We're at it again!

Taking on the Country Music Half Marathon was a hilly and hot challenge, but it was also a cathartic experience. Knowing we raised more than $15,000 for the fight against cancer and putting monumental effort into celebrating our friend Mark helped to heal our hearts after his loss.

Since Mark worked at Disney for 15 years, it seems only appropriate that we come together again to run the Walt Disney World Half Marathon, so we can celebrate with Mark's friends and family there.

So here we go again!

Complete details on how you can join the team or support us with a donation are available on the Team Mark fundraising page.

Long Live the King!

We did it!

We came. We saw. We kicked some ass!

You'd never know we'd all been up since before 5am.

Mark would be so proud.

$15,000 raised to beat cancer. Totally worth it.

Stay in touch with the team

If you are planning to come to the race and want to keep up with what's going on, the easiest way to do that is to either join this blog or subscribe to posts via email. Both options are in the right rail. ------>

Planning ahead

It will be April before we know it! I can't believe how fast time is flying. Trying to think ahead about logistics, I'm wondering how many people are going to be staying at the hotel. According to my team's staff mentor, we're staying at the Doubletree downtown. I'm not sure if there's more than one LLS hotel, but I've been told I can arrange for all of us to be in the same hotel if I know ahead of time how many rooms we need. So let me know your plans.

Also from my staff mentor, I know I'm flying Thursday morning before the race and leaving the Sunday after. I may try to delay that to see family while I'm already in Tennessee, not sure. I'd assume other out of state schedules will be similar, but you can check with your team's mentor to get the details.

Friday night is the team dinner. I'm not sure where it is, though I think it's at the hotel. We're supposed to sit with our training teams, but I'm trying to see if we can somehow sit together. The evening after the race there's a party at the Wild Horse. That's more of a free-for-all. Would anyone be interested in getting together for breakfast/brunch on Sunday? Give me a headcount and suggestions for places, and I'll make some reservations if there's interest.

Finally on my list of planning ahead is the race itself. My coaches have been talking a lot about nutrition and hydration plans lately and want us all to have one we'll be using during training in the next couple of weeks. By the time we're running at least half our race distances, they want us doing what we'll be doing during the race every week. Please talk to your coaches or teammates if you don't have a plan yet.

Side note: I've tried just about every kind of water bottle, hydration pack, fuel belt out there it seems and finally found one I love. Thought I'd share in case anyone else is looking. This is the Nathan Trail Mix 2 Hydration Belt. It has a model with 4 bottles, too.

The odds that we're all going to be on the same pace, eating/drinking the same stuff or anything else are remote. Most of us have family and friends close by to help us out. I was hoping we could pool our people and spread them out over the course to help us all out along the way. Since we've got a couple of teammates who don't have local folks, we'd certainly be helping them out.

I'm not sure what the finish area is like at this race, but I know at Marine Corp, there's no way in hell you can find a runner at the actual finish. Should we pick a place to tell all our people to rendezvous after?Any suggestions where?

So what's your plan? Do you have a pace/finish goal yet? Who'll be at the race to cheer? Got questions?

(Yes, I am this neurotic. HA!)

Way to go, Rob and Kim!

Two more teammates have met their goals! So proud of everyone!

A hard day

Congratulations, Stephanie and Jennifer!!!

Everyone is doing a fantastic job with their fundraising, and hats off to Stephanie and Jennifer for reaching their goals! Way to go!

Welcome, Char!

In honor of Mark's birthday, Char Robertson has officially signed up for Team In Training to join us! Check out her fundraising page on the list at the right. Welcome aboard!

Stephanie, Kim and Bethany join the team!

The team is really taking shape now! Stephanie (Moates) Brown, Kim (Crane) Mallory and Bethany (Mitchell) Lambert have their fundraising pages set up. Be sure to check their links on the list to the right!

Go Team!!

Who doesn't love a discount?!

Runningwarehouse.com updated their discount code for Team in Training.  The new code is TNTRAININGD and they give TNT participants 15% all items including sale items.

Be sure to talk to your coaches about local discounts that may be available to you as well.

Happy running!

Article: Here's How to Run a Perfect Race From Runner's World.com

I'm looking for tips on reducing shin and calf cramps. Took a sec to read this. It's entertaining and helpful. For those of us running a race for the first time, it's got some great insights. Enjoy!

Here's How to Run a Perfect Race From Runner's World.com

Cytomax

I found some Cytomax and thought I'd give it a try in my short run today. Two things to know about this stuff: It has Stevia in it and it has caffeine. The caffeine doesn't bother me, but I hate artificial sweeteners. This stuff has an after taste. The consistency is a little different, too. You can see from the pic that it's a bit frothy after you shake it up.
I definitely suggest trying it pre-race. I'm thinking I may end up wearing my Camelback with some other drink. The guy at the store showed me some other options he uses. I'll try those and let you know. If all else fails, it will be orange Gatorade, sugar content be damned.
As always if you guys have suggestions or try something new, let us all know.
One last thing, whatever you're taking in, be sure to look at the overall caffeine content. If you're sensitive to it, you'll be surprised how much is in all this stuff. There's as much caffeine in one shot blok as a half cup of coffee, and the package says to eat 3-6 bloks an hour. Just something to keeping mind.
Happy running!