike 3 times (about 5 miles each time) the week before that. I was a little curious about how I was going to fare in the run, and I wasn't really sure if I should really run hard or take it easy.

This run was the 'debut event' for our marathon team, so I didn't have much of a choice in regards to participation. I had to go. I also really have a hard time "holding back" in a race, so I went hard. I ended up running my fastest 5K since High School! 22:35! Last year, I ran the same race to gauge where I was prior to any training. I ran 24:59 on the same course, basically rolling off the couch and going to the starting line. I was a little surprised by this time on Sunday given the circumstances, but happy nonetheless.

Another neat thing about this race, a friend and former boss of mine was co-chair of the race with her brother. They lost their father to cancer a few years back and she is really involved in the community and in fund-raising for Cancer research. She is a cancer survivor herself. This was a race against cancer, and it was the most successful one to date. I was glad I could be there, and the pic is of Sharon above the starting line with the starting gun.

I am still recovering from the marathon (technically), but I feel fine. I have been working out at the gym with the weights and trying to strengthen my 'core' a bit more before I start running again. I failed to mention that my coach for this Marathon training team is a former olympian herself and in talking to her over the weekend I think she is going to have me doing a lot more lifting than I did in preparation for Detroit. I am still going to have one long run a week, but I think that during the week I am going to be doing 5-8 miles and weights. I'm pumped.