Twenty Years Later

Wednesday night was the official kick-off for the fall season events for Team in Training. Was privileged to be asked to speak for ten minutes or so, as one of the program's honored teammates. I've been working on a short speech over the past two weeks, mostly at the informational events I'd been attending, but I wanted this one to be a little different. Part of the goal, obviously, is to share my story. I felt like I'd been doing pretty much a straight chronology: here is what happened. Here is what happened next. It was bad. And then it wasn't.

I tried to talk more about the parallels between endurance events and my experience with chemo. That while you ultimately own your treatment, you don't get through it alone. You need the help and love and support of many, many people along the way. That you should know, going into it, that there will be good days and bad days. Sometimes lots of bad days in a row. And it's how you choose to respond to those bad days that define the quality of your character.

I feel like I always forget something when I do one of these speeches. Didn't matter, though. I was surprised when I'd finished speaking and the assembled participants in the room -- maybe a hundred people? -- stood and clapped for me. Never received a standing ovation for anything before. Very, very humbling.

Met up at Lake Harriet this morning at 8:00 AM for the first team training run. There was a very good turnout, and near-perfect weather for a short jog around the lake. I am so glad that I started running again in mid-March. My first run, then, was me gasping for air after about a mile, struggling to finish just two miles. My legs were sore for days afterwards. Today I could actually enjoy this first team run, the sunshine, the people, and the conversation.

Met a few other runners, including Tyler, all of twenty years old. He was diagnosed with ALL about a year ago, and is just about six months removed from a bone marrow transplant. So awesome.

Today's mileage: about 4 miles. Didn't wear a watch, so I'm not sure how fast I ran, but I'm guessing it was somewhere around a 10:00 minute mile.

Total mileage: 4 miles.

I've been thinking about running another marathon this year for quite some time. It had been simmering on the back of my brain for several years, at least, this thought that I'd be celebrating twenty years in remission by running Twin Cities again. When I finally looked at the upcoming fall calendar for TNT, though, I was surprised to see the Dublin Marathon in Ireland. Never been to Ireland. And Dublin is only a short ferry and train ride away from Lancaster.

Running the local marathon is very important to me, but I began asking around about the viability of running two marathons within three weeks of one another. Both have significance beyond just the run. So I talked to friends and family and pondered the decision for the better part of the month of April before trusting my intial instinct: just go for it. Tackle the bigger challenge for any number of really good reasons, not the least of which is ensuring I wouldn't regret missing out on a chance to return to England.

Along those same lines, I'd originally set my personal fundraising goal at $20,000. It's a good, clean number. Twenty thousand for twenty years. It's also the threshold I'd broken ten years ago when I'd last run Twin Cities.

But something was gnawing at me. Something about pushing outside of my comfort zone by running two marathons, but not doing the same thing with my fundraising goals. You need to dream big, right? Even if you don't reach those goals, you're better off with setting the bar as high as you can. You might be surprised at what you can achieve.

With that in mind, I'm hoping to raise $40,000 for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society between now and the end of October. Should be a very good challenge.

Today's mileage: two miles before work, a gorgeous loop around Bredesen Park. Early morning sun angling through the trees, cool but not cold, and only a few other runners out.

Total mileage: 6 miles.

Cross-training yesterday, and a short run this morning. Woke up late, felt sluggish most of the way around my 2-mile loop. Convinced myself to keep going at the end and ended up doing four miles. Picture-perfect weather, again, and so nice to finish up my run for the day before it was even 7:00.

Today's mileage: 4 miles in 40:30.
Total mileage: 10 miles.

Was reminded again today how amazing inner strength can be, and went out after dinner to test it out. Just a simple two mile loop, which has typically taken me about 20 minutes to finish. Tonight I slipped on the Five Fingers and had fun pushing myself faster. Finished in 18:29. Felt great.

Today's mileage: 2 miles, at about 9:15/mile.
Total mileage: 12 miles.

"Beyond the very extreme of fatigue and distress, we may find amounts of ease and power we never dreamed ourselves to own; sources of strength never taxed at all because we never push through the obstruction."

- William James

Today is a welcome day of rest on the training schedule. We had our second longer team run yesterday, meeting up at Runner's Gate in Lakeville for a good overview discussion on gear -- shoes, clothes, socks, energy gels and beans, as well as hydration gear.

The run was pretty straight-forward, just an out-and-back towards I-35. Pretty hilly. Figure those are good, though. I opted for the slightly longer course with a few others. Instead of turning back after two miles, we pushed ahead for another mile to finish up with six miles total. It felt great. Very manageable.

This is one of the things I continue to like about Team in Training: getting to know other people on the teams. Running six miles in May isn't all that bad on your own, but it's made that much better when you can talk with people. It's good to be able to condition yourself to carry on a conversation while running. So when we get to 15, 16, 17 miles later in the summer, it'll be very nice to have other people to talk with along the way.

Hoping to finish writing my fundraising letter (and e-mail) later today so I can get started on that. Working on a few ideas around corporate sponsorship that I want to investigate this week as well.

Yesterday's mileage: 6 miles, in almost exactly an hour.
Week 1 mileage: 14 miles over 4 days of running. Two cross-training days mixed in as well.
Total mileage: 18 miles.

Getting better at getting up in the morning to run before work. Alarm went off at 5:30, and I managed to get to Bredesen Park a little before 6:00. Holy crap, was it ever muggy! Four miles later and I was drenched. Better earlier than later, I suppose, when the humidity will be that much worse.

Today's mileage: 4 miles in 40 minutes.
Total mileage: 22 miles.

Good article summarizing some of the benefits (and challenges) of barefoot running:

When I first heard about barefoot running, several years ago, I was skeptical -- don't we need cushion to protect us from injuries, and why would I want to run barefoot, anyway?

But several months ago, I read a few influential articles (stemming from the popularity of Christopher McDougall's book, Born to Run) and decided to give barefoot running a try. Why not?

Today, I'm happy to say I'm a barefoot runner, and I love it.

I've given away my Asics, and now I run exclusively with my Vibram Fivefinger KSOs or completely barefoot. I'm running as fast or faster than ever, lighter than ever, injury-free, and I feel connected to the ground I run on. My feet have become stronger, and I feel better. Running was always fun, but now it feels like play!

http://zenhabits.net/barefoot-running/

Alas, the hallmark of my barefoot running philosophy is regaining connectedness, mindfulness, and presence in your running and in your body.

Barefoot running is not about blocking or pushing through pain, or at least it shouldn't be. Rather it is about tuning-in to your own body's highly sophisticated set of integrated awareness systems, systems that communicate through feelings and senses that are being collected in real-time as you move. From my perspective, learning how to run well means learning how to tap into the feeling of running well, which more often than not requires baring the foot to get the full feel of what happens when you move.

http://barefootted.com/2010/04/so-you-wanna-start-running-barefoot.html

Yesterday we had our first "track workout" with the team, out at Minnehaha Academy. It was a lot of fun, but some serious work by the time we got through everything. One thing I know for sure: I'm going to be getting much stronger over the summer. Lots of push-ups and crunches and lunges, mixed in between the progressively faster 400's.

Realizing I didn't have a good way to check pace or time or anything on my runs, I decided to head over to REI over lunch to pick up a new watch. So happy with the bargain shopping: from $370 down to $270 for their anniversary sale, less another $50 rebate from Garmin, less another $100 from a birthday gift card from my parents meant I was only out of pocket about $135, after tax. Nice.

Put it through it's paces on the familiar double-loop around Bredesen park later. Gorgeous weather. Forgot my iPod, but really enjoyed listening to the quiet padding of my almost barefeet again. Training continues to go very well.

Today's mileage: 4 miles in 41:45.
Total mileage: 30 miles.

Another gorgeous (and hot) morning for a long team run, this time meeting up along Summit Avenue and River Road, starting around 8:00 AM. It was an out and back with opportunities to run 4, 5, 6, or 8 miles. I opted for the six mile run for a few reasons. Lesson learned for future Saturday team training runs is to maybe not stay out quite so late the night before playing poker with Jason and the boys. It was tough to stay hydrated and energized.

Still, my last workout for the week was over before mid-morning, and I've got the rest of the weekend ahead of me to relax and recover. So concludes back-to-back weeks with six consecutive days of training in each.

Today's mileage: 6 miles, in 68 minutes (including two water stops).
Week 2 mileage: 18 miles over 4 days of running. Had another two days of cross-training.
Total mileage: 36 miles.

I tend to alternate between two pairs of footwear, with a third pair thrown in every once in awhile for good measure. For the past month or so, I have been running almost exclusively in either the Vibram Five Fingers and the Nike LunarGlide (yes, they are that electric green -- I like them, but credit goes to Esmé for nudging me along when we were shopping for them together). The third pair of shoes is an older Asics Gel, I think, that doesn't have too much in the way of mileage on them yet.

I wore the Five Fingers again today, trying out a new route around a nearby lake. Didn't feel like getting up early, and had plans for grilling tonight, so I set out for my run at noon. Hindsight, maybe not the best idea. But then again, it might be good practice running in not-always-perfect weather.

