Lindsay Tredent

Hill Repeats at Dodger Stadium

Well, here we are: two days away from the big event. Did I see myself here when I first signed up for the race back in October? Yes. Did I know how I would feel? No. Did I know that I would be raising money for charity? Nope. All I knew was that I wanted to complete a marathon and cross it off my bucket list before I turn 30.

There have been a lot of questions people have asked me about how I’m feeling with training. I will answer them here.

What made you decide to run the marathon? I decided to run for several different reasons. You can read about them by clicking here.

Do you listen to music while you run? Yes.

What kind of music do you listen to? Mostly punk rock. That and The Naked and Famous record is damn good to run to, especially “Punching in a Dream.” Reminds me of the movie “Art of Flight” and gets me super pumped.

What do you think about when you run? Nothing and everything all at once. That, and things like “are we there yet?” “what will I have for breakfast after this?” “I wonder if Marion is still sleeping?” “Will I feel like this during the marathon?” ” Am I done yet”

What is the name of the charity you are running for? Youth Mentoring Connection is an LA based program that matches at-risk youth with adult mentors. I got involved with them about 4 years ago when I volunteered to be a surf mentor and introduce kids to the ocean and surfing. These kids live in LA and many had never been to the beach. It blew my mind. I initially began volunteering to help others. Little did I know how much I would get more out of it myself. Funny how those things work. Anyway, Youth Mentoring is an official charity of the LA Marathon and I thought of nothing better than to attach my efforts to raising money and awareness for an organization I feel so passionately about. I set a goal to raise $1,500. To date I have raised $2,300 and received the most amazing support from people in all aspects of my life. I am dedicating this marathon to all of YOU. I cannot thank you all enough. Every mile of my race will be dedicated to specific people who have sponsored me along the way. You can visit my fundraising page here to see the names of all the incredible people who have supported my cause: http://www.crowdrise.com/ChangingLives/fundraiser/lindsaytredent

How has training been? It’s been long and hard. About a month ago I really just wanted to be done with it. It takes a lot of dedication to go out and run several times a week like I’ve been doing. Thankfully I haven’t suffered too much setback in my training so I was able to get most of my runs in.

Have you hit “the wall”? I’ve heard a lot about the wall. And I’m pretty sure I hit it on mile 18 of my 20 mile training run. My quads locked up and I slowed to a snail’s pace. I later learned that cramping might have been due to the loss of too much salt and electrolytes causing dehydration. I started taking salt pills and I haven’t had an issues since. Fingers crossed.

Wow, you are running a lot of miles. Have you lost weight? No. Actually, I have gained weight. Many people who train for a marathon lose weight. Not me. When I go out and run 20 miles my body thinks I’m dying so it goes into starvation mode and produces more fat. Lucky me.

Are you excited? I am feeling all sorts of things right now. I am excited to cross the finish line. It’s going to be an amazing feeling. Just the thought of it makes me emotional. I understand why people cry when they cross the finish line.

Are you going to run another marathon? Never say never, but I have no plans to run a marathon in the near future.

That’s it for now, folks. Tomorrow I plan to rest and run a quick 10 minutes to loosen the legs and maybe read more of Book #2 of the Hunger Games Trilogy. I am keeping my fingers crossed for strong mind, body, and soul on race day as well as no rain!

Thanks to everyone who has followed my journey. You can track me on race day by following me on Twitter – @LTsurf.

Less than one month to go before I run the LA Marathon on Sunday March 18th. It’s been a long road but I feel like I’m finally getting to the point where I’m there. Am I as ready as I want to be? No, but I probably never will be so it’s now or never!

On February 11th we hit a milestone in our training and ran 20 miles. This was my longest run EVER. So many new things come into the equation when you are running this type of distance. For one, having gels or GU every 45 minutes is not enough. That helps to replace your glucose but you also need to replace the sodium and electrolytes. This is where drinking a sports drink or having salt tablets come into play. A friend of mine who is an endurance athlete told me to take salt tablets every hour to help with cramping and dehydration. I took one before I ran but I forgot to take them along my run. This may be the reason why my quads locked up at mile 18 and I slowed down to a snail’s pace. I just kept telling myself that this is where the real training kicks in because that will be simulating how I will be feeling on race day. The last 6-8 miles are going to be so mentally tough, but I have to stay strong and get through it. I also need to do everything in my power to stay hydrated and have proper nutrition.

