Dear family and friends --
I'm training to run my first marathon in my home town of Green Bay this May, and hoping to raise a little awareness while I'm at it for a critcally important cause during a time of great need.
The LA Regional Foodbank is an amazing organization doing really admirable work to feed thousands and thousands of hungry children, families and individuals across greater Los Angeles (representing about 5% of America's total population). It's an area which has always had a lot of need but which has been especially hard-hit by our current economic crisis. It's so ironic that, with rapidly rising rates of obesity across the country, hunger is also on the rise. It's simply unacceptable for a nation as wealthy as ours to let one in seven of our own people go hungry on a regular basis.
When my office volunteered at the Foodbank last year, I was so moved by the dedication of their staff and the professionalism of their operation. For example, they helped pioneer a weekend backpack program that provides backpacks of food at school that kids who would otherwise go hungry all weekend can take home to feed themselves and their families.
Please join me in helping to end hunger in America. I would be honored if you would donate in any number of ways: here on my fundraising page, directly at the Foodbank's site, to Feeding America (the national foodbank consortium), or to your local foodbank. Volunteering for your local foodbank is also great. It all helps. (No money donated here is going to pay for my entry fee or travel or anything surrounding the race. Other than the small transaction fee this site charges, every dollar goes to the Foodbank.)
I'll share updates below as my training progresses, and send a big update after I run across the frozen tundra of Lambeau Field to the finish line!
Thank you for your support!
~ Tanja
UPDATE 4/24/10 -- Just finished the last run in which I will add mileage before the race... 24 miles. It was long, it was tough, and I now know what "the wall" feels like. But I feel well prepared to finish, regardless of what my time ends up being. I just hope all of this preparation makes the race itself a little more fun than today's run was!
UPDATE 4/9/10 -- 23 miles at the beach in 4:23... before work. I do not recommend this training method, but I got the distance done. I will have to run a little faster than this on race day if I want to beat Bill Frist's time (4:54).
UPDATE 3/28/10 -- Knocked off my 22-miler in much faster time than my 21-miler (4:04 vs. 4:27). If I can maintain that pace on race day (which all the runners I know assure me I can, with race day adrenaline and all), I should be able to break 5 hours.
UPDATE 3/21/10 -- I volunteered at a water station at mile 19 of the LA Marathon, and it was a wonderful experience. It was an inspiration to see so many different types of people succeeding at their dream of running a marathon, and they were so grateful for the volunteers' support. I felt so pumped afterward that I went for a 12-mile tempo run and only really had to push in the last two miles (runners know that is a little crazy, but shows what inspiration can do for you!).
UPDATE 3/18/10 -- I finished my 21-mile run this past Sunday, and thanks to a slow-and-steady-wins-the-race approach, I got through it all feeling pretty good ("good" being relative, of course). Because I ran right after the daylight savings time "spring forward," and had to plan for several uninterrupted hours of running, I ended up starting at 4 a.m. (equivalent to 3 a.m. to those still out from the previous night), and confused plenty of people just getting out of the midnight Rocky Horror Picture Show with my shouts of "Good morning!"
UPDATE 2/21/10 -- My planned 20-miler turned into 19, and was one of my hardest runs ever. Maybe just focusing on finishing, and not having a time goal, would be a good idea. :-)
UPDATE 2/7/10 -- Finished my 18-mile training run, feeling pretty strong overall.
UPDATE 1/28/10 -- Finished my 16-mile training run, and felt strong and fast... though I was really sore for days!