In any event, each mile was slower than then the previous one, as the heat and lack of energy conspired against me.

Today's mileage: 4 miles in 40:30.
Total mileage: 40 miles.

Today's team run started with another good round of introductions -- lots of people to get to know throughout the summer -- and a fun exercise where we named the city we went to sixth grade in. The woman next to me, Stephanie, who I've run with a few times so far, said "Tukwila, Washington." Crazy. She laughed when I said "Renton, Washington." Small world. She also works at Target, which we'd learned about a couple of weeks ago, but the whole south-end of Seattle connection was even funnier.

As for the workout itself: we started at Minnehaha Park, jogged over to the locks along the Mississippi, and proceeded to do anywhere from two to four hills (about 1/4 of a mile down, then 1/4 back up). I opted for three sets. Probably coulda woulda shoulda done all four, but it's been a long week already.

We had a nice picnic afterward. Hot dogs. Chips. Fruit. It was all good, on a gorgeous summer night.

Today's mileage: about 3 miles.
Total mileage: 43 miles.

Woo-hoo! Less than a week into my fundraising -- I'd sent out an e-mail this past Saturday -- and my first milestone has already been met. As of about 11:00 last night, with an awesome anonymous donation, my fundraising total ($1,584.50) moved past the minimum necessary to participate in the Twin Cities Marathon!

Thanks so much to my Anonymous donor, Aaron, Clare, Craig, Jasmine (you go, girl!), Jen & Kevin, Jill, Jim, Justin, Kim, Kristine, Marilyn, Nancy, Paul Beard, Paul Steckler, Patrik, Pete, Steve, and Wendy for helping me to reach this initial goal!

So far, training has gone extremely well. I've had a few people ask about this already --how much I'm running, what the training is like -- so I figured I'd share some of what makes it so easy. Relatively speaking, of course.

There are many benefits when preparing for a marathon (or two) with Team in Training. One of the best, and simplest, is the fact that we received a calendar in mid-May that spelled out a two month training schedule.

There's not much for me to do, then, other than look at the calendar and run the distances that are listed. Plan my day accordingly. If I don't get up and run before work in the morning, or find time during lunch, then I know I'll need to get my mileage in sometime at night. Tuesdays and Fridays I've been cross-training at the gym. Weekends are progressively longer runs. So far, mid-week, I'm not putting in any more than four miles.

As long as I can continue to follow the schedule provided to me, I'll be in great shape come October.

Just a quick update for today -- it's a busy dance recital weekend for the family. Back-to-back days at Hopkins High School with afternoon and evening recitals to either help with props, dance, hang out in the parking lot, and even watch at least one full event.

Long run this weekend was a solid 8 miles on Saturday morning. A little wet, a little muggy, but overall a great pace and no major aches or pains.

Fundraising is off to a great start! Thanks again to everybody who has contributed so far -- including Emily, Jody & Lane, Ian, Ken, and Pepito, recently -- to help generate a first-week total of $3,100! Very exciting. Almost halfway to the minimum threshold for Twin Cities and Dublin, and still the entire summer and fall ahead of me to strive for my personal goal.

Saturday's mileage: 8 miles in 1 hour and 30 minutes (including two water stops).
Week 3 mileage: 15 miles in 3 training days, plus 2 cross-training spin classes.
Total mileage: 51 miles.

Only three miles on the calendar today. Went up the Depot in St. Louis Park for an easy trail out and back. Wasn't really trying to push myself too hard, but felt good with a faster pace. Definitely got the heart rate going, and my breathing wasn't the easy conversational Saturday morning run. Finished the three miles in my best time so far. A very good day.

Today's mileage: 3 miles in 27:24.
Total mileage: 54 miles.

Today's five mile run started off great, heading out from the house during lunch (thanks to unexpected auto repairs that forced me to work from home all day) toward Bredesen Park, then one loop around the park, and back home for just about five. Somewhere around 3.5 miles I just lost energy, motivation, whatever. Wasn't out of breath, no joint pains. Just got pooped, I guess.

The good news is that even with a mixture of walking and running over the last mile and a half, I still finished the run in better than 10:30 per mile. And I got my mileage in, for the day, too. Good, bad, or otherwise, as long as I'm adding mileage, I'm still headed in the right direction.

Today's mileage: 5.2 miles in 54:00.
Total mileage: 59 miles.

Had a great long run this morning, pushing ten miles along the Mississippi River in St. Paul. It was cool and overcast, threatening rain most of the time, but holding out until well after I'd wrapped up my miles. I continue to be pleasantly surprised by how well training has gone after one month. I'm definitely in much, much better shape than I was even a month ago, between all of the running and cross-training, and paying only a little bit of attention to my diet.

My fundraising totals are $3,644.50 thanks to additional donations this week from Mark & Laura Masuda, Mark, Neal, Scott, and Parvez.

Overall, a great first month on the way to two marathons this October!

Today's mileage: 9.7 miles in 1:50:00
Week 4 mileage: 18 miles on Mon, Wed, Sat, plus two days of cross-training (Tue, Fri spin classes at Life Time over lunch).
Total mileage: 69 miles.

This week has been a pretty good study, so far, in making time to get in my workouts.

Monday: I was too tired to get up and run before work, and we had a going away party for two dance teachers at 5:00. So I packed some running gear and had Melissa drop me off at Bredesen Park on the way back home from the dance studio. She went home with the girls and my Mom to put together a little dinner while I ran one lap around the park and then the mile and a half back home along the road. Wore my Five Fingers on this run, and had fun splashing into puddles, instead of avoiding them. 3.5 miles in 33:45.

Tuesday: Mom and I had plans to spend the majority of the day in Cokato, MN, visiting relatives. We wanted to get on the road by 9:00 AM. Not trusting myself to get any cross-training in later in the evening, I'd looked for spin classes at nearby Life Time Fitness clubs, deciding on one up the road in St. Louis Park at 6:00 AM. With double alarms (5:00 and 5:15) I made it into the class by 5:45 -- good thing, because it was completely full by the time it started. And while it was a good workout, it paled in comparison to my "regular" Tuesday and Friday spin classes over lunch at the downtown club.

Wednesday: With packing and getting ready to leave for the Wisconsin Dells by mid-morning, I figured, again, that morning wouldn't work for my run. Today's team workout was supposed to be a new challenge, too -- an out-and-back where you do the "out" in 20 minutes, and the "back" in 16 minutes. We made it to the Kalahari Resort by 2:30 or so in the afternoon, and I immediately changed so I could tackle my run instead of waiting for later this evening.

And while I thought my "barefoot" pace was okay on the way out, I probably went too fast to be able shave 2 min/mile on the way back. Plus, when I turned around, I was greeted with a pretty strong headwind. And hills. Didn't notice the gentle downslope until I had to go back up them. Stupid headwind. Stupid hills. Made it back in 17:10 instead of 16:00.

Today's mileage: 3.8 miles in 37:10.
Total mileage: 76.3 miles.

It's hard to imagine that it was only three months ago that I started this journey. Everything obviously started a lot earlier -- twenty years ago, in fact -- but it was two weeks after celebrating my twentieth anniversary in remission that I laced up the sneaks and went outside for my first run in almost a year. I could safely say that the number of times I'd gone for a run in the past handful of years was, well, about a handful. Nothing I'm necessarily proud of.

But I knew if I was going to run a marathon in October, I had to start somewhere. March and April would be my months "to get in shape to get in shape." Informal, running or walking a few days each week, just trying to slowly increase both distance and pace.

Here's a quick look at distances and times on this day, over the past three months.

03/17 - 1.7 miles in 20:00 (11:48/mile).
04/17 - 6.1 miles in 01:10:00 (11:14/mile) -- really struggled on this run. Longest distance to date.
05/17 - 2 miles. Didn't log the time, but it was probably around 10:15/mile or so.
06/17 - 3.33 miles in 31:17 (9:23/mile).

Today was another simple out-and-back, wearing the Five Fingers for the third time this week. Felt much better than yesterday's run along the same route. Can't wait to see what the next three months look like.

Today's mileage: 3:33 miles in 31:17
Total mileage: 79.6 miles.

Planned ahead for my long run this weekend. Since I couldn't join up with the team, I plotted out my route on MapMyRun earlier in the week: a wide loop that started out to the east from the hotel, then turned up and to the northwest across the top of Lake Delton, then down the west side, back up the east side, before cutting back down to Kalahari.

Left the room a little before 7:00 AM. The sun was well up into the sky. Roads were quiet, albeit more than a little hilly, and offered some beautiful early morning views. Had some struggles along the way with all of the hills, sometimes walking up them, sometimes not. Everything was probably a little more difficult because of the solo nature of the run -- I realize how much it helps to have somebody else from the team to run with. I finished an entire bottle of Gatorade by the time I got mile ten. Really needed to stay hydrated with some deceptive heat along the way.