At the end of the 20 miles I was sore, but I wasn’t sore as I thought I was going to be. I did come home and take a 2 hour nap, but after that I went out with Marion and we ran errands and I wasn’t limping around or anything. On Sunday we went for a walk along the beach and I took a Yin Yoga class at night. By the end of the yin yoga class I wasn’t sore at all any more. I highly recommend this type of yoga as a way to deeply stretch your body.

This weekend we are running 16 miles. I am going to do my best to stick to my training schedule to a tee for the next few weeks even though my body is starting to get really tired of all this running. But there are a couple things that are keeping me going. One is the goal of finishing a marathon. And the second is using all my hard work and effort as a way to raise money for LA youth. That’s right, I am fundraising for LA at-risk youth as part of my marathon training. I will post more information on this later in the week but if you are interested in learning more about how you can help, here is the link to my fundraising page on Crowdrise: http://www.crowdrise.com/ChangingLives/fundraiser/lindsaytredent.

You can also follow my training on Twitter – @LTsurf

Today marks the end of my 5+ year run at Myspace. The past five years have been an incredible journey and one that I will always remember. I learned so much and it was truly a moment in time that I will never forget. Here are some highlights from my time here:

2006 - I move from San Diego to LA to join Myspace. One week into my job, Myspace overtakes Yahoo as the #1 most trafficked site on the internet. Needless to say, I was happy with my decision.

2007 - The year of music and books. We write a book called “Myspace / OurPlanet” that was sourced from the Myspace community and published by HarperCollins. Later that year, I co-host a panel on the power of digital marketing for authors at BEA in New York. I introduced our editor in chief at the time, Isac Walter, to one of the authors from our panel, Trevor Kelley for a music editor role at Myspace. And the rest is history.

2008- The Myspace Music JV launches with the 4 major record labels.

2009- We continue to launch new features as part of the Myspace Music JV, including music videos.

2010- We migrate 14.2 million artists from 1.0 profile to the new profile format.

2011 – Specific Media Acquires Myspace.

2012- Justin Timberlake announces MyspaceTV at CES.

For me, the most fulfilling part about working at Myspace has been the opportunity to impact and influence millions of people. I also couldn’t have asked for a better group of people to work with here at Myspace. And I’ve met so many people along the way who are just terrific. I’m sure some of you are reading this blog right now.

So what’s next? I got a new gig at a tech company in Santa Monica that I’m really excited about. I start in two weeks and I will update you all with more info then. As for now, I’m going to take two weeks off and spend some time in Panama surfing!

I couldn’t be more excited for what’s next.

Over and Out,

It’s been more than two months since my last post, and wow – a lot has changed! Marathon training is going well. I did my longest run ever of 16 miles two weeks ago. It was long, but not as difficult as the 15 mile run was for me. I didn’t eat properly the morning of our 15 mile run and boy did I feel it! I also got a nice rash on my chest. Time for body glide!

The most exciting news of the past two months is that I AM ENGAGED! Marion and I have been together over three years now and on a foggy beach day in October he took me down to the lifeguard tower closest to our apartment for a “surf check.” I didn’t think anything of it because we always walk down to the beach to check the waves before we surf. It’s something that is so ordinary and natural for us that I didn’t even question it – except that it was cold and foggy and the waves were tiny. Ha! He took me out to the lifeguard tower on the sand (after many failed attempts – I had just gotten a pedicure and didn’t want to go on the sand) and he popped the question! Even though we’ve been talking about marriage for awhile now, I was still completely surprised! I was so excited and overwhelmed with so many emotions, all I could say was “OMG, are you really doing this right now?” After he proposed and I said YES we sat on the lifeguard tower for a long time and soaked it all in. There was no one on the beach except us and a flock of seagulls. It was beautiful. I didn’t have a phone, keys, or anything on me but Marion had his iphone so we snapped a couple photos. I made the Instagram image above with them. I also took this photo and got it printed on a Canvas that is now hanging in our home. Ah, the power of technology!

