Thursday, May 28, 2009

Are we ready to do this thing?

This Saturday (May 30) is the big day: Summer season kick-off for Team In Training! It seems like yesterday that we had the wrap-up party for Summer 2008, and yet here were are again, getting ready to do it all over again.

Today was the last unofficial buddy run before the "official" ones start. It turned out to be a pretty special one, as we had old friends friends return--including an alum who just re-upped, a current coach who's been under the weather (I swear he didn't get his cold from me), a former coach, and a mentor who's made her triumphant return from injury (welcome back, Janine!).

It was a great reminder of why I keep coming back to TNT every summer, and why I'm so happy to be back with my peeps once again :).

Want to join us too? There's plenty of room on the team! We've got an information meeting at 9AM this Saturday at the Hyatt Regency in Santa Clara. Come check it out! If you won't be able to attend, give our out-of-this-world team manager a shout at simone.sarracino@lls.org and she will hook you up.

GO TEAM!

Saturday, April 25, 2009

The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak

In between seasons at the moment (5 weeks before Summer season kick-off!) and usually, there's not much to report--I usually spend the off-season cross-training to my heart's content (and times neglecting the running a little too much, thus causing myself to start from square one every summer) and resting up for the grueling, but fun, training coming down the pike.

This time around, I was determined to keep up my running stamina, committing to run at least 2x a week and running at least 6-8 miles on the weekends. But what's that they say about the best laid plans of mice and men?

I got injured in the second week of my off-season. It was a pesky hip flexor injury that led to pain in the hip, upper glute, and left side of my lower back--just as lovely as it sounds, by the way. As a result, I was sidelined for a little over two weeks and for a week, was not allowed to do anything weight bearing, the equivalent of asking a race horse to please stay in the stable and contain itself. At this point, it should be noted that I WASN'T EVEN RUNNING AT THE TIME I GOT INJURED. Yes, I can't even chalk it up as a battle scar.

So what was I doing that led to this, you ask? Nothing. Or at least, I still haven't been able to figure out what I did to trigger it--and neither has my physical therapist, so it defies professional assessment, apparently. It might have been due to the Napa Marathon, but we haven't been able to really prove that one way or the other. The only thing I know is that one day on the bus, while vacationing in Spain, I felt a sharp shooting pain when I got up out of my seat, a pain that got even worse and radiated to my side when I stepped off the bus and set foot on the ground.

Fast forward six weeks later and I am FINALLY feeling better. Thanks to a great physical therapist well-versed in the art of torture--oops, I mean, sports massage therapy, I was able to get on the road to recovery and am slowly but surely getting to where I was when I ended my season.

It wasn't the off-season I was hoping for, and yes, I will probably have to start from square one again come June 2, but with any luck I will be 100% healthy and get back to where I left off relatively quickly.

If not, well, I do have 5 1/2 months to get there ;).

P.S. Want to help me in my quest to rid the world of cancer? Here's your chance! As little as $1 can help fund incredible programs and research from the country's leading nonprofit devoted to curing Leukemia, Lymphoma, and Myeloma. Give today: http://pages.teamintraining.org/sj/NikeSF09/jenibarra

Even better, join the team! Contact Simone Sarracino at simone.sarracino@lls.org to find out how to join the Summer South Bay Run team (the bestest run team on the planet, natch :)).

Tuesday, March 24, 2009

Here she goes again...

It appears two marathons aren't enough after all--I've just re-upped for my third :).

I'll be starting my 7th--my 7th!! My, how time flies!--season with Team in Training in June, and I'm getting a head start on my fundraising. If you'd like to help this amazing cause and join me in making cancer cry like a little girl, please visit my fundraising page at http://pages.teamintraining.org/sj/nikesf10/jenibarra.

Stay tuned for updates on my training once the season starts (and even before!).