This lifestyle is good for my diet...

Well hello there, blog friends, how in the world are you?

I am....tired. Dang! I think I mentioned, but just in case I didn't, I'm MOVING and standing up in a wedding in Nashville this Saturday. Meaning I need to be in two places at once...or very prepared. I'm choosing the prepared option since the other one would likely not work for me. So I have been spending every spare minute at my apartment packing! I hired movers whom Taylor will be supervising on Saturday morning while I get ready for the wedding. So yeah, after we got back from our fun trip to Philly yesterday, I packed until 12:30am, got up, went to work, left work, went to practice (more on that later), and came home to shower and keep packing. Hopefully I'll be in bed by a little after midnight so I can get up, go to work early so I can leave early to come back and finish packing! Whew!

So anyway, back to what you really want to hear about: the PAIN of practice! Well, today was another almost-rainy Tuesday (last week was almost rainy in that it stopped right before practice, but I wasn't there, I was running 7:56 miles downtown!). So as I got out of the subway today at 72nd Street, it is POURING rain. Some random participant saw my Team In Training vest and goes, "We don't run in this do we?" The answer is YES, we DO. But I was most concerned about what to do with my bag of work clothes and electronics that I had brought. Luckily, TNT has bag watch so you can bring stuff with you, but not in the rain. Then I remembered that there's a covered area near where we were meeting so all was not lost. I actually ran in to one of my mentees at the entrance to the park. Lauren looked slightly freaked out at the prospect of running in the rain. I realized, though, that it was actually very bright and would probably clear up. Which it did, minutes later and it became a nice night for a run.

Whew, and what a run it was! Our run consisted of 3 miles of effort (not speed) intervals. We had to run 6 lampposts (about .3 miles) at about 80-85% capacity followed by about .15 miles at a recovery pace. Whew! It was NOT easy. I was hurting, but not until the very end when we returned to our bag did I really start to sweat profusely (it was nasty) and get light-headed when I bent over to stretch. Luckily, we did what any sensible people would do, drug our sweaty selves to the nearest bar for a quick recovery drink. Whew!

Ok, my new goal is to have some pictures to post. I'm sorry I keep forgetting! I promise to take some next week at practice.

Well, I will be out of town this weekend at my friend's wedding in Nashville, so I won't have much to report about practice, though I do plan to do an old favorite run while I'm in Nashville. Should be a good time. And now I sign-off like the late Dr. Bob Cooke of Family radio:

Until I meet you again by way of blog, walk with the King today and be a blessing!

11 mentees!

I can hardly believe it, right now I have 11 mentees for the New York City Marathon. I'm going to see if I can name them all: Rosa, Lauren, Chris, Tim, Kirsten, Mandi, Sav, Sue, Sara, Rebecca, and Liz. Whew!! That was in no particular order by the way, but I'm proud I was able to do it. These eleven amazing people are doing what I did a year ago, training and fundraising for their first (or in a couple of cases second, third, or even forth!) marathon! I am so honored to be their mentor and will try to introduce you to each of them throughout the season. They are pretty cool!

So it's Memorial Day weekend (ie, the official kick-off of "get-the-heck-out-of-Manhattan" season). It's supposed to be a BEAUTIFUL weekend, and I'm excited to kick it off tomorrow with a run in Central Park! Then, I think Taylor and I are going to check out the Cloisters and just enjoy the weather. Should be a great, relaxing day. I also have to keep working on packing because I'm moving next Saturday!!! Well...I should correct that, Taylor is moving me on Saturday because I will be in Nashville at my friend Tracy's wedding. Taylor will be here supervising the movers we hired to take all my stuff across town to me new neighborhood, the Upper East Side...yeah I know, I can't believe it either! I am excited though because I'm moving in with my friend Kiernan and it should be a blast. Well, I must get some sleep but I'll update you after my run tomorrow!

Just call me Speedy

Well, today I ran the Wall Street Heart Run 5K for the American Heart Association. I ran with a friend from work and had REALLY hoped to beat him in the race. However, sadly I was unable to beat him EVEN THOUGH I did race my fastest race ever! I did 7:56 miles for 3 miles for a total time of 23:50. Not bad for me! :)

As for my fundraising...things are going rather slowly, but I have confidence that it will pick up. Please donate If you haven't yet! :)

Well, I have to be at work early tomorrow, so sorry to cut this short. Please check back soon for more updates!

Well hello there!

