Team In Training - Sharing the Fun

This week our TNT coordinator asked if I'd mentor on the run team. I was already running as a participant and the team could use one more mentor. Without even thinking about it, I said sure. If TNT needs a mentor, I'm in it to win it. Mentoring is fun and it a great way to give back to Team in Training and the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. Certainly there's also fundraising which I'm happy to do, but helping people reach their endurance race goal is a thrill.

Whenever I think about mentoring, I think about how much there is to learn about endurance events. Going into my first marathon, I had a ridiculously full fuel belt. I wanted to be prepared for any and all possibilities. It's as if I was packing for a camping trip, not a race. If you click on that first photo, it'll take you to the flickr page which lists everything I managed to pack for the race. That's not all. There's another photo of my race outfit and a third of my post race gear bag. The second photo is my gear/clothes for my second TNT event with a much smaller fuel belt and a lot less stuff. I was absolutely prepared for that race, but coaches and mentors and experience had taught me what was important to carry and what's okay to forget. Now, I carry even less.

Of course, this means that Steve is mentoring the cycle team and I'm mentoring on the run team. One of these days, Steve and I are going to need to align our event calendars.

I'd Like To Thank - My Mentor, My Teammates and My Helmet

Saturday's bike ride was, well, unfun. Cycling is one of those things that when things start to go wrong, the wrongness just keeps building on itself.

The short version is -

• My bike saddle was too far forward; therefore, my leg stroke was inefficient.
• Between my pedaling inefficiency, my poor shifting technique and riding with a faster pace group, I managed to exhaust myself after 20 miles with another 10 to ride.
• The bike saddle position put pressure on my knees and my right knee was super painful and cranky.
• Because my knee hurt, I couldn't quickly unclip my foot from the pedal on my right side which meant I was frightened that I was going to fall whenever we needed to stop.

Do you see how the wrongness builds exponentially?

To get around the cranky right knee/unclipping problem, I started unclipping my left foot. It worked until we got about 500 yards from the end of the ride. We stopped and I needed to unclip on the right side and get that foot to the ground. I couldn't do it fast enough and fell over. At that point, I just couldn't take it any more - the painful knee, being afraid for hours, being so close to the finish, the fall. It was simply too much for me and I started to cry and babble (humiliating, I know).

I have never appreciated a Team In Training mentor or group teammates more than I did on Saturday. I was ruining their ride - they couldn't go as far or fast as they should have been able to go and they were still so incredibly supportive to me. I'm not very comfortable needing help and I was incredibly frustrated. My teammates put my bike back together, pulled a clump of grass out of my helmet, wrapped an arm around my shoulders, cheered me on when I got back on the bike to ride to the finish.

The fall gave me a whippin', but at the time I didn't notice it. Now I'm sporting a very tender shoulder and swollen elbow and some nice bruises on my legs. That begs the question, why can't I just stop now? Last week, I got an email from one of my first Honored Teammates. Honored Teammates are people who are fighting blood cancers who agree to dedicate time to TNT teams. Each Honored Teammate is special to me and several are young children. Children fighting cancer is sad, but childhood Leukemias now have a high survival rate which is a direct result of money raised for research.

The email last week was from an Honored Teammate, Michele, who has always touched my heart. She's just a bit younger than I am and from a similar background. She's me, only she's fought back cancer 4 times. The cancer has returned and this time things look bleak. Chemo isn't an option this time and she's looking to alternative treatments - an alkalizing thing, an oxygen thing. Before they talked about a cure, now they're talking about quality of life.

That helps to keep things in context. I had a bad couple of hours training, but I'm healthy enough to train for an endurance event. It's hard to quit knowing that my Honoree won't have that chance. If I just wanted some training partners for every Saturday, then I could join a running club or a bike club. I picked TNT, because I wanted to raise money to fight blood cancers.

Michele is going to be featured on TV program about understanding cancer which does a great job explaining her story.

Sarcasm Can Be Fun!

Thanksgiving morning I'm doing a quick 10K in downtown San Diego. The run is called the Run for the Hungry and it benefits food banks and some such. The food kitchens are always flooded with newbie volunteers on Thanksgiving Day. Instead of going to try to volunteer at the shelter, I'm doing this run.

The Thanksgiving run/walk is a tradition that my friend started for us in Dallas. Our whole group would go and do the Turkey Trot, complete with all of our dogs, friends, and cups of Starbucks. It was pretty laid back. In fact, we always parked about a half of a block ahead of the finish line. We skipped the finish line and went home. That way we didn't have to put up with traffic delays on the way to our big meal.

I'll be doing this one alone and I'll miss the happy vibe of the Dallas peeps. It's still worth doing. I'll do a little bit to help the food bank and get in a workout before heading off to give gluttonous Thanks with friends.

Here's the sarcasm part. I told someone, and I'm not sure who, that I was doing this event. And their innocently sarcastic reply was, "A run for hungry people? That's mean! And they won't be able to go fast, because they are hungry." Tee Hee!