As with so many of my runs these days, while it may feel like I'm just muddling my way through the miles, at the end of the day it turned out to be just fine. 11.7 miles in 2:09:10, just a shade over an 11 minute mile. That's right in line with what my "long, slow runs" should be (and is actually a little faster than any of my previous long runs).

And almost another $1,000 in donations to the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society came in this week, bringing my total to $4,569.50. Very exciting progress -- I'm almost to the minimum required for both marathons, with several months to go, yet!

Saturday's mileage: 11.7 miles in 2:09:10
Week 5 mileage: 22 miles over four days of running, plus two days of cross-training.
Total mileage: 91 miles.

A hot, muggy run today after driving back from the Wisconsin Dells. Twice around Bredesen Park. A nice, simple, strong outing.

Today's mileage: 4 miles in 37:50 (9:27/mi).
Total mileage: 95 miles.

We met up at Lock & Dam #1 again for our team training tonight for a brief discussion on injuries (how to recognize early signs, thoughts on common running issues) from a podiatrist friend of our coach, Jan. Then came a short warm-up consisting of a little over a mile jog, followed by 26.2 push-ups and crunches.

And then the real reason we were there: the quarter-mile hill down to the river. And back up to the parking lot. Down. Up. Repeat four to six times.

It was near the end of my sixth and final trip up the hill that a thought came to mind: "Every hill has an end. You just need to find it before it finds you." Between this team practice and my routes in Wisconsin last week, I am so ready for some flatlands.

Today's mileage: 4 miles, in 00:43:35 (10:53/mi).
Total mileage: 99 miles.

It's not too late to remember a simple lesson about training in the summer: running in the morning is always better. Always. Let's see if I can keep that in mind over the coming weeks (months) as the heat and humidity continue to punish my late afternoon and/or evening runs.

No long run on Saturday this week -- moving to Sunday to accommodate a few schedules. And remember what I wrote just a few days ago about being "so ready for some flatlands." Yeah. I should have looked ahead at our plan for this weekend. We'll be meeting up at Lebanon Hills, a park out in Eagan. According to the e-mail I received earlier today from our coach, I should "be prepared for a lot of hills."

Also: "we run even if it is raining."

Bring it hills. Bring it rain. You're not the boss of me.

Thursday's run: 4 miles in 00:38:40 (9:40/mi).
Today's run: 2.5 miles in 00:23:30 (9:24/mi).
Total mileage: 105.5 miles.

"If one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams, and endeavors to live the life which he has imagined, he will meet with success unexpected in common hours."

- Henry David Thoreau

Didn't rain after all this morning, although it might as well have been given how completely soaked my shirt was by the end of the run. Lots of humidity, even at eight in the morning.

Had a really good long team run, hills and all, with more opportunity to get to know some of the other runners a little better. After striking up a conversation with Corey -- this is one of the keys to doing the longer runs, by the way, is finding and maintaining a pace where you can carry on a conversation -- I learned that he, too, is a leukemia survivor.

The stories, they keep coming.

He had ALL when he was five, and went into remission. Shortly after his tenth anniversary in remission, following an annual check-up, he learned that he'd relapsed. A bone marrow transplant from his brother ensued. That was twelve years ago. We shared war stories a bit, and both of us are blessed to have avoided any kind of long-term health issues that might have originated with high doses of chemo or radiation when we were younger.

This is why I'm running: because I can.

Today's run: 8.3 miles in 1:35:30 (with water stops)
Weekly total: 23 miles in five runs, plus Tue/Fri spin class for cross-training.
Total mileage: 114 miles.
Fundraising total: the progress bar shows $5,164.50, but I'd mailed in several checks to the Leukemia Society earlier in the week, so my actual numbers should be somewhere around $5,500.

Not long after I'd started running again -- I mean really running, consistently, several times per week regardless of the weather or how I felt -- I'd learned that one of my high school classmates has a daughter with leukemia. Nigam and I had lost touch after graduation, as is often the case, especially when you leave the state to go to college. We exchanged phone numbers, and had a great talk about his six-year-old daughter, Siona, and the challenges she's been facing.

She was diagnosed with T-Cell Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia almost exactly two years ago. She went into remission, but not after enduring months (years) of chemo and radiation. Earlier this spring, unfortunately, she relapsed. Her leukemia returned. Treatment at this point is a little more difficult (as if it isn't already difficult enough, at four, five, six, to deal with "the stupidity of cancer"). She's continuing to receive more chemo to drive down the percentage of leukemic cells in her bone marrow -- to get her back into remission -- before receiving a cord blood transplant.

As much as I like the fall season's honored patient -- and I sincerely believe that 21-year-old Robert continues to somehow draw strength from 41-year-old Robert to get through these seven or eight months -- I'd asked Nigam if I could also run in honor of Siona. Her fight is much more urgent.

There are a lot more details about Siona here: www.sionashah.com. Please keep her in your thoughts, too, as I continue to prepare for my two marathons.

Because of the holiday weekend, we didn't have a formal long run planned for the team this Saturday. Instead, a good group of teammates I've been running with quite a bit so far agreed to meet up at Lake Harriet at 7 in the morning. The past few nights have not been the best for me in terms of sleep, unfortunately, and even with turning in early last night I slept through my alarm. Well. I remember turning it off and going back to sleep "just for a minute or two."

Yeah. So that didn't work out so well. It was well past 7:30 before I regained consciousness again, and nearly 8:30 before I rolled out of bed.

This is what happens sometimes, I suppose. Need to pay attention when my body is asking for rest. It's turned out to be a crazy hot day. Tomorrow should be cooler, with chances of thunderstorms. I will take my chances, then, tomorrow morning, hammering out those ten miles solo.

A fairly quiet week of training so far: scheduled day of rest on Monday. Spin class over lunch on Tuesday. Team run of four-miles on Wednesday consisted of "speed games," or "Fartlek" as it's known in running circles. A nice, strong four-mile run on Thursday. Second day of cross-training on Friday with another (relatively empty) spin class.

Weekend long runs are slowly getting longer, but everything during the week is a nice, manageable 3-4 miles.

Woke up this morning to a good amount of rain. Checked the radar and saw that it would be moving through the cities pretty quickly, so I had a quick breakfast, a little coffee, and drove over to the south end of Lake Harriet to start my run. Not far into my run, it really started to pour. Made me laugh. Actually, on the quiet, mostly empty paths around the lake, it made me open up my arms and smile. Why not? It was warm. I was drenched, but knew I'd be that way regardless by the end of my run. And it felt great to be out and about early on a Sunday morning, weaving my way along Harriet, then up to Lake Calhoun and Lake of the Isles before working my way back down again, tackling this weekend long run on my own.

Today's mileage: 10 miles in 01:46:30 (about 10:40/mile)
Total mileage: 132 miles.

With the start of a new month, it feels like a good time to provide a more detailed recap of my training and fundraising progress to date. Even though I'd been doing a little bit of running, here and there, from mid-March to mid-May, I look at the first team training run on May 15th as the "official" start of my training for the Twin Cities and Dublin marathons.

That was seven weeks ago. I've run either three or four days a week, every week, including long weekend runs of 4, 6, 6, 8, 10, 12, 8, and 10 miles. Grand total for my training runs, so far, is just over 130 miles. Cross-training has been mostly spin classes, sometimes just an exercise bike, consistently every Tuesday and Friday for each of the past seven weeks.

Combined, then, I've trained on 41 out of 51 days through the Fourth of July. Never less than five days per week.

As great as I've felt about the training -- and it has, truly, consisted of many more good days than bad -- I'm even happier about my preliminary fundraising results. Including a few checks that still need to be processed, approximately $7,700 in donations have been made by almost sixty different donors. That total already exceeds the amount I'd needed to raise simply to participate in both marathons this October! And there are still four full months left until Dublin. I hope to be able to continue to generate interest and publicity through the summer and fall to reach my personal goal of $40,000 of donations to the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.

"Nothing in the world is worth having or worth doing unless it means effort, pain, difficulty... I have never in my life envied a human being who led an easy life. I have envied a great many people who led difficult lives and led them well."

- Teddy Roosevelt

Simple out and back over lunch today -- hot, again, muggy, again, as if this somehow surprises me in early July. Legs have been a little more sore today than usual. Time for a nice hot bath, I think, before bedtime.

Today's mileage: 4 miles in 00:38:40 (9:40/mile).
Total mileage: 136 miles.

What a great day! Earlier this afternoon -- only two days after I'd sent out an update on my training and fundraising progress -- several additional donations came through to kick my total over $10,000. Feels great to hit that early milestone. I'm really looking forward to additional fundraising efforts over the next four months.

Training today was another track workout at Minnehaha Academy. Had a good conversation with Stephanie again -- we were paired up for the relay/pace activity, which really meant that we didn't end up running together at all. Go figure. For the laps around the track I ran with Crystal and Tanya. We decided that our paces are pretty similar, so I'll at least have somebody to run with at both marathons.

Today's mileage: about 5 miles, in 50 some minutes.
Total mileage: 141 miles.

