Last post before the Big RACE!!

GO Team OZ!!!!

Hey hey!! So it's been a while since I last blogged. Hopefully everyone will still check back and see this post before we send off for the big day!! It is Monday Dec. 8th and we are officially less than 1 week away from the marathon!!!!!!!! The marathon is this SUNDAY, DEC.14th in Honolulu, Hawaii.

My feelings? I'm a bit more nervous than anything else. I am praying every day that my knees will hold me up long enough to complete the race (without it being like 10hours or something ridiculous like that) But I'm also EXCITED! I can't wait to get it over with - haha (jk) But seriously I really am feeling very accomplished, I survived training for a marathon now I just have to survive the actual marathon. I've raised around $3000 which is crazy - and I couldn't have done it without the help of all my friends and family. I was really worried about it at first but I've seen so many people that I didn't even expect to be able to help just completely extend their hearts not only with donation contributions but with support and advice and sharing their personal connections and so on. I truly truly appreciate all of the help that I've gotten all the way from Michigan (whoot whoot) to Oregon, and of course my new home, Cali.

We also had an amazing turnout for the beer pong tournament that we hosted a couple of weeks ago. We were expecting around 20-30 people (10-15 teams) and we ended up with 74 players (37 teams)!!! Plus we had about 25-30 people who didn't play but were just there to hang out and support the cause so all in all we had around 100 people - who were all there because they wanted to support LLS and our team!! After the beer and supplies were paid for we profited about $1200 from entries to the tournament!!! WOOO-HOOOO!!!! In a separate fund - we made around $200 from t-shirt sales (Which by the way are still available for your purchasing pleasure ($20)) Don is modeling the shirts below:

Other than that - I am still available to take donations if you haven't donated yet and still want to - it is NOT TOO LATE. The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society are always in need of any help they can get. And yeah, just wish me luck!! Will send out an update to let everyone know how the run went (if I'm still alive at the end) and I can't wait to see everyone back in Michigan the following weekend!!

My team "jersey" is super tiny also (as shown above) Little concerned about that ;)

Love and Peace

-Sara

Gettin' pumped!!

Hello again bloggers!! So I know everyone is going to be impressed when they find out that I am updating the blog without ANY friendly reminders this time. Shocking I know. Although thank god for those little reminders or else I may have let the blog slide off my priority list (one of my downfalls :P) Then what would everyone have to read at work when they're trying to pretend they're working when they're really not. No of course I'm not talking about you -haha. Like I have a lot of room to talk - I think this is one of the few blogs I have written when I'm NOT at work! I do it when I'm on break - of course. Anyways, moving on before I get myself in trouble....BLOGGING!! Pretty awesome. So, we did another 16 mile run this weekend getting ready for our 20 mile-er this weekend. I unfortunately did not run the full 16, I actually only ran half (8 for those who don't like to do math in your head). My knee felt better but I still wasn't going to push it for the big run this weekend. I am bound and determined to run 20 miles so I don't want to be all sore and then try to run it. I got some insert things you put in your shoes to possibly help keeping my arch from collapsing when I run. Other than the blisters they gave me on the sides of my feet they felt pretty good. Now I need those blister protector things I guess. So much goes into this running stuff, you have no idea. I felt great after the 8 miles which is more than I can say for anyone else that ran on Saturday but then again, I'm the slacker who turned around half way-hehe. Still seeing dr. morganstein so I think I'll be just fine.

On to fundraising. On my website it says I have almost $1200, and then I just sent in over $500 in checks and cash donations so those aren't on there yet but total I have around $1700!! Pretty good I think. HOWEVER, my fundraising deadline is less than one week away!! Bummer. So you're wondering what's going to happen if I don't come up with over $2000 in one week?? Well I still try AS HARD AS I CAN to get AS MUCH AS I CAN this week. Then, on Saturday - although kind of later than exected, Don and I are hosting the first annual....

TNT BEER PONG TOURNAMENT!!

For the Californians reading this - COME OUT AND HAVE A GOOD TIME WITH US!!!!!!!!!!!! It's $20 per person entry fee but that includes your beer for the night - you absolutely DO NOT have to play and drink if you don't want to. If you do want to - you should know that you can't beat $20 for beer all night ANYWHERE in the San Francisco/bay area - HAHA! We also got t-shirts printed that will be for sale for $20 each. They are really cool shirts - not specific to LLS or Team in Training but just want a subtle reminder that we're all SAVING LIVES whether it be through a t-shirt, a game of beer pong, or a small donation from the heart. The t-shirt design is as follows BUT it is not black!! It is white printed onto blue tshirts - look very cool and I will post actual pictures of the shirt when I find the cord to hook my camera to the computer - haha.