Choose Your Own Adventure

I finally filled out my recommitment form today. For Team in Training participants recommitment is the real decision to do the event. Before that, you've agreed to train. Now the commitment is financial. At recommit you're accepting responsiblity to raise the full amount of funds for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. If you don't meet your goal, you're agreeing to donate the remainder yourself. The official recommit date was Wednesday. I've been out of the office so I haven't had a printer to print the forms. Our Team in Training coordinator kindly agreed to bring me a set of recommit forms to today's training session.

For the past few weeks, I've been kicking around an idea. This session Team in Training participants are training for 1 of 2 events - either Nike Women's Marathon or the Dublin Marathon. I wanted to do both, but signed up for Nike since all my friends were doing it. But Dublin just called to me. For the last few months, it seems as though everyone I know has gone to Ireland for work or vacation.

About two weeks ago I asked Steve what he thought would happen if I did the half marathon at Nike (October 21) then the full marathon in Dublin (October 29). Other than the fact that I might get sore, he couldn't find a reason not to do it. I asked a few other people, and they didn't have a good reason either. I'm fit. I'm strong. I train consistently. In truth, everyone is sore after a marathon. Soreness is no reason to skip Dublin.

When I filled out my recommit forms, I was still massaging the Nike+Dublin idea in my head. That's the decision point - not the money, which I'm going to raise anyway - but the event. Selecting the Nike Half Marathon means I can go to Dublin too. It's hard for me to do half of anything, but two full marathons in 8 days is insanity. I stared at the form for a long while, and finally checked off the half marathon box.

That's the adventure I choose - 2 continents, 8 days, 39.3 miles.

Nike Women's Half Marathon and Dublin Marathon - Get Ready, Because Here I Come!

More Later, But This for Now

Linda will be here to get me in 5 hours, so I should be asleep.

There's plenty of stuff to tell you about - picking up my race number, getting a button with my uncle's photo, going the pre-marathon pasta dinner.

But for now, I'll tell you this. 17000 participants will start the race. Nearly 4000 of those participants are members of Team in Training. Those 4000 runners and walkers raised 12.5 to cure blood cancers.

12.5 Million.

Recovered-ish and Ready-ish

The cold is lifting and I'm feeling pretty much better - still tired but not miserable. Other than stretching, I've pretty much blown off the training plan this week. Rest seemed more relevant than any more training.

I'm definitely ready to make the attempt on Sunday. Worse case scenario, I'll stop at the "secret" half marathon finish line. It's a secret finish line, because the Rock N Roll Marathon only allows a half marathon finish for Team In Training members; everyone else is required to go the whole 26.2. I'm pretty sure I can make the full marathon distance, but it's nice to have a back up plan.

Yesterday, I picked up my official TNT jacket. Members get a jacket when they meet their fund raising commitment. It's sort of like being in a gang. It may be the most expensive coat I've ever owned - lots of y'all chipped in to "buy" it. If you come visit me in San Diego, you can wear it for awhile.

Nike Women's Marathon - Run Like A Girl

Last week I officially signed up for Nike Women's Marathon. There was a very nice TNT Alumni cocktail reception hosted by Nike and the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. Actually I'm a pre-alum of TNT since I haven't finished my first event yet, but lets not pick nits.

I checked out the fund raising commitment and it's only $1500 even though it's a travel event. I knew it was a lot smaller amount as an alum, but I wasn't sure how much. That's cool.

It's a win/win. I love TNT and the cause is so near to my heart. Nike Women's, here I come.

And Then You Know You're Blessed

I received my first donation from my friend Carla. Whee!

There's nothing like the support of your friends. You say, "Hey, I'm going to get off this couch and do a marathon." And they say, "You can do it! Here's a check to show I believe in what you're doing."

It's not just financial support that matters. It's everyone who's said, "Of course you can do that!" It's wonderful. It really is.

Getting to Know Team in Training

I'd always wanted to do a marathon with Team in Training. My friend Becca did it a few years ago but it was just never the right time for me. TNT trains people for endurance events - marathons, century rides, triathlons. In return each participant agrees to raise a specific amount of money for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. LLS uses that money to fund research to cure blood cancers. It's a win/win.

I was always too busy, too lazy, too frightened of the fundraising commitment, too something. Two things happened last year that made me reconsider. We lost my uncle to myeloma and I moved across country. Suddenly I wasn't too busy or too lazy to raise a bit of money for when a blood cancer hit close to home. I went to the introduction session and decided the timing was just right.

One thing that I always wanted to know was how much I needed to fundraise for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society to participate. In fact, I hunted through tons of TNT blogs to try and figure it out before I went to the session. It's like a state secret or something.

Here's the deal - the LLS takes the cost of each participant then multiplies it by 4. That guarantees that the agency has 75% of all money donated going directly to the agency's mission. The cost per participant are: entry fees, materials, travel, jerseys, etc. So if you go to race in Ireland, it's more expensive than if you go to a race in your hometown. I'm doing a local race and it's a 1700 buck commitment.

Not too bad. I can raise 1700 bucks. I signed the form.

On June 3rd, I'll be dragging myself 26.2 miles in San Diego's Rock N Roll Marathon.