Well, I just sent out a large batch of fundraising e-mails so if you are here as a result of that, THANKS for coming!! :) I hope you noticed I did some pretty fancy merging, so hopefully it all turned out and you were able to read and respond. Don't worry, I'll be sending monthly updates so you can't forget I'm here :)

Anyway, this weekend we had practice on Saturday and it was BEAUTIFUL! It's funny, NYC seems to be in the habit of being gross and rainy on Friday night, thereby making me have no desire to go out or even stay up late. Which is perfect because then when it's beautiful on Saturday morning, I'm all ready to go!

So anyway, on Saturday we ran by time, which our coach assures us is a much better mental exercise than running by distance because it helps combat all the psychological issues that come from thinking "oh I have 2 more mile to go" or "how fast was I running if it took me X number of minutes to go that many miles." It's true, it does help combat some of that, so we had a nice fun, easy, stress-free run on Saturday.

And by the way, I LOVE my mentees! They are just the greatest people! In fact, I ended up going out to the all-team social on Saturday night with Mandi and we had a good time. It was at a roof-top bar and they had drink specials and it was pretty fun. All though, true to form for me lately, I only stayed until about 10pm, so it wasn't that exciting of a night. In fact, I'm up later writing this right now than I was last night! :)

So this week I will be missing TNT practice because I am running a race with my co-worker. I'm a little competitive with him, so I've been training hard! We're doing a 5K and I have to somehow do sub-8-minute miles which, frankly, isn't my style (nor is it technically in my ability, but I am going to try!). So...be on the lookout for an update on the outcome of the great showdown of '08!

With that, I must get to bed. Please bookmark this page and come back often!

Long Overdue Post

Ok! So as promised I re-did my blog this weekend, but I was so busy making that text on the right scroll that i didn't have time to introduce the blog! So this is my new "look and feel" as it were and on these hallowed pages you will follow my adventures through my second marathon!

I am so excited to be startig this journey again. We've already had two practices and I have 7 mentees whom I will be helping through this process. We are having a great time so far! On Saturday, it was a beautiful day in NYC and before practice I went on a short run on my own just to get some miles in. At practice, I joined the Intermediate running group and we did 2 lower loops of the park. Each loop is 1.7 miles so that's about 3.4 miles. It was fun and I got to run with one of my mentees, Mandi who's tons of fun!

Then last night we did another run in the park (and again it was beautiful, we're in luck!). We ran 4.5 miles up the west side of the park. I got to run with another of my mentees this time and realized that the runners in our group are really speedy! It was a workout!

Alright, well sadly I am busy busy at work, but I wanted to update you. My fundraising will kick off this weekend so BEWARE, you'll be hearing from me soon!

Good Questions, Aunt Sheryl and Ben :)

Well, for those who have been following my blog (and I imaging that's probably not many of you beyond those already entrenched in the riveting drama), it's been an exciting few weeks, huh? I mean, Taylor gets the Fulbright, I drink lotion, and now my Aunt Sheryl in Whyoming and my friend Ben from New York are having a good ole' fashioned sharing time :) I'm good.

Well, I wanted to take a minute to warn you. My blog will be debuting a new identity in the very near future. It's about to be taken over by running, fundraising, and homeless people (not necesarily in that order, so watch out!). For now, I actually have some work to do, but check back late on Saturday for the full scoop! In the meantime, feel free to ask any questions you'd like of Aunt Sheryl (or Ben, for that matter).

Third Wheeling - the new dating

Ok, so my friends Megan and Ben have specifically requested a shout out on my blog. They like to read my blog and then torment me about what I write. They take particular enjoyment from subject lines like "Good Question, Aunt Sheryl." In fact, Ben told me on Thursday "I want Aunt Sheryl to ask a question about me!" So, Aunt Shreyl, ask away. In fact, I hope you don't mind, but in order to properly introduce everyone, here is the cast of characters:

Ben:
Megan "Bunchy":
Aunt Sheryl (Only picture I could find, it's my whole family. Aunt Sheryl is in the pink hat):
Ok, so I'll let the questions commence. In other news, I saw some celebrities last night when I went to get a drink with my friend Wendy!!!

So the first wasn't such a major celebrity, but I recognized him immediately from Project Runway this season: http://photos.killervirgo.com/projrun4-cast2.JPG (top, middle).

Yep, he was our bartender, which I thought was king of cool. It was kind of a hole-in-the-wall place too. Not too many people were there when we arrived. So we basically had the bar to ourselves with him. Of course I didn't say anything.

THEN, after we were sitting there for a while, I glanced at these two women who had been there the whole time we had and realized one of them was Cybill Shepherd. I assume she was a regular there because they seemed to know the bartender and didn't really move or get approached by anyone the whole time we were there. So there you have it. New York, so exciting :)

I'm a MENTOR!!!