So PLEASE if you or anyone else you know might be interested in any of this (I have lots of options for ya') please either send them this link or the ling to my fundraising page:

http://pages.teamintraining.org/sf/honolulu08/sverbeke

I really appreciate all the support and help!!

PEACE <3

Kind of slackin' on the blog :P

Wow! I didn't realize it had been so long since I last updated the blog! I'm not going to lie...I've been kind of a slacker in a few categories lately. Sadly, they do pertain to running. So if you remember to the beginning of my training I had some knee issues that had to do with my IT Band (muscle). I had been seeing Dr. Morganstein in Walnut Creek and he really helped me out! Within a couple of weeks I was slowly back up to my mileage. Well the problem is that what happened to my right knee back then - has now happened to my left knee. I don't know if I was over-compensating because my right knee was giving me problems or what but I'm almost at the exact same place but with the other knee. Which is kind of scary because my run is coming up soon!! FIVE WEEKS! So not only have I been slacking on the blog, I've been slacking on my running. Not this past Saturday (11/8) but the previous one (11/1) we were supposed to do 14 miles through the Oakland hills. Well when I say Oakland hills I don't mean foot-hills. I'm talking damn near mountain (or at least that's what it felt like-haha) The first 4 MILES were pretty steeply up-hill and my knee felt it then for sure. There were some parts that I had trouble walking up - not to mention that it was raining, muddy, my shoes had about 2 inches thick of clay stuck to the bottom that were making my feet feel like they weighed about 20lbs each and it was 7:15am! Needless to say, I didn't make 14 miles. I actually only ran about 3.5 before I was advised by a very veteran runner to turn around. I ended up doing about 10.5 total but I walked about 7 of it :( The week following that run I tried to run another hill workout without much progress then I took the rest of the week and this past weekend (11/8) off to rest up my leg and get it back into working condition. I was telling Don last night, I had no idea that it was going to be training for a marathon, fundraising, AND trying to get over injuries the whole time. It makes it so much harder. I feel like if it weren't for the knees I would be fine. Regardless, I am going to go see Dr. Morganstein -I am now working on getting my left knee back into good shape and then - it's going to be a BREEZE!! I have reached over $1000 with my fundraising so yay!!! for that. I have slightly over $1000 on my fundraising page as of this morning and with the money I have at home that puts me at about $1500!! almost half way there =) Only problem is - my deadline is in 3 weeks!! So..if you haven't donated yet - PLEASE DO IT NOW!! AHHH ;) Will post more later this week (I promise) about some upcoming fundraisers - yay!

16 miles - done!!

So I thought about updating the blog last week but I thought..I don't really have anything to talk about. I'm still running and running is still taking over my life ;) So I decided to wait until well...now to update since we ran 16 MILES on Saturday (10/25) and I thought for sure I would have something to talk about. First off, it was chilly in the morning. Here's a pic:This is me (not fully awake and cold at 7:45am) and our wonderful Laura. This was Laura's last run with us before her big move to Colorado :( We're all going to miss her - she's super nice and helpful (and if your reading this Laura, I got my list up to 70 people, just short of 75 but thanks so much for the challenge and goal)

So for everyone wondering how it went, it went about what you would expect 16 miles to feel like. Tiring, exhausting, painful, and long. And also...rewarding. Those first things just come to mind so much faster than rewarding - haha. So we started at 8:00am, the course was a 10 mile loop so we did one whole loop then started again but only went out three and then back three. The first 10 miles were ok. My knee started bothering me around mile 6 and I thought it was going to stop me from running but after I got going again after the 6 mile water stop I felt ok. I ran the rest of the way with Clara (who's in the picture with me) so I had someone to keep me company. The real killer was only like the last three miles or so. My knees were in quite a bit of pain and I couldn't seem to keep my mind off of it. I had to stop a couple of times within the last mile and I was thinking 'this sucks' but then I had to tell myself that I was almost done and I would feel good when I got back, etc. Which I did. This pic. is from Saturdays run also and yes, I do love the fact that I look so good ;) I don't even look like I'm running at this point but this is at mile 10 - so...give me a break-haha. As far as fundraising I am officially at $867 but I also have some money that hasn't been updated on the website yet so actually I have a little over $1000!! I think its great that I've actually got my little thermometer to move on my fundraising page but I'm still quite a ways away from my goal. If you haven't donated already, I would really appreciate the help and so would millions of other people that are in more need than anyone I know of.

