New PR!! Winter Park Road Race

What a great race! I ran the Winter Park Road Race which was a 10k course throughout the beautiful streets of Winter Park and I had my best time ever...53:33 official time. Considering my goal for the race was 58 minutes, I was very impressed with my finishing time. I'm not quite sure where that came from, I normally average between a 9:30 and 9:15 pace on most of my longer runs, so an 8:37 pace is pretty unheard of from me. But I think it was the first time I really pushed my limits since I've started training for the marathon so perhaps this is my hard work paying off!

It was great to see my TNT teammates this week, it has been too long since i've been able to run with the group. Many thanks to my pace partner Michael, you really kept me going, i'm very proud of you too!!

Now that I have this success behind me and my sickness from the past week, I am ready to get back into full swing, with an exciting 14 mile run coming up this Saturday. That will be longest run yet, so I am both aprehensive and excited about it...hopefully I will feel victorious after that run too!

Run long, run strong... Tara

Back in the saddle again

So, after a week long hiatus from running due to an unfortunate cold/flu/who knows what...I hit the pavement again and it felt great! All this time I have been worrying about an injury keeping me out, but was caught off guard by getting sick. I attempted a 6 mile run on Saturday to see how I felt...poor decision.

Note to self (and other runners): if you don't get a good night sleep because you are up sneezing and sniffling, chances are you are not ready to get out there again. I foolishly tried to do more than my body was telling me I could do, and about mile 4 I started having trouble breathing and had to run/walk the rest of the 6 miles. I will admit this was the most discouraged I've felt in a long time, 6 miles has become no big deal to me anymore and it felt like I had asthma :(

Long story short, I listened to myself and took it easy till today, and did a solid 3.5 mile run. I am going to do the Winter Park 10k this weekend and am really looking forward to a race, it's been a while since I've done one and love the competitiveness :) Plus i'm really hoping for a PR to beat my last 10k time of 1:00:07. I'll let you know how I do!

Until next time...run long, run strong!

Star Helps Leukemia Patient Find A Bone Marrow Donor

(Courtesy People.com)

Rihanna is thrilled – and grateful – that the leukemia-stricken New York City mother of two she came forward to help has found a bone marrow donor. "There are no words to express how happy I am for Lisa [Gershowitz-Flynn] and her family," Rihanna tells PEOPLE exclusively. "I am so thankful she found a donor and I feel honored to be a part of such an amazing miracle."

Last month the Grammy-winning singer put out a plea for help, and Flynn, 41, who learned she has an aggressive form of cancer called Acute Myelogenous Leukemia the day after Thanksgiving, quickly found a donor. "This blessing has continued to keep me aware of how precious life really is," says Rihanna. "I will be praying for Lisa and her family as they move into a hopeful future."

As PEOPLE reported exclusively, as soon as Rihanna heard about Flynn's plight, she lent her name to the campaign. As a result, more than 5,000 PEOPLE readers contacted DKMS, the world's leading bone marrow donor center, to become potential donors. Even better, DKMS recruited and registered roughly 2,000 new donors, Katharina Harf, executive vice president of DKMS, told PEOPLE. Flynn is now awaiting a bone marrow transplant. "My life will be saved because of you, my family and friends (old and new)," Flynn wrote in an e-mail to supporters. "My children (Michael, 5, and Alexandra, 3) will have their mother, my husband will have his wife, and my parents will have their daughter. Please continue to spread the word about how important it is to fill the bone marrow registry with donors to save others."

http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,20183928,00.html?xid=rss-topheadlines

http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,20182715,00.html

Sore Muscles?? Get The Stick!!

If you have not heard of "The Stick" your muscles are missing out! This simple tool is a runners best friend-it massages the muscles in your legs, arms, (and anywhere else you can maneuver it) by increasing circulation and stretching. I saw this at a Track Shack event and tried it and bought it instantly. It does wonders on your calves and shins, I try and use it every night before I go to sleep. The US Olympic athletes use it, so you know it has to work! Visit http://www.thestick.net/ to order!

