Peace

Heaven has a new angel tonight. She's the sweetest, most amazing girl to have ever touched my life and I am so thankful for the years we had together.

Thank you, Caitlin. You fought so hard and I will keep fighting for you.

♥

Caitlin's Strength

My battle to go from non-runner to marathon runner may be over, but Caitlin's battle continues.

As I'd posted before the race, Caitlin relapsed over the summer. She had a successful stem cell transplant at the end of September.

Unfortunately, the chemotherapy Caitlin endured before her stem cell transplant caused her to develop Hepatic Veno-occlusive Disease (VOD), leading her liver and kidneys to go into failure.

Last Saturday, I visited home, and went to the hospital to visit Caitlin in the PICU. She was in critical but stable condition, on life support and dialysis. I know that Caitlin is a fighter, but seeing her in that state was one of the toughest moments of my life. The first time I tried to talk to her, I couldn't get the words to come out, only tears.

I spent the afternoon at the hospital, with Caitlin, her mom, and my mom. Her mom filled me in on a lot of details from the past few months. Talking with Caitlin got easier once I'd been there for a little while. She won't remember any of it, but I was glad to just be by her side and talk to her for a while.

Caitlin is on an experimental medication, sent over from Italy, to treat the VOD. This week, her condition began to improve, but she started to suffer from withdrawal when they tried to taper her drugs in preparation for removing her breathing tube. She also may have graft versus host disease, which is when the new stem cells don't recognize the host and begin attacking. So while Caitlin's overall condition may be improving, the situation is still serious, and she still has a long way to go.

Caitlin is one of the strongest people I have ever met. I have faith that she'll get through this, though it can't happen soon enough!

If there was any doubt in my mind about doing another event with Team In Training, it disappeared once I saw Caitlin. Every dollar raised is a dollar closer to finding a cure. Caitlin has been fighting this for nearly 10 months -- as far as I'm concerned, that's 10 months too long.

So for all of my friends and family who made a donation, thank you. You are making a difference in the lives of some very amazing people. And if you didn't get a chance to make a donation, don't worry -- there will be a next time. For Caitlin. For saving lives.

Post-race pictures

Want to see me finish the race? Check out my finish video and image proofs!

(Family and friends: I did purchase the original digital images, so if you would like any, please let me know and I'd be happy to send them to you!)

You can also check out my personal photos from the weekend.

Post-race report

Three weeks ago, I completed my very first marathon!

Time has flown since then. From post-marathon laziness, visiting Caitlin in the PICU, and dealing with a week without power, there hasn't been a whole lot of time to sit and reflect! I can say for certain that my Team In Training adventure was truly the experience of a lifetime.

Friday
We flew to San Francisco on Friday. I'd slept terribly the previous few nights for reasons completely unrelated to the race, and Thursday night was no exception. After working a 12-hour day and packing, I got about 3 hours of sleep before needing to get to the airport. It wasn't the best way to start my 27-hour day!

We spent about 8 hours in the air between the two flights. Our layover in Atlanta was pretty short, giving us just enough time for a restroom break and to grab a quick lunch to take on the plane. The second flight, while long, had some amazing views of mountains and "pie-chart" farmland.

Once landing in San Francisco, the rest of the day was spent checking into our hotel, getting our race bibs, trying all the cool free stuff at the expo, and doing a little exploring at Macy's. We went to California Pizza Kitchen as a team for dinner; we wanted to try something more local but couldn't find anything close to the hotel and in our price range. Our waiter gave us free dessert: the best pumpkin cheesecake I've ever had!

Unfortunately, due to the travel and the lack of sleep, I started getting severe dizzy spells and a terrible headache in the afternoon. Back at the hotel, I felt like the entire building was moving! I was thankful that Saturday was basically a free day, with nothing to wake up early for!

Saturday
I definitely slept in on Saturday, though I should have slept more. I also started having early-morning stomach troubles, which continued all weekend. My body clearly wasn't happy with the trip, race anxiety and new foods! The dizzy spells continued too, though thankfully not nearly as bad as they had been on Friday.

Once my roommate Angie, new team friend Theresa, and I were all showered and ready to go, we had quite the adventure trying to find some lunch. We checked out the area close to the expo first, but couldn't find much. After some smartphone searching, we'd decided on a place that was only a couple of blocks from the hotel, or so we thought! The address was incorrect. We ended up eating at Chevy's, a Mexican restaurant we'd passed while trying to find the first restaurant we'd chosen. We were all pretty grumpy with hunger, but I was glad we wound up there because everything was delicious.

We checked out the expo a bit more to learn about live runner tracking, then checked out Niketown, including their giant wall with every runner's name on it, before heading back to the hotel. On our way back, we ended up in the path of an Occupy San Francisco march. The atmosphere was amazing! They tried to convince us to march with them, but we were exhausted and trying to rest our legs for the race.

The Inspiration Dinner was incredibly emotional. We walked in to cheering staff and coaches, lining our path down to dinner. I held back tears as I made my way down the stairs, completely overwhelmed with the volume of cheering and smiling faces. With 3,800 runners plus coaches and staff, this dinner was huge! We listened to some great speakers, including a runner who was doing 5 different endurance events this year to celebrate her son being 5-years cancer free. The magnitude of the event gave me a great reminder of why our fundraising is so important. Altogether, we raised over 12 million dollars for valuable research and patient programs.

Once back at the hotel, we had a quick team meeting to go over some race day essentials and decorate our race shirts. I put my name on the front and "26.2 for Caitlin" on the back. We got to bed as early as we could, though I spent quite a bit of time taping up my entire body with KT Tape so I wouldn't have to worry about it in the morning.

