Headed for Maroc! Would LOVE to Hear from You!

Hello!!!

Marathon des Sables bound...

From March 28 through April 3, you can write to me by going to the race website: http://darbaroud.com and clicking on "écrire aux concurrents/write to competitors."

You will need to include my full name (Colleen Woods :-) ) and race number (864) for me to receive the message.

Please do not send any attachments, as such messages will not be delivered (all email is downloaded via satellite phone before being printed and delivered to competitors).

I can assure you that receiving your messages at the bivouac will do much to boost my spirits!

Love,

Colleen

Laziest Blog Post Ever!

Connie is in town!

Connie, aka Dora the Explorer

We ran into Erik and Laurie in Darby Canyon. I love this pic of Erik making snow angels!

Erik, Laurie - and MAX!!!

And for anyone who thinks there is no technique to snowshoeing,
check out these jazz hands!

How About This Sunshine?

Loving it! I had some nice backpack training today

with the Batchen girls!

Training Streak Has Come to an End...I'm Down, Not Out!

Today, I failed to get a mile in. I wish I could tell you that my failure was for some incredibly noble reason, but it was actually motivated by more vanity than I'd care to admit.

My sister-in-law has beautiful blonde hair. And she brought me to her salon on Long Island yesterday. I think I was her little make-over project! So I had my hair cut, colored, conditioned with two special treatments, and blown out. I am so grateful for this day of beauty!

I can NEVER get my hair to look the way a stylist does with a salon blow out. And tonight we had a surprise party for Donna and I was just too excited to attend the party with my new hair than to mess it up with sweat and all the glamorous side effects of running. So I said I would run after the party. And I am just getting home from the party now (2:20am).

But count me down, not out. I have really LOVED doing the streak. And I will start over tomorrow, a little wiser from my first try. Here are just a few of the reasons that I am ready to get right back on the horse:

• I love routine. Many people who know me well would balk at this assertion and I'll admit it is not universally true about my life choices, but I am finding out that I like routine a lot.
• I like the feeling of braving rough conditions to get in my run. Like the time I ran around downtown Driggs as the snow fell at 10:30pm. I imagined I was in a sandstorm...great MDS training.
• I like knowing that I have done even just a little bit each day to get ready for MDS.
• I am fundraising for children and women in need. Click here to learn more: http://www.active.com/donate/colleenwoods_RTF
  

I have to re-start the count on my streak. Any new takers? I hope so!

Me, my brothers, my Mom and my baby niece at her baptism. This was before my day of beauty...see how frizzy my hair is! :-)

Suggest a Song for my MDS Playlist

Thanks to Jay Batchen for my new tunes!

And I am hoping to collect more. Could you leave a song suggestion for me by posting a comment to this entry? A song you think I might like to hear while moving along in the blisteirng heat of the Sahara.

It will be great to think of you when I hear "our song'!

Thanks so much!

28 Days Into the Streak...

Happy to report that my streak of running at least one mile a day is going strong. There have been spectacular days of training and some that are much less notable (yikes, like the 15 minute run in place I did one night at 11:20pm when I was so tired and just couldn't bear the cold...lame I know!).

I'd write more but I am so sleepy...

Word is that Mike Evan is going 28 days strong, too.

Anyone else streaking?

Happpy 2009!