Absolutely hate it. I read this update on Siona's website earlier today:

After waiting for over 2 days we got the phone call around 5.00 this evening and the news we were waiting for finally came and unfortunately it wasn't the # we were looking for. The abnormal cell count is still 13% which means we were stable throughout but not enough to get Siona into remission. Siona is such a brave girl and visually has done great, which to us makes this journey more bearable. We will meet with the doctors on Friday and then decide where we go from here. We are obviously disappointed, but when you look at Siona and see her smiles and energy we know we will continue to keep trying to get her into remission and go for transplant as the goal.

July 7th, 2010

Continuing to find a way to push through limits, self-imposed or otherwise, pleasantly surprised at what this 41-year-old body is able to do. Today was my familiar double loop through Bredesen Park. Decided to go minimal in the evening sun: shorts, iPod, and my Five Fingers. Left a bottle of Gatorade at my car so I could get some fluid at two miles, after the first loop.

I felt strong. Felt like I was moving along at a pretty good clip. When I stopped my watch at my Gatorade stop, it had taken me 18:20 to run the two mile loop. I knew that was about as fast a mile time as any of my runs so far this spring and summer. So for my second loop, I decided to push it a little faster.

Still felt strong. Definitely wasn't the calm and easy breathing I'm used to, but I was in control. Didn't check my watch until I'd stopped at my car again: 35:30 total for the four miles.

That last loop around the park, my last two miles? Yikes. 17:10, or 8:35/mile. That's better than 30 seconds per mile faster than my previous best pace just last month.

I don't even know when I ran last a sub-nine mile, let alone felt comfortable getting down around to close to eight-and-a-half. Easily ten years ago, if not longer. There's plenty of room left for me to push it even faster as the summer progresses. Hope to see some seven-something times by August or September.

Today's mileage: 4 miles in 35:30 (8:52/mile).
Total mileage: 145 miles.

A very good week, on multiple fronts. Since Monday, a little more than $2,800 in new donations (from 20 different donors) have come through. So awesome! I continue to be so very happy about this early fundraising progress -- only problem, now, is that I'm falling behind on my thank you notes. No worries, though. I'm slowly but surely catching up.

Had a great time at Mik's "Kegs for a Kure" fundraising party last night. Earlier this month, his wife, Heidi, celebrated her fifth anniversary in remission from AML. She was diagnosed when she was twenty-three years old. We talked about some of the shared surprises in that initial first diagnosis, and how everything in life just goes on hold for a little while. The naivety of youth, too, both ourselves and our friends, almost blissfully unaware of how seriously ill we really were.

Our long team run today was twelve miles along the Minnetonka Trail. This is the second time we've run this out-and-back. It was a great feeling, hitting the second water stop at four miles, realizing that was our turn around point the last time we'd run it. I know this will keep happening throughout the summer: the longest runs that were sometimes a struggle in June and July will be a distant memory come August and September.

Finally, I signed up for a couple of races later this month and during the first weekend of August. Would like a little practice with race day activities before the marathons, and these seemed like nice options: 5 for the Y, a 5k in Edina supporting the local YMCA, and the Minnesota Half Marathon; a hilly 13.1 mile run along Shepard Road in St. Paul. Should be fun!

Today's Mileage: 12 miles in 2:17:00 (including water stops)
Weekly Total: 25 miles in four runs, plus Tue/Fri spin class for cross-training.
Total Mileage: 157 miles.
Fundraising Total: $10,521.50.

Even though the calendar suggested a rest day, I wanted to get out for a few miles. This is turning into something of a Monday ritual: out and back along a paved trail near the Depot in St. Louis Park, before it turns into gravel for a mile or more. Not sure the exact street, but there's a nice turnaround point that makes pretty near four miles after a good stretch of gravel trail.

Forgot my iPod in the office, as well as my Garmin. So it was no shirt, no watch, no music, and no shoes. Well, you know. Ran with the Five Fingers, but close enough.

It was really, really nice. Quiet. Able to really listen to my feet padding along, focusing on the run itself, instead of an awesome mix of summer music. Not that i'd want to always want to run like that, but it was pretty liberating, especially running without a watch.

A beautiful, warm, evening run.

Today's mileage:: 4 miles.
Total mileage: 161 miles.

Last night we hosted a Silpada jewelry party at our house to help with fundraising. Melissa set it all up and coordinated everything -- I just made sure to show up and offer beverages to everyone who came. Marcy, the Siplada representative, was a Team in Training alumni in 1997 and has been giving 20% of total jewelry sales for events like these to TNT.

There was a pretty good turnout, a nice blend of family, dance friends, and even a good contingent from Carleton -- including Heidi, Jen Ryan, and a surprise guest appearance by Avery (Duffy) Scheib. Lots of great jewelry on display!

The good news is that Marcy is keeping this party "open" for the next couple of days. If anybody would like to take a look at some nice silver jewelry between now and Friday, July 16th, you can look at the catalog on Marcy's website: http://mysilpada.com/marcy.sackett. To order, simply send an e-mail to marcy dot sacket at gmail dot com. Please let her know that this purchase should apply towards the party hosted by Melissa Albay on 07/13 for my TNT fundraising efforts. Marcy will help total everything and sort out taxes and shipping and handling. Orders are shipped directly to your house.

The heat chased me inside this evening -- dangerously high temps and humidity didn't seem like a good time to be out and about. So I took my workout indoors to a treadmill at the St. Louis Park Lifetime Fitness. Might as well have run outside with how much I was sweating by the time I finished. Really felt like a mediocre run at best. Just couldn't get into it.

But I'll take my small victories, too: getting close to three miles, I was prepared to pack it in. Was already mentally thinking of good excuses to stop. It was hot. I was tired. I don't know what else, but they would have been really awesome reasons.

Instead of turning off the treadmill after three miles, I managed to convince myself to forge ahead to four. Didn't take too much extra effort or time in the grand scheme of things.

And, more importantly, I made sure to keep going even when I wanted to stop.

That's a very good thing.

Today's mileage: 4 miles in 38:40.
Total mileage: 165 miles.

What a difference a day makes. Or maybe it was running outside, in the summer sun, instead of indoors on a treadmill. Still haven't figured out why some runs are better than others, but these back-to-back four mile runs were most decidedly not the same.

And even still, tonight's run wasn't great, or solid, or awesome. But it was much better than yesterday. Two miles out and two miles back along paved and gravel trails. I was hoping that the ferocious headwind I'd faced on the way out would mean a nice tail wind on the way back, but no such luck. I think it was just swirling.

Good, not great, and at this point, mid-summer, I'm absolutely fine with that.

Today's mileage: 4 miles in 00:37:45.
Total mileage: 169 miles.

Wow. Nine weeks into the training already. Looks like another twelve weeks of training (and tapering) before the Twin Cities Marathon, and still going strong. Although I'd honestly say that this past week of short and long runs haven't felt all that great. Nothing terrible -- just kind of blah.

Yesterday we ran just a hair over thirteen miles, leaving from the Run 'N' Fun in St. Paul, winding our way up to Summit Avenue, and then down the river road and back. Nice to be along part of the actual marathon course. Again, though, as with much of this week, hot and humid were the story of the day.

Looking back, I realized that because of last Sunday's long team run, I ended up with seven consecutive days of running or cross-training this week. That probably plays a part in my generally higher levels of fatigue: four mile runs on Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday; 45 minutes of spin class on Tuesday and Friday; book-end long runs of 12 and 13 miles last Sunday and yesterday. Lots of exercise and lots of mileage before a well-earned day of rest today.

On fundraising: there are some checks that I'd sent in earlier this week that haven't cleared yet which will bring my weekly total to about $675, and my overall total to $11,196.50.

Saturday's Run: 13 miles in 2:30:00 (including water stops)
Weekly Total: 25 miles in four runs, plus spin classes on Tue/Fri for cross-training.
Total Mileage: 182 miles.
Fundraising Total: $11,196.50.

So I think I've adjusted to a "new normal" sense of what a light week of exercise looks like. I decided that I wanted to do a little less this week than what I've grown accustomed to over the past several weeks. And really that means that I still wanted to go for my Monday run: considered stopping after two miles of a loop around Bredesen Park, but figured I should just go the full four miles as prescribed by my training schedule.

It also means that I wanted to go to spin class over lunch on Tuesday. I really love those days - especially into the afternoon and evening, I feel very clean, very healthy.

And, of course, I can't miss my Wednesday team runs if at all possible. It was hills this week, 6-8 repeats up and down the quarter mile at Lock & Dam #1. I wanted to hit all eight. And I really wanted the last four to be stronger than the first. Which they were. Which was awesome.

So, today, finally, is a nice day of rest. Tomorrow will be spinning, again, for that great end-of-the-week calorie burn, followed by fourteen miles with the team on Saturday.

Two days of rest? Yeah. That's a nice, easy week.

Love it.

Monday: 4 miles in about 37 minutes.
Wednesday: 6 miles in about an hour.
Total Mileage: 192 miles.

