My final thoughts....

Can be found here

Thanks for every ounce of support, monetary and spiritual.  I am deeply grateful.

A full and normal life

Those are the words at the end of the first paragraph of the last blog post on behalf of my cousin Pat's husband Sid.  That's great news.  You should expect to live a full and normal life her doctor said.  There are still some tests to be done, but it seems her treatment has been successful.

Makes me feel good about raising money for LLS to see the people close to me surviving Lymphoma and Multiple Myeloma.  Because right now my friend Kay Kay's dad is doing well also.

And so I keep running.  The last three weekends saw 2 hour runs and at 12 miles each.  They haven't been very pretty, but that's okay.  The first of those was at 5:30 am on my own so that I could get in a run before heading to the summit of Pikes Peak to support my friends running the Ascent.

Last weekend's run was just hot.  It was on a part of the Santa Fe trail that I like, but that doesn't have much shade.  I don't much like the heat.  So I slogged through 12 miles - slow, lacking energy and well, just ugly.  I wasn't able to do any more mileage this week, but it wasn't quite as hot.  The second half started to get warm, but there was enough shade among the hills to make it doable.

I think that I'll only be able to get in one more long run before race day.  School has started and so has travel season for work.  So I have class Monday  til 10 and Wednesday til 7 and for most of September I am hopping on a plane on Thursday morning to work the weekend and then fly back on Monday morning.  I'm hoping to get in A run on the days I am on the road.  Won't likely be time for 2 hour runs, but any run will be better than none.  I got new tunes from Kat which will help if those runs have to be treadmill runs.  I'll be home and able to run long on Sept. 19, but that may be it until Oct. 9 which is a week before the race.

Once, again, I am grateful for all your support.  I've raised over $1000 beyond my minimum and I'm so glad to be doing this even in the midst of the craziness.

10 good miles

School took over my spare time. At least my spare time to post. Finished the summer semester. Phew! 8 weeks is short and intense.

Track practice has been rained out more than it hasn't in the last few weeks. We've had crazy thunder, lightning and rain storms and they've been rolling in between 3 & 6 pm making it tough to predict how quickly they'll pass. And some of them have been lingering most of the night. So not much to report from the track.

I've kept up with the running even with school taking so much time. Will attempt to do the same now that I am back to work after 5 weeks of vacation from work.

Last Saturday we ran from Goose Gossage Park. I don't love running from there. The trail is paved in asphalt or concrete nearly every direction and the scenery is pretty average for Colorado Springs. Did 11 miles in 1:48 and change. Was a difficult effort but I was glad to have covered 11 miles. I haven't run that far since the Pikes Peak Marathon last summer. Close, maybe 10 but not more than that.

So yesterday we were in the Garden. Even a bad run in the Garden is a good run. It's an insuring place to be. And I had a good run yesterday. It was hard because the garden is always hard. Did two laps - one took us outside the park via Balanced Rock and back up Ridge Road - otherwise known as the "No sh*&" hill. It's a doozey. It's long, steep and deceiving. I have no shame about the fact that I had to walk part of it. Second lap kept me in the park entirely. Did 10 miles in 1:46 and change.

Fascinating to me that I ran only one mile longer last week on the relative flats. The Garden is all hills - rolling and some steep. But I don't do flats very well so it's not really a surprise. Yesterday's run in the Garden was euphoric and the first really good run I can remember in a while.

So training is going well, as is the fundraising. I'm just a few dollars shy of raising $1000 more than my minimum requirement. Thanks again for all your support.

Team Hero

Each team, each season, has a team hero.  Our team hero is Ed.  We met him at Kick-off back in May.  I suspect he's been around a few other times, but I've been around for team practices only off and on.   Ed came to send us off on our long run this morning.  Ed is in remission from Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma.  Ed shared with us today that the research that LLS does saved his life.  They conducted research on the drug that saved Ed from the aggressive cancer that he was diagnosed with in 2004.

I don't know Ed well, but there's a genuineness about him.  The connections in my life are much closer than I imagined they would be when I first started thinking about running with TNT.  My own cousin Pat who continues to show incredible strength week after week.  KayKay's dad who also shows incredible strength week after week.  But it's powerful to have Ed join us periodically.  I don't see Pat or KayKay's dad - I keep up with them through blogs and family members, but it's still one step removed.  Ed makes it very real.   

