12 miles

I ran 12 miles on Saturday and my whole body can feel it. It started at mile two as my legs started to ache, and they never relented. It only stopped hurting when I stopped moving. For the rest of the day I noticed that instead of actually walking, I was doing more of a waddle. I felt like penguin. I just could not lift my legs. Starting next week we are staggering our distances. Next weeks run will be 6 miles. EASY! Then we jump to 14 miles, then to 7 miles, etc. A little variety to prevent over exertion.

This weekend Santa Monica was my home. I went to bed early and woke up on time at 6am (almost 2.5 hours earlier than I wake for work. psssst. Don't tell my boss). Running with this group was new to me. So new I didn't know where I was going. Oh sure. I thought I did. But when I got to the place I was sorely mistaken. The gates were locked and not a soul was in sight. I thought I had plenty of time when I left the house. After all, I am just one mile from the Santa Monica border. Well, I would have had plenty of time if I had gone to the right place. Realizing the location I had in my mind was wrong, rushing home to get the proper directions was my only option. So home I went and rushed to the real location. I arrived at the training site just in time to wonder, where is my running group? Santa Monica is a little less organized the San Francisco. Finally at the start point, a quarter mile from where we all meet up, I found out who I was running with. There were 10 of us in the group running 10 minute miles. Us toggles. We actually got a pep talk from the woman who won the '73 Boston marathon. I never caught her name, but it was inspiring on how not to run Boston. I have a friend who has learned that lesson, also.
Saturday was hot. Even at 7am it was hot. There were long hills that only seemed to go up. That lasted about 8 miles. The last 4 miles only seemed to go down. A nice change of pace. Around mile 5 we split in two groups. I hung back with the two women in our group and a physician who has run 7 AIDS marathons. Knowing what he has done is very inspiring. As much as my legs hurt during the run, I also had another injury that is a little bit more embarrassing to talk about. Ok. I got a nipple rash. I had to put band aids on them once I got home. Seriously. My shirt rubbed my nipples raw. If anybody has any info about what to do please let me know. I have seen pictures of people whose nipples get so raw from running they started bleeding. I don't want that. Please help me.

Also, please help me, if you can. $10, $20, $50 or $100. Or if you cant afford to give any money, I fully understand. But I ask that you pass this site along to your friends and coworkers. It is really important to get this out to the people so we can all help with prevention and with finding a cure!