So, needless to say the past few months have been very exciting but very busy. We spent a couple weekends visiting different locations for our wedding and have decided on a venue in Santa Barbara on September 22, 2012. We couldn’t be more excited! It feels so far away but it’s also nice to have this time to plan!

2011 has been a very memorable year in my life and we have so much to look forward to in 2012. Hope everyone is having a great holiday and wish you all a happy, healthy new year!

Now that triathlon season has come and gone, I have taken some time off and am onto my next challenge. After training so hard this summer I knew I was ready to tackle something bigger. I debated between a half ironman and a marathon for quite some time.  Many of you helped weigh in on this decision, and I thank you all for your advice. With that said, I am officially registered to run the LA Marathon in 2012!

I am very excited about this and curious about what to expect in the coming months as I train for my first marathon. I’ve completed 7 half marathons to date so I feel like the first half of training will be fine. It’s miles 14-26.2 where training, mental toughness, and nutrition will all be important factors. But I’m ready for it. I know what it will take for me to get to that finish line in 5 months and I will put in the time and effort to make myself ready for this day.

Some of you may be wondering why on earth I would want to put myself through this. Here is why I’ve decided to run the LA Marathon:

Bucket List – Running a marathon at least once in my lifetime has been on my bucket list.  Originally I thought this would be something I’d tackle when I’m older and need to burn off baby weight or something, but I figure why wait. Let’s get it done now! Next year I will be turning 30 and I want to cross a big endurance race off my list before then. I guess you could say I’m having a “1/3 life crisis.”

Los Angeles- If I am going to run a marathon, my first one has to be LA. I was born and raised in LA. It is my city. My home. I couldn’t think of a better way to spend my first marathon than passing all of our city’s landmarks along the way (including my old apartment).

There is No Half Marathon – I’ve always told myself that the first marathon I run CANNOT have a half marathon going on at the same time. If it does, I feel like I would be tempted to take the turnout at 13.1 instead of finishing the whole way. You may think I’m joking. I’m not!

Group Training- Training for an event of this magnitude is tough. I know that it will be hard for me to get out of bed on Saturday mornings and plow through 15, 16, 17, and 20 miles by myself. I know it will suck when I’m out on Friday nights and have to head home early so I can get ready for my long run in the morning. I know I’ll feel much better if I train with a group and spend time on the long runs with others who are all in the same boat as me. This is why I’ve decided to join the LA Roadrunners. They meet every Saturday morning in Venice from now until the marathon. If you live on the Westside, you’ll likely be seeing us run along the boardwalk and down San Vicente in the wee hours of the morning. If you see us, wave hello.

The Challenge – I always like to set goals for myself in each aspect of my life. Improving my physical health has been a big goal of mine over the past few years. I’ve gone from working out semi-regularly to working out 5-6 days a week and often doing double days. It’s gotten to the point where “rest” days are harder for me than workout days. Who am I? I never thought I’d get to this point. And it’s because I’m at this point right now that running a marathon feels good to me right now.

Well, there you have it folks. I’m pretty new to the world of marathon running and would love any advice you all may have.  I will keep you posted on my progress in the coming months and I am sure this will be the first of many blogs to come. Tomorrow I’m off to run 9 miles with the Roadrunners. Wish me luck!

LT

I apologize this post is coming so late, but I figure it’s better late than never. It’s been over a month now since Marion and I woke up at 3:45 in the morning and headed down to Zuma beach to compete in the Malibu triathlon.

This race felt different to me this year for three reasons. One was that Marion and I trained together so every weekend we spent training was time spent together. That made it very fun. The second reason is because I trained harder for this race than any other race I’d ever trained for. Normally I feel undertrained for races and feel scared that I’m not ready. Not this year. About two weeks before the race I couldn’t wait for it to be over because I felt as ready as I could be. It felt good.

The third reason this race felt different was because I raced on the FOX triathlon team and raised money for children’s hospital. I set a goal to raise $500 and ended up raising $725. I couldn’t have done it without the support of my family and friends. Thank you so much. And thank you to social media for helping to spread the word about this cause.

The race went really well. The sun peaked out just before the swim started. There was little to no waves and the water was crystal clear. Before our heat started I was swimming and saw a seal. It was pretty awesome. I finished my swim in 19 minutes, which is 2 minutes faster than I did last year. Thank you to Gerry and Tower 26 for helping me get so well prepared.