Again it's http://pages.teamintraining.org/sf/honolulu08/sverbeke

Also, if you know anyone else who might think this is a good cause - please forward them something - either a letter/e-mail I've sent you, this link, my fundraising website link OR send me an e-mail at sara.verb@gmail.com and I'll send them the info. personally!! Thanks so much for stopping by! Til' next time - peace!

Excited yet Exhausted!!

Well hello out there! I'm always thinking I never know how many people are actually reading this until someones like 'oh I heard your knee's feeling better'...when I never told them ;) That's good though - I'm glad to hear it, because that's why I'm doing it!! So, to explain the title of this blog: Excited yet Exhausted, I am excited because this weekend probably more than half my team and countless numbers of other participants are going to be running in the Nike womens marathon in San Francisco!! I will not be running but I will definitely be there to cheer them on - whoo hoo - you guys are going to do GREAT!! I promised to wear my purple for TNT but now that I'm thinking about it, I dont really have anything purple - not really my color -haha. I'll have to find some before Sunday I guess. As for the exhausted part, I am soooo tired this week, I feel like I can't catch up on my sleep for anything. I was ridiculously busy at work yesterday and although slightly slower, busy for the rest of the week. Then I get home, eat, run, shower, sleep. Repeatedly. I know that sounds like all fun and games to everyone out there who doesn't run (wink wink) but it's really tiring I've found. On my "off time" I'm trying to raise another $3000 for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society (on top of my almost $900 I've already raised). Trying to send out letters to family in MI so they have something physical to remind them since the e-mails obviously aren't getting through very well, trying to figure out when we can go to the farmers market next. I had to cancel my hair appointment on Saturday because we're headin to the farmers market again -yeee-haw!

Anywhoo we ran 12 miles this past Saturday, it was a pretty decent run though. My knee did start to bother me a little toward the end but it wasn't as bad as it had previously been. My fellow teamate brandon who was riding his bike on that particular day, ended up catching up to me when I had about 2 miles left and rode along side me the rest of the way. It was extremely helpful as this was where I was starting to get really tired. We talked about fundraising ideas and the last two miles were over before I knew it! This Saturday we are doing a timed run instead of mileage for this one week. Our goal is to run 110-125 minutes I think. Which if I run about a 10 min mile that is about 12-12.5 again. Like I said these few weeks are kind of slow down weeks for us because the people running the Nike are coming to an end and what not - then after this week we pick back up with the pretty steady 2 miles increase per week. Yay. (Sarcasm-haha) Here's a pretty dorky pic. of me that brandon snapped while we crossed the bridge back into Heather Farms last Sat.

Yeah - pretty hot I know. Looks like I'm not even moving - haha. Anyways that's all for now I suppose. Any questions/comments let me know and remember to visit my fundraising page and help relieve some of my exhaustion!!! ;)

http://pages.teamintraining.org/sf/honolulu08/sverbeke

Hello again bloggers!!

GO TEAM OZ!! Oh - if I didn't mention. Our team name is "Team Oz" since we have so much courage, heart and of course brains!

I'm sorry it's been a full week since I've "blogged". I figured it was time to get back on here when I started receiving threatening e-mails (Michelle again ;)-haha) So yeah, let's see what's new with me and the running.... The knee's/knee is getting better I believe. Still a little sore but I was able to run the full mileage on Saturday. I kind of took it easy to make sure that I didn't have any major issues like the week before but it was nice. We ran from Walnut Creek which is where I live, all the way to P-Hill by Don's old house on Norse Dr. For those of you who don't know where that is - sorry, I can't explain. Regardless, it was a good run, I was pretty tired at the end but who's not after running 12 miles!?! Towards the end of the run it did start to rain a little which was forecasted but we didn't even care because we NEED the rain!! It was looking like it was going to be a good day to put on PJ's at noon, go buy Sex in the City and have an excuse not to do anything all day but...it stopped raining and actually turned out pretty nice so Clara and I walked around downtown WC passing out flyers for her fundraising party and planning our fundraising ideas and what not. We drove around collecting all of the supplies we would need to set up our own TNT table at the farmers market the next day. We bought 96 bottles of water for $20 and each made a batch of cookies. The three of us (Don, Clara, and I) stood outside the walnut creek farmers market selling water and cookies by donation. We couldn't stay the whole time since we kind of threw everything together last minute but surprisingly made around $200!!! We plan to do this for the next...countless Sundays because although $200 is great, split it 4 ways (we cut Kyle in on the deal since he was sick) and that's not that much. Still very optimistic but I'm going to need some more help. That's right...from YOU!! I can't stress enough how anything will help. We don't realize how many things we waste $5, $10, $15 that are SO much less important such as....Those trips to starbucks, renting movies, cigarettes (i guess there are still some smokers out there), going out to lunch vs. packing a lunch - for ONE day, etc. I'm guilty of these simple pleasures too - don't get me wrong - I love me some carmel macchiato as much as the next, but I also know that this is much more worth it.