Had a really nice week of training. I may try to follow this pattern a bit more regularly through August: shorter mid-week runs on Monday and Wednesday (with the team), cross-training spin classes on Tuesday and Friday, and a long team run on the weekend. That's still five days a week, like I did this past week, when I felt like my Saturday run was as good a long run as I've had so far.

Part of that might have been the course: heading out and back on the Luce Line trail. It's a fairly flat route. I spent much of the time running with Sanjiv. A couple of hours of good conversation, and a decent pace on the back seven miles.

Saturday's Run: 14 miles in 2:37:00, including water stops.
Weekly Total: 24 miles in three runs (4, 6, 14), and another two days of cross-training spinning fun.
Total Mileage: 206 miles.
Fundraising Total: $11,806.30 (including $309.80 from the Silpada fundraiser that will be posted later)

Phew. Light week of blogging, but still a good week of training. Highlighted, perhaps, by my first 5k in practically forever on Saturday and then a solid (if spectacularly humid) long run on Sunday.

I was not, shall we say, particularly well-prepared for the 5k. I mean, I'm in plenty good shape to run a little over three miles at a relatively fast clip. But I didn't get a good night of sleep the night before, meaning I wasn't all that well-rested for the race. Definitely felt sluggish throughout the last mile or so. In the end, I felt like it was just "so-so." Looking at the results, though, and I was pleasantly surprised. Finished in 28:09, which is just a little over a nine minute mile. Not too shabby, all things considered.

The next morning I met up with the team at the northwest corner of Lake Calhoun. We'd be running part of the Twin Cities Marathon route, down Calhoun and Harriet, then following Minnehaha Parkway to Lake Nokomis before returning along the same route. Once again, deceptive heat and humidity was the order of the day. Didn't feel all that bad while we were running, especially since much of the course was shaded, but stopping for water breaks? Yikes. Even with all sorts of high-tech clothes meant to wick away the sweat, I was drenched something wicked. Last half was like I'd gone swimming.

But there's good news in all of that: no way it's that hot or humid in October, so while the distances will be longer, at least we're training through the hottest time of the year. And other good news: at the top of Lake Harriet, on the way back, I saw a bald eagle gliding just above the trees. Amazing. Beautiful. Nice to be thirteen plus miles into a run on a hot summer morning and be given such a gift.

Weekly Training: 28.5 miles
    Mon: 4 miles
    Tue: 45 min spin class
    Wed: 6 miles
    Thu: rest
    Fri: 45 min spin class
    Sat: 3 miles
    Sun: 15.5 miles
Total Mileage: 234.5 miles
Fundraising Total: $12,046.50 (including several checks that still need to be processed by the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society)

I think the official term for the training we did last night was "Kenyan Outbacks," but really it's all about a negative split: run out for 15 minutes, make it back in 12. We'd done these once before already. I was on my own in Wisconsin, though, and failed miserably.

So, yesterday, in the still-sweltering August heat, we got together for a team run at Minnehaha Academy. Of course I forgot my watch. Kind of important when you're trying to figure out a good, steady, marathon-like pace for the first fifteen minutes before turning back around and kicking it up a notch. But I ran with a good group of runners that I've been pacing with much of the summer. I think we were somewhere around 10:30/mile most of the way out.

The good news? We finished in 11:45, dropping three-plus minutes on the return. After a brief cooldown, our coach offered a "bonus" run for anybody who was interested. What the hell, right? It'd only be another couple of miles.

Same path along the river, shorter this time, though: we'd run out for ten minutes, with a goal of getting back in eight. Ran with Crystal and a couple of others; we finished very strong, coming in a full thirty seconds earlier than we needed to at 7:30.

Great practice for the marathon, I hope, and even for this weekend's half-marathon.

Really want to focus on slow and steady through the first half before deciding if I can bust out a quicker pace for the last six miles or so.

Wednesday's training: 6 miles
Total Mileage: 240.5 miles

This is really a tremendous piece of writing. While it's not specifically about leukemia, or marathons, it certainly tackles the topics of adversity and perseverance head on. Probably one of the best, most powerful, most moving things I've read in a long time.

A long time ago you stopped raging at the universe for doing this to your daughter, and years before she was born, you stopped believing in a benevolent god, but right now you would like to hurl some curses at a supremely powerful being, to have the satisfaction of getting an answer back. You would take on Satan and ten men, but no one asks you do to that. No one has ever asked you to do that.

They asked you to do this instead, this infinitely harder thing. And you think about that study, and you laugh out loud again, and your daughter asks why you are laughing, and you say, "Sometimes, girlfriend, I can't believe how badly people miss the point."

"What does that mean?"

"It means I don't care that I've never seen Paris."

She's accustomed to your moods, so she nods, and she turns on the radio. "It's your favorite song!" she says. "Isn't that lucky?"

And you hug her hard, but she's used to that, too, and she lets you, and even lets you sing along without complaining ("this time only, mom!"), and you are lucky, probably the luckiest woman living, and happier than you have ever been, but not in any way an academic would understand, or even conceive. Your joy is bigger than the universe and contains all the sorrow of a lifetime, and has nothing whatsoever to do with feeling sufficiently rewarded for your work.

http://jenniferlawler.com/wordpress/?p=747

Short and sweet this week:

Monday: rest
Tuesday: 45 minutes of spin class
Wednesday: 6 miles
Thursday: rest
Friday: 45 minutes of spin class
Saturday: 13.1 miles in 2:13:09
Sunday: rest

The most rest I've taken in a week so far, leading up to the Minnesota Half Marathon on Saturday. Still chugging along!

Total Mileage: 253.5 miles
Fundraising Total: $12,071.50

So I've had this ongoing, nagging soreness on the outside of my right leg, near my ankle and shin. Usually doesn't hurt necessarily. It's just something I've been able to feel on occasion, where I don't normally feel anything in the same spot on my left leg.

It was too hot and humid to run on Monday, anyway, so I took my workout indoors for an extra spin class. Tuesday I did spin, again, as I've been doing all summer.

And whether it was the half marathon this past Saturday, or the double-dose of spin ,or some other combination of circumstances at work, the little nagging pain made itself much more vocal. I'd iced it last night. Plan on icing it again tonight. And probably tomorrow night, for that matter.

Feels better today than it did yesterday, but I plan on giving myself more rest yet this week. I don't want to miss my long run on Saturday.

I'd been planning a trip out to Seattle for a little while, primarily hoping to visit the University of Washington Medical Center -- where I'd received my treatment twenty years ago. I knew I'd need to get in a long run while I was there, so I reached out to a friend from high school, Gerbielyn, who has been actively involved with Team in Training for the past five or six years.

She invited me to the team run along the Burke-Gilman Trail, originating from Matthews Beach on Lake Washington. One of my teammates from Minneapolis, Stephanie, was also visiting family on the same weekend, and had planned to join the long run as well. Unfortunately, she's nursing an injury, and didn't do the run. Still -- was able to meet her aunt and uncle, who are also both involved with TNT. Small world.

Weather was just about perfect. Sunny, warm, clear. Even a little brisk at the beginning, compared to what we've had in Minneapolis. I was able to spend much of the time running with one of the coaches, Jim, who ran the entire time wearing a grass skirt (to celebrate that this was the longest run for the team getting ready for the Kauai Marathon). Also ran with Lyell, also running Kauai, who has completed nearly sixty marathons! Finally finished up the run with Paul, an eight-year ALL survivor.

We all walked into Lake Washington at the end of the run. Had some treats, too. In all, a really fun time. So glad I could participate.

Another brief update. Hope to write more about the trip to Seattle. Didn't train much so I could give my leg some rest -- spin class on Monday and Tuesday, then no running until the long run on Saturday.

Weekly Mileage: 16 miles
Total Mileage: 269.5 miles
Fundraising Total: $12,171.50

Had a great spin class today. There was a sub -- Justin -- who comes highly recommended by more than a few people. It was a good, challenging, low-impact workout.

Gearing up for 18 miles tomorrow, our longest run so far. The mileage is really starting to add up, and I've been feeling a little wear and tear. Good news is that these nagging aches and pains haven't really bothered me yesterday or today. Don't know if it was the ice bath I took after practice on Wednesday, or the extra rest, or just getting more comfortable with the mileage.

Regardless, feeling pretty solid about tomorrow's run.

Tuesday mileage: 4 miles
Wednesday mileage: 5.5 miles
Total mileage: 279 miles

I was very fortunate, this past weekend, to have been able to spend some time with my high school friend, Nigam; his wife, Reshma; and their daughter, Siona. It was a hot Sunday afternoon, and we sat outside on their back patio talking about a range of topics, most of them about leukemia.

Siona had been receiving more agressive chemo in order to induce remission so she could then begin the process for a cord blood transplant. Her biopsy was on Monday. Results came a couple of days later: she was not in remission.

9% has been confirmed - Very Disappointing news to say the least and looks like we might be going to ST. Judes in Tennessee as Seattle is running out of options. Cancer Sucks and to be frank its hard to be positive today - Hopefully tomorrow brings a different day.

http://www.sionashah.com/siona/index.php?updateid=43

From my recent visit to Seattle, when I had a chance to visit with Cindy for the first time in years. We had a great (if a little short) visit, catching up on where we are today, and remembering my hospital stay. What an amazing nurse.