So today's run was tough.  Not sure that I've had a run recently that actually felt good.  But it's nothing compared to Chemo, of that I am certain.  I made it through 8.5 miles.  Turns out my average pace was a tad bit faster than the last long run.  That means the training is paying off.  Now I just need to pay better attention to the diet and I should see miraculous results.  It does feel good to be running with a purpose again.

So thank you again!  I am lucky to call so many generous spirits my friends and family.  

Vacation

I've been absent from this page and from running for a bit.  I went to Mexico for a week with 6 of the women with whom I run.  I ran twice while I was in Vallarta and did the Vallarta version of the incline too (200 steps up from the beach, repeat 3 or 4 times).  I think Jane captured the feeling best, "I feeling like I'm breathing in water."  It was HOT and sticky and wet.  But I couldn't go on vacation with my running friends and not run.  :-)

And today I ran my first 5k in a LONG time.  26:33 or something like that.  Good to know I can run a few sustained miles in a row under 9 minutes.  Tomorrow I'll do my long run since I raced with Micky today on the all women's winning team "Won't be dead last" at the Veteran's Home Run instead of with TNT!  Tuesday I go back to TNT full swing and hit the track again!

I thought I'd put in a shout out to all the people who have donated.  My total doesn't reflect it yet, as I've just mailed a few more checks, but I've now met my goal of raising $2100.  No reason to stop though.

Many of you have donated in honor of friends and loved ones including: Donald Seeburger, Tom Blumn & John Blumn, Pat Hunt, Joel Conner, Lisa Sundeen, grandfather's, friends and others.  $900 dollars that you have all contributed goes straight, 100% to LLS research and programs.  I've said it before, but it's worth saying again!

I am deeply grateful and eager to continue on this journey not only on behalf of my cousin Pat in whose honor I do this but on behalf of KayKay's dad and all those people important in your loves!

Keep Running!

Isn't the track supposed to hurt?

I did my second track workout yesterday with the Team.  I know I need to find a way to consistently hit the track - if not with the group, then I need to do the workout on my own.  It'll make me faster.

Last night we did our usually ~1 walk/warmup.  I was nervous because it was hot.  I don't do well in the heat.  The workout was a successively faster group of 4x800 with a 400 recovery.  I ran every one of my 800's too fast.  My first one was supposed to be a 5:12; I ran a 4:35.  Next one was supposed to be a 4:52; I ran another 4:30ish.  My third one was supposed to be 4:30 and I ran that one in 4:20.  My last one was supposed to be a 4:20 and, you guessed it, I ran that one in 4:10.  And I didn't feel exhausted, beat up or generally spit out the way a track workout usually makes you feel.  And it was HOT.  Did I mention that?

Not sure what this means, actually.  My long runs have been between 9:30 and 10:30 pace.  Definitely much closer to the 10 minute/mile pace more often.  So why is the track so easy?  I fear posing that question.  Especially when my long runs are hard.

Had to scurry out early to get home and study for class tonight.

Loving this Team in Training program, though.  And I'm pretty darn close to reaching my fundraising goal, so if you've been meaning to donate now is the time!

Happy Running!

A busy week = a slow start to the running

It's been a busy week.  My first run was on Thursday because I was in Denver on Monday and Tuesday and in class on Monday and Wednesday nights.  So I missed Tuesday track practice because I was sitting in Denver traffic.

But that's okay.  My runs on Thursday and Friday were tough.  I felt tired.  My legs felt like lead - like they do when you don't run for 3 days.  And when you are fighting a nasty cough.  Might have been allergy related, I have no idea.

So I was skeptical of today's run.  Supposedly doing 1:45.  Turned out that it was much better than I anticipated!  It wasn't fast, but the lungs were fine, again, much better than anticipated.  I put in 9.7 miles and 1:40.  All in all a good effort with many weeks yet to go before the race.

I'm so psyched by the generosity of spirit that surrounds me.  All of the money that I raise over my $1600 minimum will go 100% directly to LLS programs and research.  And at least 75% of the $1600 will go to the same.  I've got nearly $500 additional dollars in donations going straight to LLS!  You all are awesome.

Time for a little rest so that I can go for a trail run tomorrow with the girls and then dive into the school books!

Happy Father's Day to all out there who are father's!