Please,

http://pages.teamintraining.org/sf/honolulu08/sverbeke

I'm now up to $455, which is better than last week - and mainly thanks to someone who anonymously donated $175!!!! So THANK YOU to whoever you are - truly an amazing thing you have helped and I really appreciate it. Also a HUGE THANKS to everyone else who has donated no matter what the amount! You guys are helping me make it happen - yay!!

Haha - other than that..I don't have any pictures from this past week but I have some from two weeks ago. These are from our run in San Francisco. It was absolutely amazing. Take a look:

Ahhh...the Golden Gate at 7:30 in the AM!

Then that's a good one of me shoving something in my mouth. I was like 'Carol, I have my mouth full' she's all 'It's ok!!' haha - but it's not, as we can clearly see from the image on the right ;)

Everyone have a good week and I WILL blog sooner - if not I might start getting threatening phone calls!! haha

peace!!

Yellloooo!

Hey everyone!! Sorry I haven't updated in about...10 days to be exact but I've found myself ridiculously busy both at work and at home the last week or so. Don's mom and grandma were in town from MI this past long weekend so we were running around acting like tourists again and having a blast doing it. Again, I'm glad to hear so many people are reading this! I'm even getting requests to write more often =) I do need to do that though, I agree. So I'm sure everyone's gathered that I'm having knee issues with my marathon training. Let me tell you...it is SO FRUSTRATING!! I've never had knee or any kind of leg issues - ever. And I would have known by now because of how super athletic I've always been up to now. HAHA...if anyone knows me from the past you should know how true that is (Michelle) ;) Regardless, knee issues. It's not really the knee but again the IT band which connects in the knee and has tightened up so much that it's pulling at my knee cap. It hurts is what I'm saying. I feel like I have a pretty high pain tolerance too - I'm not what some would call 'a wuss' even though I don't know how to spell that word (wuss)haha.
So I was doing good, going to the doctor, rolling on my foam roller, stretching and all that good stuff - feeling like it was really making a difference - Tuesday we ran at a high school track in circuits to improve stamina and time and I did really well - minor pain. Thursday I skipped because of our company but we were sure to make it to the 12 mile run on Saturday! I started off and I felt AMAZING! I was running and talking with my friend/teamate Kim and we had ran 6 miles before we even knew it! Just like that. done. Not breathing heavily, not a lot of knee pain, just steady running. So we turned around to run the 6 back but Kim kept going because she was doing 14 miles, so I made my way back...alone. I felt ok most of the way, kind of tired - little bored. Made it to the last water stop which was a little over 2 miles away from the end. Got some water and some jelly beans ;) and started to head to my finish and something happened. My knees stiffened right up from stopping I guess. I can't even describe this pain it was that bad. I felt like a 90 year old woman. Hopefully I didn't look like it too! I guess I must have pushed it a little too far too soon. So bummed out. Have been kind of taking it easy since then, not planning on running this week probably. Fortunately Don's mom is a massage therapist so she gave me an amazing massage last night to loosen up those muscles.
Other than that, I'm going back to the doctor tomorrow so we'll see how it goes. But no one fret, I WILL be running that race. I don't want to give anyone the impression that this will not be overcome and that the money that's being donated will be a waste. First of all, the money goes to an AMAZING cause with or without me running and second of all, I've come this far - I feel like if it weren't for my knee I would be able to run 12 miles no problem so when this gets taken care of...I'm good to go. So that's where we stand.
Speaking of where we stand, I have (sadly) only $225 raised. This is harder than the running - even with a bum knee! I need everyone's help!! I'm glad everyone's staying tuned and reading my blogs but there's more to it than that! My time to raise funds is getting shorter and I'm getting more nervous -I can't let it come down to the very last minute so if you haven't donated yet and you want to donate, PLEASE visit my fundraising site:

http://pages.teamintraining.org/sf/honolulu08/sverbeke

Come back soon!!