We Run DC

Sunday morning, just two weeks after my marathon in Raleigh, i hit the streets of Washington DC with about 15,000 women and a few good men to run the Nike Women's Half Marathon...

waiting to reach the starting line...

It was a perfect morning for a run... sunny blue skies, cool and crisp... There were too many runners on the course to go fast, and anyway my toes were still a little tender from Raleigh, so it was just a nice relaxed 13.1 miler with friends (who can wear their Tiffany necklaces with pride, and call themselves half-marathoners!)

The Team In Training runners and walkers from around the United States and Canada raised over $4 million to help fund a cure for blood cancers, including $1.375 million from our local chapter.

because i can..

Five years ago this month, I was mid-way through preparing for my first marathon (and first endurance event with Team In Training)! Seven seasons later, I continue to run with TNT as we make our way toward the ultimate finish line...finding a cure for blood cancers! Until we find that cure, the funds we raise are put towards improving the lives of patients and their families through better treatments and support services.

It was a chilly morning for an 18 miles (29km) run... I've been fighting a cold for two weeks, and it's been hard to get all the mid-week training runs in. So, I wasn't sure if I'd make it the full 18 miles. In fact, today was the day that I was set to determine whether I'd run Rock & Roll USA Marathon... or half marathon in March.

With the support of my coaches, our wonderful water stop volunteers who stood out in the cold and made sure we had enough drinks and snacks to keep us safely going on the trail... and the companionship of a great friend... I made it the full 18 miles. 

Looks I'll still be preparing to do the full in just over a month's time! And then I'll be super prepared for Nike (with the Team) come April.

Woo!

It's one heck of a journey at times. Right now I'm sore and tired, and I know I'm going to be more stiff and sore tomorrow! But, putting in long miles and pushing hard to raise money is nothing compared to the endurance and fortitude that people in treatment for cancer need to dig deep to find within themselves. If I can do something to help make their journey easier, make their treatments more effective, make their chances at surviving even a little bit better... then I too am going to dig deep, and keep going. 

Because I can.

what's new with you?

After last weekend's 10 mile training run with the team, I poked my head in the Potomac River Running store and picked up a new pair of shoes... that last pair are starting to feel a bit thin, so perhaps two marathon season are a little more than they can handle.

And then I spent the afternoon baking like a mad fool... several loaves of banana bread, chocolate cake, gluten free brownies, gluten free cookies, and pumpkin & peanut butter dog treats... because Sunday was not only Super Bowl Sunday, but also bake sale Sunday! Sara and I were once again flogging our ware in an effort to raise funds for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. At least this weekend it was not cold! And all in all, it was a great success.

Add to that the money I raised selling squares for my Super Bowl Pool (half of the proceeds went to the winners, and half to LLS)... and I am almost 1/4 of the way to reaching my fundraising goal of $2000. I've got two more months to go, and I know that with your help, I can get there!

brrrrrrrrr...

It was a cold and sunny morning for our Team run on Sunday. Turns out we were NOT training at Fletcher's as the trails were icy and unsafe. So, we did laps on the National Mall instead. Being as I do not often get in to DC, and rarely run there (except race routes!), I really enjoyed having the opportunity to run there and enjoy the chiming of the Smithsonian clock, sun glinting off the very frozen Reflecting Pond in front of the Capitol Building, and dodging a few tourists taking photos in front of the Lincoln Memorial...

(apparently i just missed seeing the park police shuffle across the ice to shoo off a group of people playing hockey on the pond...)

My husband has been nursing a wicked cold all week, and I woke up Sunday morning feeling as though the cold had taken root in my sinuses at last. So I thought I would just go to training and run, but maybe just a few miles. The half marathoners were scheduled to to 10, full marathoners 16...  that's either 2.5 laps around the Mall, or 4 laps. In the end, I ran 14 of the 16 scheduled miles. Further than I had intended, but not as far as I should have if I'm going to run RNR USA in mid-March.

Depending on how training goes over the next few weeks, I may decide to run the half after all...

It's hard to get out and do the mid-week training miles when it's already dark when I get home after work... and harder still when it's cold and dark! But, no where near as hard as it is to go through treatment for cancer. So, I'm committed to getting back on schedule.

Kick Off!

Today was the official start of the training season for the Nike Womens Half Marathon that will take place in Washington DC in April.