The bike was a bit more difficult for me. We rode the course several times before the race which was great. The week of the race I made the mistake of getting my bike tuned and not riding it before hand. When I got on the course, the chain on my bike felt tight like a rubber band, and if I pedaled to hard I thought it might snap. About halfway through the first half of the course, my chain fell off. I wasn’t even changing gears. I stayed calm, quickly pulled over, unclipped, and put the chain back on. Then, 10 minutes late it happened again. I did the same thing. I was so nervous pedaling back but I just tried to go as hard as I could because I had already lost 5-6 minutes fumbling around with my chain.

The run went really well. Last year my feet were numb for the entire run and I couldn’t feel them when I finished. This year I felt really strong on the run and improved my time by over a minute.

Me at the finish line. Overall time - 2:11

Overall, even with the bike incident I was able to improve my time by over 8 minutes from last year and placed 3rd for overall women on the FOX tri team. Thank you so much to all my family and friends for supporting me and being understanding when I couldn’t go out at night because I was training or recovering from training. And thank you for donating to Children’s Hospital and helping support children in need. It always feels good to get in shape for a good cause that helps people in the process.

Love,
LT

Marion and I at the Malibu finish line last year. This year Malibu will be his first triathlon.

Last year I competed in the Malibu triathlon. It was my 2nd triathlon ever and I felt like a total noob. My chain fell off my bike before I even got out of the Zuma parking lot and I panicked. Being new to the bike, I didn’t know how to quickly put it back on and had to ask for help. And if I were to get a flat tire on the road, well…forget about it. Not a chance I’d know how to fix it.

Fast forward a year later and here I am training hard in preparation for the big day. I have been training 5-6x a week, often doing double workouts on some days. I have been doing open water swimming religiously every Wednesday morning with Tower26. I joined SCAQ, a Masters swim program, and swim with them 2x a week. And I’m trying to get more comfortable on the bike and doing long rides followed by a run on Saturdays.

I will be participating in the event as part of the FOX triathlon team. Malibu Triathlon is a huge supporter of the Children’s Hospital. All of the Corporate teams who compete are required to raise $225 / person for Children’s Hospital. wasn’t aware of this deadline until the day before. I decided to get serious and spread the word via social media to help spread my message.

I began with a tweet around midnight two weeks ago. I posted on Myspace, Facebook, and sent a personal email to about 15-20 of my closest friends. By the time 11am rolled around, I had already hit the fundraising minimum of $225. With over 12 hours left in the day to fundraise, I had to up the goal and decided to try and raise $500 for Children’s hospital. I was amazed at how many people donated via Myspace, Twitter, and Facebook by reading my posts. It was very heart warming to see people coming together for such a great cause.

When I woke up on Saturday morning, I saw that I not only hit my goal – I surpassed it. I have currently raised $725 for Children’s Hospital. I’m working hard to train for this race and helping kids in the process. It feels good.

I’d love to start a trend on twitter called Fundraise Fridays. If you are reading this and training for a race and raising money for a cause, try using the hash tag #fundraisefridays. We can accomplish great things when we all work together and support each other!

LT

PS – If you are interested in donating to Children’s Hospital, it’s not too late! You can view my fundraising page by clicking on this link: http://bit.ly/r58559

Follow @LTsurf

Body marking from my first PDR race.

Yesterday I did something different. I left work early and headed down to Dockweiler beach for the 10th anniversary of Playa Del Run – a fun beach event with different run and swim races.

Playa Del Run in years past has been held on the weekends in different locations across Southern California. This year they decided to go back to their roots and host the event on a Thursday night to celebrate their 10th anniversary. This is exactly how the event was born 10 years ago.

PDR is a special event for me because it was my first introduction to the sport of triathlon two years ago.  My friend Christine is a swimmer and brought me along to one of the races to check it out. She competed in the aquathlon – a 1000m swim followed by a 5k run. I’ve always been a solid runner but never competed in a swim event before. I watched her compete in her first event at Bolsa Chica in June 2009 and Marion and I did the 5k run. At the time I’d never swam in the ocean before (other than losing my board or messing around in the water) and the 1000m distance between buoys seemed way too intense for me. At the time it wasn’t something I was ready for, but I knew it was something I wanted to work my way up to. In 2009 Playa Del Run had 4 events. I made it my goal to be able to compete in the aquathlon by the date of the final event in Malibu in September.