Well, friends, it has officially begun (which reminds me...this blog might need to change form soon...)!

This week, I got the names of my first two mentees whom I will be guiding through the Team In Training (TNT) program for the New York City Marathon! I can't believe it's really happening!

In case you're wondering, what it means to have "mentees," allow me to explain. Well for those who don't know, I ran a marathon last year with TNT (in fact, it was TODAY a year ago...crazy!). TNT is part of the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society and participants in the program raise money for cancer research and patient aid while getting coaching to complete an endurance event. So at the finish line of my last marathon I swore I would never do another one. Then I realized I had automatic entry into the New York City Marathon and well....here I am.

So as a mentor, I will have about 10 people whom I am charged with sort of guiding through the experience of Team In Training. So I'll be helping them with everything from fundraising ideas to training support (but only a little, the coaches have to do most of that for safety reason - I am no expert!). I'll also be organizing little mentor group outings and encouraging my mentees to attend team outings as well.

I'm really excited because I feel like this role really plays to my strengths of organization, enjoying working with people, and event planning all wrapped into one! It should be a good time! I will definitely keep you posted about how it is going! Oh and I'll also probably be asking you to support the Society with a donation, but more to come on that. And for your enjoyment here's the e-mail I sent to my first two mentees. Enjoy!

Dear Kristen,

Hello and welcome to Team In Training!!

My name is Carissa and I am so excited to be your mentor for this exciting season. I am here to help guide you through one of the most amazing and life-changing experiences you will ever have! I can sure say that my Team In Training experience was all that I hoped for and more and I know that the same will be true for you. Warning, this is a long, but very informative e-mail (I hope), please read and respond!

If you are nervous, don't be! I promise that you will cross the finish line of the amazing New York City Marathon if you listen to Coach Ramon and BEHAVE (his signature phrase). And I will be there to help you every step of the way!

Attached is my mentor bio. And I'd love to know a little bit about you.... where you're from, what inspired you to join TNT and what you'd like to get out of the season. Anything you would like to share. :-) So shoot me an e-mail whenever you can.

Mentor Bio: http://docs.google.com/Doc?id=dch7cxqr_9cp9pnrgm

UPCOMING EVENTS:

• Wednesday, May 7th 6:30 pm: KICK OFF is at 630 2nd Avenue @ 35th street. It's a big church, you can't miss it. I look forward to meeting you there. When you e-mail back, PLEASE let me know if you will be able to attend.
• Saturday, May 10th at 10:00 am: First Group Training Session (GTS) at Bethesda Terrace in Central Park and in Prospect Park. For the first practice at least, it would be great if you can come to Bethesda, which is located on the north side of the 72nd street transverse that connects the east side of the park to the west side of the park. I will be there in whatever standard-issue TNT Mentor gear they give us, more details to come! If you’d rather train in Prospect Park (I believe you live in Brooklyn), I will get more specific meeting locations for you.
• Tuesday, May 13th at 6:40 pm: First mid-week practice. You'll get more information on this later. It’s a team tradition to go for happy hour after Tuesday night practice, so plan on drinks with your mentor group. Believe me, there’s no better way to bond than drinking beer at a bar in spandex (if you don’t have spandex yet, don’t worry, you will)!
  

FUNDRAISING:

• One of the most important things you can do in the next few weeks is NOT to go out and run (there’s plenty of time for that later), but to sit down and get your fundraising going (you’ll be glad you did once training starts!). Believe me, the earlier you start, the easier it is.
• You should get an e-mail soon (or you may have gotten it already) about setting up your fundraising site. This only takes 2 minutes to set up...piece of cake!!!
• Here’s mine from my last marathon: www.active.com/donate/tntnyc/tntnycCLucyk1 (note: this was hosted on a different server and has a different look and feel. Once I edit my site for this year, I’ll definitely show you!).
• Also, don’t forget that one of the most effective ways of fundraising is still the good old-fashioned LETTER. I raised most of my money this way (especially from my non-computer-savvy relatives). I have posted my letter online. Please take a look and feel free to plagiarize! http://docs.google.com/Doc?id=dch7cxqr_3cz5rdscw.
  
• Send me a draft of your letter and I’ll gladly take a look. Don’t forget, TNT will mail up to 100 letters for you

Finally, please know that I am always available to you. Call or email me ANY TIME with questions, concerns, etc. In fact, I will be calling you this weekend…watch out!

• Cell phone: (419) 494-9040
• Email: carissa.lucyk@gs.com AND carissa.lucyk@gmail.com (please always copy BOTH so I can get it whether I’m at work or home!)