I have been unofficially attending trainings with my teammates who are running Shamrock and/or Rock &  Roll USA... but now that we have officially started, I shall officially return to posting training updates.

Today, instead of going to Kick Off... I held a fundraiser bake sale with a teammate. It's one of the coldest weeks I have ever experienced in Virginia.. unusually cold. But we stuck it out in the elements for 3 hours, chatting with passersby and selling cookies, cakes and breads.

There are rather a lot of left overs, which will make my husband happy. He was upset when I wouldn't let him sample while I was baking over the past few days.

But we made a little over $100 each at the sale, and if we can just keep chipping away at it little by little... we'll reach our fundraising goals in time.

100 down, 1900 to go.


It's amazing how easy it is to get out of shape... I swore I would not let it slide between finishing Baltimore strong, and starting training for Nike. But, life gets in the way... as it does.

Between my health issues, family health issues, travel, etc... things have slid. But, I'm committed to getting back on track. Back to running regularly.

Starting tomorrow morning, with a Team run at Fletchers Boathouse. It's gonna be cold, and snowy... but it's gonna be good.

recruiting is big on my agenda these days...

so, now that i'm all set up as a mentor for spring season, i'm trying to get some of the easiest mentor obligations out of the way so that i'm not trying to cram them in when we're in the thick of the really long runs and madly trying to reach fundraising deadlines.

last night i was at a TNT info meeting... it was pouring rain, there were oodles of accidents and sirens and flashing lights... and the bus was late. but i made it in the end... me and more staff and volunteers than potential participants... but of the 8 that showed up, 5 signed up right away... and the others went away saying things like "i just need to check with my husband.." so we could still get one or two of them on board.

the night before last i spent a few hours in the TNT office making calls to people who had expressed even the remotest bit of interest in joining over years past... had a few people ask me to take them off the list... got a lot of answering machines... but a couple people said that yes they were interested and to please send them details on upcoming info nights. wooppeee!

feeling so productive!

and in other recruiting news...

i've started fundraising, and i started my efforts by recruiting my friends to ask their friends to sponsor me... you know, since i've already asked them all for the last two seasons.... time to move on to the friends of friends.

i just sent that e-mail out yesterday, and already i've received two donations!

(Thank you, Cecile... you too, Dave!!)

feel free to spread the word on my behalf.

the unlikely athlete

i always felt somewhat awkward in my body as a child.... never good at sports, afraid of getting hit by the ball, afraid to put my head under the water when learning to swim, falling over and losing my (very thick... and very necessary) glasses in the snowbank while skiing, cracking my skull due to stepping on the ball while playing soccer...

so i came to believe that i was not athletic.

i still liked to be active, but never considered myself good at it. i rode my bike because i liked it. i rode over 100 kms through the Rocky Mountains in one day, camped at the end, and rode back the following morning. but never considered myself a cyclist.

i took up inline skating to keep a friend company when she wanted to lose weight, and then wound up training for and competing in a 24 hour inline skating relay... regularly skating 60 or more kms on a Saturday morning after skating for 3 or 4 hours through the (cobbled) streets of Paris the night before.

i walked 56 kms in the middle of the night in January (twice!), first to raise money for an HIV/AIDS organization, and then because i'd enjoyed it the first time.

i trained for and ran a marathon a few months ago. and signed up to do another one in October.


...

i think i've finally admitted to myself that i am something of an athlete. perhaps not a successful one in the sense of making it my profession or capturing media attention and adoring fans.... but successful in that i achieve what i set out to do, i enjoy each event and look forward to the rest.

i will never be the athlete that crosses the finish line with the ribbon breaking across my chest, muscles bared and rippling... i will never be that lean, or that driven, or that focused.

but i will cross that finish line, with a smile on my face, because i believe in myself and my own strength enough to put my toe to the starting line.

What's your story? Want to get fit, make friends and save lives? Sign up for Team in Training and complete a marathon, triathlon, hike or century ride while raising money to cure blood cancers. Fall season kickoff is June 6th. Details and locations for info sessions are at the TNT website.

GO TEAM!

it's official

I've gotten the confirmation that I will be a TNT Team Captain (aka Mentor) for the Marine Corps Marathon in October. Training starts in June.

Given how stinking hot it has been here over the last week, I'm wondering how I am going to manage training here in June.. or July/August/September for that matter.

I'm a wilting flower these days. Oh well, perhaps we'll be doing our training runs at 6am to avoid the heat.... or perhaps just I will be!