It surprises me, still, how emotional those days were for both of us. I mean, I knew it impacted me, of course; but I forget how deeply leukemia also cut into the lives of those who helped me to defeat it.

"You never know how strong you are until being strong is the only choice you have."

- Anonymous

Yesterday morning was the first time I'd had a chance to do a long run with the team in a couple of weeks. Weather forecast called for morning fog and overcast skies, burning off into a beautiful summer afternoon. And even though I thought we'd finally escaped the heat and humidity that's been fairly persistent this summer, it didn't take long to realize that we were still running through some seriously thick air.

The run itself felt great. Nine miles out towards Lake Minnetonka, past Excelsior, before turning right back around for a total of 18. Very nearly the maximum distance we'll be running prior to the marathon. And the best part was that even though it was taxing, I felt like I could have kept going when we'd stopped. Figure that has to be a good sign as we've increased our mileage dramatically over the past month.

I also took an ice bath after this past run, my second one this week. The team in Seattle swore by their benefits. Some of the other people I've been running with lately have mentioned the same thing. My coach, Jan, agrees: they are very good for the body.

So whether it's the extra rest over the past few weeks, or the ice baths, or some combination of the two (and a little good luck thrown in for good measure) I feel pretty solid again.

Weekly Total: 27.5 miles in 3 runs, plus 1 day of spin class.
Total Mileage: 297 miles
Fundraising Total: $12,171.50

Just realized, as I finished my weekly update, that today marks exactly one hundred days since I began training in mid-May. Thought it would be fun to share some stats about those 100 days:

• 49 days of running


• 27 days of cross-training (primarily spin class at the Target Center Lifetime Fitness)


• 76% of those days, then, had some form of exercise


• 18 miles is my longest run so far


• 10 runs have been 10 miles or longer

I'm glad for this, actually, glad for an unexpectedly difficult run on Saturday. Well, not entirely unexpected: I'd spent the better part of both Thursday and Friday struggling with sinus congestion, fatigue, and not the best sleep. I'm still not sure if it's allergies or some kind of late summer cold. In either case, I was definitely not at my best when I woke up early for our long run.

The plan was to run seventeen miles. Weather could not have been more accommodating, and the route was a nice, mostly familiar path that started north of Lake of the Isles, then moved down the chain of lakes, past Calhoun and then along Harriet before returning back up to our starting point.

And the lakes really were spectacular. Gorgeous water, gorgeous sun. Made a point of trying to notice those things, to smile, breathe, and go slowly.

But not even halfway into the run, I was wiped. Ran most of the way to Harriet with Rosie and Heather, joining up with Sanjiv and April near Calhoun. They split off at the south end of Harriet to add a few more miles along Minnehaha Parkway. I knew that I didn't want to add any more miles than necessary, so I kept on, making my way back alone.

In marked contrast to the previous weekend, when I'd felt like I could have kept going after 18 miles, I had to stop and walk several times on the way back. Just couldn't catch my breath. Wasn't even running all that fast; just didn't have anything left in the tank over the last five or six miles.

And when all is said and done, I'm glad for days like this. It was a struggle. It reminds me that there will be bad days, days when you find things to be much harder than you'd like, or than you're used to. It fits the analogy, again, for both leukemia and life: there will be both good days and bad days, and it's how you respond to the bad days that helps to define the quality of your character.

Yesterday, I struggled through fifteen miles in just about three hours, including plenty of water stops and walking breaks. But I did it. Got my long run in this weekend (even if it fell a couple of miles short of my original goal).

It feels so much better, today, to have pushed my way through the fatigue to finish that run than it would have felt to have skipped the run altogether.

Another quiet week of blogging. Here's what the workouts looked like:

Monday: 45 min of spin class
Tuesday: 45 min of spin class
Wednesday: 4 miles (track workout with the team - Yasso 800's)
Thursday: rest
Friday: 45 min of spin class
Saturday: 15 miles in 3 hrs
Sunday: rest

I'm now over three hundred miles worth of runs since I started training in mid-May! Over the next few weeks, I want to get some more of my mid-week runs in. It's been awhile since I've done Monday or Thursday runs; as the Twin Cities marathon gets closer, I think it would be good to get a bit more running mileage in each week.

Total Mileage: 316 miles
Fundraising Total: $12,246.50

Last month of training before the marathons show up on our calendar. Wow. I'm actually looking forward to cutting back in a few weeks -- 12 miles, and then 8 miles on the weekend. Hehe. Nice to be able to consider that kind of mileage a "cut back" weekend.

Love this quote on running, as well as the longer article that it came from.

I was running from where I had been, where I was, and where I was headed.

[...]

I wrote in one of those first columns that my running shoes had become giant erasers on my feet. Each foot strike wiped away the memory of some earlier indiscretion or failure. Each new pair of running shoes carried the potential of unlocking some secret place. Each pair of worn-out running shoes carried with them the scars of a healing soul.

http://running.competitor.com/2004/07/training/running-forever_3287

I don't know what it is about running hills, but I love these periodic Wednesday workouts at Lock & Dam #1. They are absolutely my favorite. LOVE them. Even at spin class during the week, my favorite part of class is when we add tension to the bike, and stand up through the "hill." Maybe it's the Seattle kid in me. I dunno. But happily got stronger as yesterday's workout progressed.

Here are some detailed splits from the Garmin, and a map view of the workout itself, including warmup and cool-down time before and after the eight hill repeats.

Mileage: 6 miles.
Total Mileage: 322 miles.

And what a difference the weather makes, cooler temps welcoming us into September; a perfect sunrise across Lake Nokomis to start our 18 mile run. There was little to no breeze as we worked our way along the Twin Cities Marathon route along Minnehaha Parkway, up the west side of the Mississipi River to the Lake Street Bridge, then back down along the St. Paul side to Summit Avenue. We followed Summit for a few miles before hitting our nine mile turnaround point.

Again: so dramatically different than last Saturday's run, and yet another example why you can't put too much stock into any one day, good, bad, or otherwise. Hard to articulate all of the many reasons why today's run was so awesome. It just was. Felt fantastic.

Over the last four or five miles, without even realizing it, I started to peel away from my steady group of runners. Didn't have the Garmin (forgot it, of course) so I can't say exactly how fast I was going, but it was most definitely faster than my standard "long slow distance" pace. Maybe closer to a nine minute mile than the 10:00 or 10:30.

Oh. And the ice bath afterwards? Getting used to these now, and really think they've been helping out with the recovery. Was able to last a solid 20 minutes -- probably could have gone longer, but figured that was probably more than enough time in a cold tub filled with an 18 lb bag of ice.

The marathon is less than a month away now. All systems go!

Today's run: 18 miles in about 3:25:00
Total mileage: 340 miles

Especially on the heels of such a rough long run last Saturday, I'd have to say that this past week was one of my best of the summer so far. Didn't work in any extra runs during the week yet -- got more spin class cross-training in than actual runs, but every one of my workouts (as well as the hills on Wednesday and yesterday's long run) felt great.

Fingers crossed that the same holds true for the rest of September.

Added almost another $1,000 to the fundraising total, as I start to begin an additional push toward the two marathons. Hoping to generate a fair amount of local publicity over the next month or two. Good news is that donations can keep arriving up to 30 days after the Dublin marathon, so anything that gets published in October still has a chance to help with the overall total.

Weekly Mileage: 24 miles in 2 runs, and 3 days of cross-training
Total Mileage: 340 miles
Fundraising Total: $13,166.50

Four miles over lunch on a mild, overcast Labor Day. Very nice. Moved along at a good clip, once again finishing the last two miles faster than the first two. Took the last mile down in 08:30. Might be my single best mile so far this summer, but I'm not entirely positive.

Total mileage: 344 miles.

Another near-perfect day for a long team run -- today was the longest run on the calendar before the Twin Cities Marathon. The next few weeks are all about tapering (12 miles next Saturday, then 8 miles the Saturday after that) in preparation for the marathon. And then, after the marathon, I'll get to taper again, with 12 and 8 miles before Dublin. Perfect.

Today's run was mostly good, a simple out and back along the Luce Line trail. Felt fairly strong through the first fifteen miles or so. Then something cropped up -- sinuses, maybe, something in my chest that felt similar to what had happened a couple of weeks ago. Just a general tightness, shortness of breath, unable to really get my lungs firing on all cylinders. So it was mostly jogging, with some walking, too, to work my way through to the finish.

The goal was to finish the run in four hours. Made it in 3:53:00. Once again, it's nice to be able to struggle through a good quarter of a long run and still come in ahead of the goal.

Today's run: 20 miles
Total mileage: 368 miles

And so the tapering begins, time to cut back (slowly) on the runs and cross-training. Mileage decreases on the long weekend runs, and frequency cuts back during the week, too. Hard to imagine that the Twin Cities Marathon is only a few weeks away, now. The good news is that you can't lose four months of fitness in three weeks; quite the opposite, in fact. By resting (relatively speaking) between now and the marathon, I should be in that much better shape to tackle the 26.2 miles.