Thanks and I look forward to talking to you this weekend and meeting you at Kickoff!

Carissa

Don't drink and....Sleep?

I'm a little embarrassed to share this story, but it is almost too funny for me to keep in, so here goes.

My friends from work and I have developed a little habit of going to a local cantina (read: High class Mexican restaurant) called Dos Caminos about once a week for the $11 margaritas and $24 guacamole. Before you gasp let me just say the margaritas are strong and DEFINITELY more worth the money than those $6 ones at Chili's. And as for the guacamole...it's just delicious, so $24 for 4 people is ok with me.

Anyway, last night we went to Dos Caminos and I had three margaritas. Which is a lot. Despite being pretty tipsy I did get home fairly early and have a nice conversation with both my mom and Taylor before falling asleep around 10pm. And here's where it gets interesting...

So, I woke up at about 4am and was really thirsty. I reached for the water bottle that I keep on the nightstand beside my bed. I took off the lid and began trying to drink the water. Any by that I mean I was sucking REALLY HARD because nothing was coming out. "Strange," thought my slightly drunk and half-asleep self. Well, finally after a while, something came out.....yes, something. This something was sort of gooey and not at all the consistency that water is supposed to have. It was more like pudding... Somewhere in my brain I rationalized that maybe something was wrong with the bottle and the water had gotten thick...yeah i know, real logical.

So, what do you think I did after swallowing the pudding-water (which tasted like pretty much nothing, by the way)? That's right, I took one more big swig just to be sure it wasn't h2O. Nope...definitely not water. At this point I finally am conscious enough to realize something is very wrong, so I run to the sink in the kitchen and get a big glass of ACTUAL water. I returned to my room to figure out WHAT I was drinking. And you will never guess what it was.

Suave Advanced Healing Lotion. Seriously. I was drinking lotion in my sleep. I really dare you to try to top that because I don't think I could if I tried. YUCK! And you guessed it, when I removed the "cap" from the water I had in fact popped off the piece of plastic out of which the lotion actually squirts (it was laying pathetically next to my pillow when I woke up - with a stomach ache of course!). And there was my headless little bottle of lotion. I seriously can't look at my lotion without gagging. Ugh....

So I will end this post the same way I started it. With some very very wise words. Don't drink and sleep....lest you become like me. Hey, look on the bright side, my esophagus is very smooth.

Scenario 1 is coming true!! Taylor GETS the Fulbright!!

Well, as you can see, Taylor got the Fulbright. We're not really 100% sure what that means, but what I do know is that Taylor will be in Indonesia (not sure where) teaching English (not sure to whom) from August 2008 to May 2009 (not sure of exact dates). And I'm not sure where we'll live after that!!! Not much of an update, huh? So I am tentatively leaning toward option 3 below or some variation of it:

Taylor GETS the Fulbright:

• I stay in New York, doing pretty much what I'm doing now.
• I stay in New York until I run the New York City Marathon in November and then move to Atlanta and work for Deloitte and wait patiently for Taylor to come back.
• I stay in New York until I run the New York City Marathon in November and then move to Ann Arbor to live with my sister while she attends beauty school and work for Google and wait patiently for Taylor's return.

I'm not 100% sure though, so we'll see!! For now, I'm planning to move in with my friend Kiernan from June 1- December 1, but I might leave for Michigan/Ohio right after the New York City Marathon. I honestly have no idea what I will do with myself when I get there. I have debated some or all of the following:

• Live with Taryn and work in Ann Arbor in either a "real job" at a big company or some BS job like a barista at Starbucks
• Live at home and do the same.
• Live wherever and work for a non-profit making virtually no money (but still enough to afford rent that will be about 30% of what I pay now)
• Train for a Triathlon
• Get a dog
• Be a nanny
• Work in the ministry
• Write for a newspaper
• Blog for a living (jk, you've read this, I'll never make it!)
• Read a lot of books
• Invent something
• Teach
• Work for my dad (wouldn't that be funny?!)
• Start a non-profit (see www.backonmyfeet.org - sorry you have to copy and paste, the link isn't working...)
• Open a knitting/yarn store (Keepin' Knit Together - say it fast, sounds kinda like "Keepin' IT Together" it's "Knot Just Aknother Knitting Shop")

DO YOU HAVE ANY OTHER IDEAS? I mean seriously, I'm open since I clearly have no agenda here. I'm bummed that Taylor will be gone, but I'm excited for both our future together (after Fulbright) and for the time I get to spend with my family doing whatever I want. Career? Who needs it!

Alright, well please feel free to comment with ideas about my future!