For my TNT teammates, I will try and remember to bring this to our next training so you can try it out!

Want to maintain speed during long runs? Try Tempo Runs!

For those of you who are looking for a boost in your workouts to help improve your bodies ability to maintain race pace for long distances, think about adding tempo-runs to your weekly routine.

Tempo runs are when you run at a "comfortably hard" pace for an extended period during a run anywhere from 10 minutes to an hour based on your fitness level. From what I have read, tempo runs are a better method of training than speed work for long distance runs because they train your body to maintain speed over long distances and improve your body's ability to use oxygen for metabolism more efficiently by increasing your lactate threshold. If you are not sure what lactic acid and running have to do with one another, read this first:

(This article has a lot of information on the science of enzymes in fat and carbohydrates, and how they effect your body, it is a bit long, but all of this information is incredibly helpful in learning what your body does with the food that you put into it and how that will effect your run)

http://www.marathonguide.com/training/articles/MandBFuelOnFat.cfm

I am going to try and incorporate at least one tempo run in my weekly routine and see what kind of improvements I encounter on long runs going forward. To read more about tempo runs and how to do them correctly, check out this article from Runners World: http://www.runnersworld.com/article/0,7120,s6-238-267--11909-0,00.html

If you have any tips on tempo runs, or other successful (or not successful) training tips, please share!

Thank you to all of my donors!!!

Fundraising is going well so far, I am up to $700! I am very close to my first goal, $1000 by the end of March, i just sent out another surge of e-mails to friends and family so hopefully i will make it!

If you have donated so far, thank you so very much, I really appreciate your support, please know that your donation really makes a difference and will help patients and their families who are living with various blood cancers.

If you are still thinking about donating it is not too late, you can visit www.active.com/donate/tntcfl/tokeeffe where you can donate safely and securely online! My ultimate goal is $4,000 so every donation counts!

Nutrition Hot Topic: Salt

http://www.runnersworld.com/article/0,7120,s6-242-300--10439-1-1X2-3,00.html

Found this article on runnersworld.com that talks about the balance of salt and hydration for runners..how much is too much, how much is not enough. They point out some easy tricks to determine if you need more or less, and also mention that for most runners who often run in high temps (thats us floridians) we definetly need more than most. I personally love salty foods, they are my weakness so i guess i was glad to read that its OK for me to consume a little extra :)

For anyone training for a marathon, i reccomend reading the article as it lists when you might need to cary salt tablets during a race if you sweat out excess salt.

Here are some good salty snacks that Runners World reccomends:

Reach for these good-for-you foods to satisfy salt cravings and get an added nutritional punch. While you're at it, switch to sea salt, says nutritionist Bob Seebohar. It has more micronutrients, including zinc and iron, than regular table salt.

Black olives (6 olives, 200 mg) are a good source of monounsaturated fat, iron, and vitamin E.

Whole-grain pretzels (2 oz., 116 mg) count as one of three whole-grain servings recommended per day.

V-8 juice (1 8-oz. can, 590 mg) is a bargain at two servings of vegetables for a mere 50 calories.

Cheese (1 oz., 175 mg) typically supplies 20 percent of the RDA for calcium.

Deli turkey (28 g, 270 mg) packs in about five grams of protein.

Chicken-noodle soup (1 cup, 460 mg), homemade, provides a well-balanced meal of protein and carbohydrates.

Salted almonds (1 oz., 96 mg) are high in monounsaturated fat and vitamin E.

Training Week's 3 & 4 Pic's

(Thank you to our Mentor Ernie for taking pictures during trainings, I really appreciate it!)

This is quite the site at 7:30 am....getting in a good stretch before our 6 mile run at Blue Jacket Park.

Week 4 brought us to the West Orange Trail for the first of what I consider to be "long runs", running 8 miles, and it felt great! So far training is going amazing! The past two weeks I logged 15 miles each...this weeks goal: 20! I'll let you know how I do at the end of the week :)