Coming soon: lots of sleep, lots of water, and lots of focus on the task ahead.

This past week?

Mon - 4 mile run
Tue - spin class
Wed - 4 mile run
Thu - pilates
Fri - spin class
Sat - 20 mile run

Tonight was a track workout at Minnehaha Academy, another go at the Yasso 800's. Basic premise of these is that you do 800 meters (2 laps around the track) at the mm:ss equivalent of your hh:mm marathon goal.

They are apparently a good indicator of how you will finish the marathon. Knock out ten sets before the marathon, and with all of the rest of the training, you should be able to predict your time within a few minutes.

It was stormy tonight. Threatening storms, threatening western skies, and when I arrived about five minutes early, people were already on the track. Everybody started as soon as they could. I'd forgotten my watch. Well, truly, the battery was dead, and I hadn't charged it since the weekend. So when i got up to the track, Jan, our coach, just happened to be finishing up with another teammate. I'd mentioned that I was going to "play it by ear" on my pace.

She laughed.

Asked how one might do that.

So we stood near the starting line and took off running together. Her watch would keep track of the pace for both of us.

My goal marathon time, I told her, was 4 hours and 30 minutes. And earlier today, talking to Bernie about it during our status, I felt that maybe I might finish a bit slower. The real goal for all the conditioning, all of the cross-training and speed work, diet, exercise, isn't about shaving minutes off my time from ten years ago: it's so I can enjoy myself. I want to have fun. I want the last six miles to be a joy. So lucky to still be here, twenty years later, to tackle these sorts of challenges.

Now I'm not so sure that it won't be well under four and a half hours.

Jan ran and we talked and I know we were moving at a good clip. The first couple of laps it wasn't a problem. She told me something she'd mentioned earlier in the season, too, when we were running hills: that I had more in me than I let out. Maybe I was sandbagging it. Whatever the case, I had a runner's body, she said, and she knew I could do much, much more. So she pushed the pace, and I followed along.

First 800 meters was in 4:10. Then we jogged 400 meters, and finished then next 800 in 4:04. Add those two together, and you're looking at some of the fastest mile times I've posted all summer. Easily.

Our third 800 was much faster. I was breathing hard, but not sucking wind. Thank you, spin class, for helping me get my lung capacity up (although I'm thinking I can still get it much higher). On our last lap, Jan talked about visualizing the last bit of the Twin Cities Marathon.

"Keep up with me," she encouraged.

I know we were moving fast, but I didn't have a watch, and I was trying to picture the last section of the marathon, downhill, cathedral to my left, running toward the capital, sunny, clear, people lining the roads. It will be beyond amazing this time, I know. So amazing.

As we crossed the finish line together, Jan looked at her watch. "Three-forty," she said, raising her right hand for a high-five. I started jogging again, working to catch my breath, trying to get at least one more 800 in before the rain really started to come down. Jan caught up with another teammate, to help her through her Yasso's, and I worked to get my lungs back under control.

I tried to match my pace as best as I could for my next 800. As I was jogging around the track after finishing that set, the sky darker and more ominous with every minute, I thought about what the goal was for this workout: get as many sets in before the rain started. Why stop now?

As I made my way back around to the start/finish, I noticed Mick and another woman getting ready to start their last set, too. They both blast past me during the long weekend runs. Mid-week workouts, too. I didn't really plan on it, but I started my last 800 a few seconds before they did. And, surprisingly, they never passed me. I kept breathing, kept running, fat raindrops beginning to drop with increasing frequency on the track. I think I picked it up for the last 200 meters, the last 100. Stride. Pace. Breathing.

They crossed the finish a few seconds behind me, as I moved off to the right to jog my way back around one last time. I heard them call out to each other "3:40." Same time as I'd run earlier with Jan. Nice. Very nice.

Add those two 800's together, and I'd put together a far better mile than I'd imagined was possible when I started all of this last March. A sub 7:30 mile? Are you kidding? Next week I think I'll head to out to a local track and see what I can do for 1600 meters. Anything is possible now. Everything is within reach.

It was a downpour by the time I got back to Kim's car, where we all keep our keys. I'd put on my new Team in Training warmup jacket, a bonus prize for exceeding (by far) my fundraising goals. I was soaked, jacket or no.

But so happy.

What a great night.

Cool. The Twin Cities Marathon is offering real-time updates of athlete progress during the event. It's via text-messaging (which isn't all bad, but it would be cooler if you watch runners on Google Maps or something).The following URL enables you to enter your cell number and wireless provider, then takes you to another page where you can search for runners to track.

http://run.convergent-solutions.com/Registration

Only two Robert Browns competing this year. Yep. I'm the older one.

Really nice run today, if a little brisk. Fall is certainly a welcome arrival after so much heat and humidity for these weekend runs during the summer. We met up in the Sears parking lot next to the capital, where the finish line will be in a couple of weekends. A pretty straight-forward run along Summit Avenue, following the marathon route exactly.

It was nice for a few reasons: being able to have a clearer mental picture of the marathon finish, being able to cut back to "only" 12 miles for our tapering, and feeling comfortable and confident for the duration of that run -- no problems whatsoever, outside of the stop-and-go nature of Summit Avenue's traffic signals.

Good times. We were all pretty excited coming down that last hill by the cathedral, especially thinking that we're only two weeks away from the marathon!

After we'd finished, I asked Stephanie to take a photo of me. I need to provide a current picture to the Edina Sun Current for an article that will be published sometime over the next few weeks. I thought it would be a good idea to use it to update my sidebar, too, to include a good "after" shot to go along with bald, skinny, 1990 me.

Cut back quite a bit this week: only did spin class once, on Tuesday, one mid-week run (with the team at Minnehaha on Wednesday), and yesterday's long run. It felt good to rest a bit. But I'm thinking that I want to do a little more this coming week ... not much, still tapering and all that, but another day or two of run/spin would also feel good heading into the lowest weekly mileage totals I've had since May or June.

Mon - rest
Tue - spin class
Wed - 3 mile run
Thu - rest
Fri - rest
Sat - 12 mile run

Weekly mileage: 15 miles
Total mileage: 383 miles
Fundraising Total: $13,436.50

There used to be a lot more profanity throughout these virtual pages. Part of writing in the present tense -- part of sending myself back to 1990 to sit with all of those feelings, to process through the events of that spring and summer -- has meant that I will feel a great deal of anger. I want to give a voice to all of those raw and blistering emotions. And as I've pieced this narrative together over the years, that anger had ebbed and flowed.

I don't want to discount that. Don't want to remove it. But I do want this to be a story that I can more readily share with family and friends without worrying about dropping one too many f-bombs.

So those, at least, are gone, either removed altogether or replaced with a freaking this or an effing that. Same with the "s-word," replaced with lousy, awful, or crappy alternatives. In some places, though, it's still the best fit, so I kept it. Shouldn't be anything worse than that. A sprinkling. A smattering of slightly-off-color language that isn't any worse than what you might hear being yelled at the oblivious driver of the dented-up Ford Taurus, blindly cutting in front of you on the highway.

Like I said, I don't want to diminish the truth of what I was feeling; hopefully the changes are minor, barely noticeable, really. Words matter. But I don't want a few choice words to distract from the heart of this story.

Another update on Siona, who has been at St. Jude since late August:

Siona had a bone marrow biopsy last week which showed that her marrow was empty of cells except for a few small ones that would need further testing. Today our doctor told us that those small cells are in fact leukemia cells. It's still too early to tell, but once Siona's body recovers some more and the cells in her marrow grow, they will do another bone marrow and hopefully her own healthy cells will outnumber the bad. The hope is that the leukemia will have been knocked down to a low enough level to go to transplant.

We don't have any more chemo options left and the thought is that anymore would be unhealthy for Siona's body anyway. Our St. Jude doctor is researching other options and talking to many other specialists and researchers. Our Seattle doctor and St. Jude doctor are set to meet up a COG (Cancer Oncology Group) meeting in Dallas this week. Next week he is off to Germany for a BFM conference with international oncologists. So maybe he will bring back new information. They see only one patient a year here at St. Judes with Siona's type of Leukemia. There is no set therapy for it yet. The good news is Siona's body is healthy and she is doing well despite the leukemia in her body.

http://www.sionashah.com/siona/index.php?updateid=46

Perspective is a funny thing. I've been looking forward to this weekend's long run for awhile. Talking with co-workers, family, and even some of the other runners on the team, we all found it funny to refer to this final weekend of tapering prior to the Twin Cities Marathon as "only" eight miles. And it really did feel like that: like it was a treat, a run that seemed to finish so quickly, moving along at a nice comfortable pace with Tanya for the entire eight and April and Sanjiv for the first four.

We ran along the Minnetonka trail. The first time we'd run eight miles together as a team was this exact same trail, in early June. The last time one of our weekend long runs was a mere eight mile was at the end of June, a step-back week (with lots of hills) before really ramping up our distances in July and August.