I began swimming with the LA Tri Club at the Wednesday morning ocean circuits. Instantly I was introduced to a whole new world of athleticism- the world of triathletes. I’ve always admired triathletes not only for their diverse athletic talent but also for how in shape they are. After swimming the buoy circuits I would be out of breath, tired as hell, and spewing ocean water out my nose. I would be tired and ready to drop and in the distance I’d hear other swimmers talking about going on a run or doing a “brick” afterwards (this was a new term to me). Who are these people and how do they have so much energy?

By September of 2009 I competed in my first aquathlon at the PDR event in Malibu. I had never done anything like that before. I didn’t even know what to wear under my wetsuit to run in and I didn’t own any clothes that would work to wear underneath my wetsuit so I had to borrow from friends. I probably looked like a huge goof, but that’s okay.

I don’t remember my time for my first aquathlon but I think I came in slightly under an hour which I was very happy with. It was a fun experience. I enjoyed getting body marked with my number on my arm and my age on my calf and running into the transition area to put on my running shoes and go. Once I completed this race, I knew I could do a triathlon. In 2010 after months and months of research, I bought a road bike. A few months later, I bought pedals and shoes to clip in. I trained and competed in 2 triathlons in 2010. This year I will compete in 2 triathlons as well. And in 2012 I would like to complete a half ironman.

In short, I am very happy for Playa Del Run and thank them for introducing me to this crazy triathlon world. I hope they plan to do multiple events again next year. I also got to meet some awesome twitter triathletes in person – @cutlarock, @runwithheart, @sketch678, and @telebears. And it’s always good to hang with @surferxtine and @dashgo who are Tower26 Wednesday morning regulars. What a great event!

Almost two months have passed since our trip to Nicaragua, but it still feels like yesterday. I promised I’d blog more about the surfing part of the trip so here it is. Everyday we woke up and there was a surf guide waiting for us  and ready to take us wherever we wanted to go. We could travel to spots by truck or by boat. Depending on the tide and the wind we’d pick our spots to go.

The surf was super big when we arrived – 20 ft. We had to wait about 3 days for the surf to drop to a size that was manageable. And by that, I mean 8ft. Still pretty big for a girl like me who is used to surfing So Cal when it’s 3-5ft at best. I was really proud of myself because I was able to push myself to the limits and surf waves that were far bigger than anything I’d surfed in recent memory. I dropped in on some big waves. I also took some big wipe outs and sets on the head. Here are some pics from the trip:

LT shreds the gnar.

Marion shreds the gnar.

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Earlier this week my grandfather was admitted to the ICU for kidney failure. We were worried, but thought he’d pull through since he had been through this about a month ago and was fine. Unfortunately his condition took a turn for the worst and he passed away on Wednesday evening July 20th.

This is especially difficult for us because he was just around the corner from celebrating his 77th birthday which is on July 25th. We were all hoping he’d make it until then as there was a big party at his home planned for him.

When I was about 9 years old, my grandfather fell down a flight of stairs. He was severely injured and was on a ventilator for 4 months. I remember my mom being so upset and flying out to New York (where he lived at the time) and stayed with him for weeks. At that point in my life I didn’t know him very well and wasn’t sure if I’d ever get the chance.

He recovered miraculously from the incident. Later on, my mom took my brother and I out to Lake Placid, New York where he lived and we’d spend weeks of our summer hanging out with him. Some of my earliest memories of nature were being out in the woods there and renting boats out on the lake. He also had a tire swing that I loved.

A few years ago my grandfather moved out to LA to be closer to all of us. Now instead of seeing him every year or two, we got to see him at every major holiday or family event. It was special to have everyone together.

We always joked that my grandfather had more lives than a cat because he’d been through so many near death experiences and pulled through. I am so thankful he did because I got to spend the last 20 years getting to know him. This is time I never would have had if he hadn’t recovered from his fall years ago. Unfortunately he didn’t make it through this one. I am just thankful for the time that we did get to spend with him while he was alive. He taught me to believe in guardian angels, because he didn’t think he ever would have survived his experiences without one. I will miss him so much.