And here's where more perspective comes into play. Where I feel as though I've prepared as much as I possibly can to take on my first marathon next weekend. I'd finished both of those two runs in June reasonably well: roughly an hour and a half, including water stops, for an 11:15 min/mile pace.

Finished yesterday in 1:20:44, or a 10:05 min/mile pace. Again, that was a very comfortable pace, conversational, including water stops (that we admittedly didn't linger at for all that long).

So, yes, nervous and excited about next weekend's marathon. But not at all worried.

Until one is committed, there is hesitancy, the chance to draw back, always ineffectiveness. Concerning all acts of initiative (and creation), there is one elementary truth the ignorance of which kills countless ideas and splendid plans: that the moment one definitely commits oneself, then providence moves too. A whole stream of events issues from the decision, raising in one's favor all manner of unforeseen incidents, meetings and material assistance, which no man could have dreamt would have come his way. I learned a deep respect for one of Goethe's couplets:

Whatever you can do or dream you can, begin it.
Boldness has genius, power and magic in it!

Yesterday's update:

Siona, for the last week, has been in the hospital with fevers and she just wants to come home, in fact, when the nurse said you get to go home, (meaning hotel), Siona responded by saying, "I want to go to my real home in Seattle." It was so cute and so innocent. We are finally planning on going back to Seattle this week, with doctor's okay, and Siona already has plans. First stop? Spaghetti Factory, and then a sleepover with cousins. At this point, we don't know how the bone marrow tests will turn out. In some ways, it just doesn't matter to Siona and she just wants to be in her 'real' home.

September 27, 2010

I've had a few people ask about my expected pace during the marathon this Sunday so they can make appropriate spectating plans.I'm hoping for about a 10:30 pace, which should get me to the finish line a little after four-and-a-half hours. Assuming it takes a few minutes to get to the starting line, the following table shows when I should hit various mile markers.

Mile Time
1. 8:15 AM
2. 8:26 AM
3. 8:36 AM
4. 8:47 AM
5. 8:57 AM
6. 9:08 AM
7. 9:18 AM
8. 9:29 AM
9. 9:39 AM
10. 9:50 AM
11. 10:00 AM
12. 10:11 AM
13. 10:21 AM
14. 10:32 AM
15. 10:42 AM
16. 10:53 AM
17. 11:03 AM
18. 11:14 AM
19. 11:24 AM
20. 11:35 AM
21. 11:45 AM
22. 11:56 AM
23. 12:06 PM
24. 12:17 PM
25. 12:27 PM
26. 12:38 PM

And here's a link to a handy-dandy Spectator's Guide, including a similar chart for projected marathon paces and good spots to watch the marathon. There will also be a few spots on the course that will be designated "cheer stations" for Team in Training, as described below:

Mile 4.5 - Located in Minneapolis at the northwest corner of Lake Calhoun near the Calhoun Beach Club (corner of Lake St. & Dean Parkway).

Mile 10 - Located at the intersection of Portland Ave and 50th St.

Mile 17 - The TNT cheering section will be just prior to the official mile 17 water stop of the marathon. We will set up at about 34th Street and West River Road . Park along Edmund Blvd. It runs parallel to the River Road. You will need to walk down a small hill to get to the River Road. (It is about 4 blocks south of Lake St.)

Mile 22.75 - also mile 6.75 of the TC10 Miler - Located at the intersection of Summit Ave. and Snelling Ave. (This is our official Honoree Cheer Station).

This will be something of a mix of good and bad heading into tomorrow's marathon. Let's cover the bad news, first, since it's more important than any of the good. This was the most recent update on Siona, after spending over a month at St. Jude Children's Hospital in Memphis.

Let me start with the good news as siona is finally coming home this wednesday and siona is so excited. This excitement for siona is diminished greatly for us because we just got the word today that the luekemia has increased in the blood and the bone marrow. We are stunned and quite honestly shocked by the turn of events. At this point we are going to take few days to evaluate the next options and do what is best for Siona.

September 29, 2010

More details to follow, but I wanted to post my results from yesterday's run. Just an amazing, beautiful day.

I'm really happy that I kept a pretty consistent, steady pace throughout the marathon. And also pleasantly surprised by the factoid at the bottom of the image: over the last six miles, Ella (a TNT teammate who I ended up running the entire marathon with, providing each other with some much-needed mutual support) and I made up ground on better than 500 other runners. I'll take a strong finish over a fast start any day!

p.s.Yesterday's time was just a few minutes faster than when I'd last run a marathon in 2000, which was also much faster than I'd run my first marathon in Chicago in 1998. Getting better with age!

Downloaded the mile-by-mile details from my Garmin. I added the yellow highlights to mark where I was within 15 seconds, plus or minus, of my pre-race goal of a 10:30 mile.

I like that all but eight miles fell within 15 seconds of my goal pace -- and that 25/27 splits were within 30 seconds of that goal.

I'm very happy that my two best mile times were at mile 25 and 26, as well as that last two tenths of a mile (or last half mile, thanks to the curviness of this course and not always running on the inside) when Ella and I were still feeling strong enough to pick up the pace even more.

What great confirmation that the training, coaching, and support we received all spring and summer from Team in Training did a fantastic job of preparing us to tackle this event!

My goodness! What a busy past few weeks this has been, and with no updates here since shortly after the marathon. I will remedy that shortly. Lots to write about as the trip to Dublin is only a couple of days away, and plans for my visit to England are firming up, too. Might even try to upload a few photos from the marathon, too, before I go!

Night before the big day, part two. It's about 10:00 PM, Dublin time, and I need to hit the sack, but I will post a long-overdue status here first.

The inspiration dinner was a fantastic experience (if a little lacking in quantity and quality of pasta). Skimming through the last handful of updates, and I realize that I'd never mentioned that I was the guest speaker at the dinner, hopefully providing some additional last-minute inspiration to the 123 other TNT marathon participants. I knew that there was a possibility that I might be speaking, but didn't find out for sure until this past Wednesday.

And while I spent a good amount of time this weekend working on what I wanted to say in the speech, even writing out copious notes and reminders to myself about different key elements to touch on, I ended up simply sharing my story. I know it pretty well by now. Tried to keep it light, but serious, and then light again -- ultimately drawing it back to a truth that I've felt for a long time now, that there are so many good parallels between training for and participating in an endurance event and going through cancer treatment.

You own it. It's your leukemia to fight, your marathon to finish. Nobody can make you get up and train on a cold morning in October. And nobody is going to move your feet forward over that last handful of miles in Dublin except for you.

But the support network is vast.

Family, friends, coaches, peers. They help you in ways that are difficult to imagine. Tough to put into words.

You get through these things by being strong and determined, by making the choice to continue (even when it hurts) and by relying on the love and kindness of close friends, family, and complete strangers.

So it was a very good speech. I didn't know how to handle the standing ovation afterwards, other than to smile, wave, and say thank you. Other runners and walkers from other chapters would come up to me once the dinner was over to shake my hand or take a picture with me. Chatted at length with a few. Felt great.

How does tomorrow look? Should be cool and clear. This is a beautiful city. What a fantastic opportunity we've all been given here, to stretch our legs out past Trinity College, up past Phoenix Park, around and down to the south and east before we head back up into the heart of Dublin. I'll be wearing long sleeves underneath my singlet, which is now adorned with a couple of other pins. I'll also be wearing a new NikeFit cap. I know I'm not supposed to go with anything new on race day, but this is worth it: it's a TNT logo cap, given to the top ten national fundraisers. Thanks to the help and support of so many people, I ended up being the overall top fundraiser for the Dublin Marathon. So I will be wearing that cap to celebrate, and to remind myself, again, that this is a journey that might begin and end with my feet striking the pavement, but I owe a significant debt of gratitude to so many people.

I have been so lucky with so many things this year, especially when it comes to training. I have avoided any significant injuries. The weather has been fantastic during most of our long training runs. Race day, today, was no exception: sunny and clear, and the cold wasn't anything you couldn't prepare for.

It was a great marathon. Far more difficult than Twin Cities was, earlier this month, but I suspect that has as much to do with putting my body through the wringer than anything. The last few miles hurt nearly every step of the way. I tried to do some tricks, some mental tomfoolery, but there was no getting around the fact that it just hurt to move.

But that's what I love about this. These aren't supposed to be easy. You are supposed to find a way -- inner strength, grit, perseverance, just stupid damn stubbornness -- to keep moving yourself closer and closer to that finish line.

Finished in 4:47. Five minutes slower than Twin Cities. My goal was to finish Dublin faster than Twin Cities, but you know what? I'll take two marathons within a handful of minutes of each other any day.

I'm exhausted.

Spent.

We'll see how my body feels tomorrow, as I begin my ferry and train journey into England. I know I will be walking my way through a lot of pain.

And that's a very good thing, a clear reminder for me that I was able to reach this doubly-difficult goal that I'd set for myself earlier in the spring. Two marathons in a month? That's crazy talk! I don't have any plans to repeat this effort anytime soon. It's enough to know that it is possible. You can accomplish anything.