Race Day
As for race day, honestly, much of it is a blur. I remember being up far earlier than I wanted, walking to the start area as a team and almost losing each other trying to get to an open gear check bus. I remember stretching with Angie and Theresa in the "VIP tent" offered by Gatorade, then realizing we all had pre-race jitters and needed to get to the port-a-potties before the start. We all ended up going our separate ways, trying to get to our correct corrals based on our race pace. I got to mine just fine, but Angie and Theresa were less successful.

It took nearly a half hour for me to reach the start line, just due to the number of people! I'd worn a sweatshirt to donate at mile 2, but it was much warmer outside than any of us had anticipated, so I actually ended up abandoning it before the start.

Several previous marathoners told me that I'd find people along the way to run with, but I ran much of the race on my own. For the first few miles, there were so many people walking and blocking the path that I did a lot of zig-zagging to get through them all, adding unnecessary miles and slowing me down more than I'd wanted at times. The first half was mostly running for me, though I did some fast-paced walking up the two worst hills, just to save my energy. My heart rate throughout was higher than I would have liked, which I attributed to lack of rest during the weekend and some loss of endurance from all the time I needed to take off due to injury.

When the half-marathoners split off around mile 12, I was feeling pretty good, but I soon realized that it was going to be a challenge. The mobs of cheering people disappeared, and so did the majority of the runners. The course involved two out-and-backs, where you can see some of the faster runners running the other way to your right, and a long trip around a small lake, with only one lane of the road blocked off for running. I quickly lost the extra adrenaline that the first half's atmosphere had given me and started to feel exhausted. When the dizzy spells also returned, I knew I was going to have to alternate between walking and running for most of the second half if I was going to cross the finish line. I turned on my running playlist to help keep me occupied and pushed onward.

Due to that lack of excitement and my need to walk, the second half felt like it stretched on forever. The water stops also didn't seem frequent enough. I started drinking two full cups of liquid at every stop, even though I was sloshing, and repeatedly asking the coaches where the next stop would be. I also stopped taking my energy gels, as I started to think the dizziness was partially caused by an excess of sugar and caffeine.

Honestly, if it wasn't for the Team In Training coaches cheering me on, I'm not sure if I would have finished. Having my name on my shirt helped, too. Not really knowing anybody along the course, it was nice to hear someone single me out and cheer me on when I was really feeling down. I hated walking, even though I knew it was necessary, because I'd really wanted to run the entire race. Thankfully, there were a lot of other people doing the same thing, which helped me remember that the true goal was just to finish.

There were a lot of amusing points along the way -- including a lot of signs promoting beer and cocktails waiting at the finish -- but the most memorable moment for me was reaching the top of the last hill. It wasn't a large hill by any means, but at that point, any incline was brutal. A coach, dressed as a Spartan warrior, ran up to me, gave me a high-five, and exclaimed that it was ALL downhill or flat from there. No more climbing. The relief at that moment was indescribable.

I tried to run the rest of the way, which was much easier thanks to the terrain. I looked around for my cousin Aria, but didn't see her.

I don't remember anyone else being around me at the finish line, although the video proves otherwise. The finish line didn't feel real, but I was so happy to be able to stop running after nearly 5 hours and 40 minutes! The best part was that I wasn't feeling ANY injury-related pain, thanks to the KT Tape. I was plenty sore, but just the "normal" soreness you get from running that far.

At the end, I'm pretty sure I was borderline delirious. I only vaguely remember the walk through to grab my finisher shirt, the bottle of water, the person struggling to scan my bib so I could get my Tiffany necklace from the San Francisco fireman who must have been bored out of his mind. Angie and I had joked for months about how attractive the firemen would be, but I hardly remember mine. I just remember thinking, "not bad."

I checked in at the TNT tent so they knew I was still alive and met up with my cousin, who hadn't seen me pass by her either, but it didn't matter. I barely remember a thing I said because I was so out of it, but Aria had just ran a marathon a few months earlier, so I think she understood. I remember when the mylar sheet suddenly felt useful, how amazed I was that a weird foil sheet could suddenly feel like an electric blanket in seconds, and wondering why she would be crazy enough to hug someone who just spent nearly 6 hours sweating out of every pore.

The walk to the gear check bus was long and slow, but I wanted to change as soon as possible. After changing, I went to the Team In Training tent to get some food. While I didn't know it at the time, they were out of just about everything by the time I got there, so all they had for me was a half sandwich and glass of Sprite. Honestly, after all that running, I was just grateful for food. I don't even know what was in that sandwich other than turkey, but it was delicious.

I tried to stretch out in the stretching tent, but they'd already given away all the mats. The hardwood floor was brutal, so I kept it brief. From there, I tried to check out the rest of the finisher's village, but they were packing up almost everything. I felt a little left out, but thankfully, the pride of finishing kept my spirits high.

I don't know whose crazy idea it was to place the shuttle bus stop nearly a mile from the finisher's village, but it seemed like it was never going to end. I was also starving. The only saving grace was the churro vendor who was closing up for the day and decided to just hand out what he had left. He gave me two. They were nearly cold and plenty greasy but I didn't care.

Once back at the hotel, I did some more stretching, called my mom, and took a quick ice bath followed by a shower. I really just wanted to nap, but I didn't have much time before the victory party. My victory dinner consisted of three plates of food and a beer; post-marathon hunger is ravenous!

I was too exhausted to party too much, choosing to stay in my seat while the others danced a bit. A few of us eventually waited in line for the photo booth, where we put on all kinds of crazy props and did some impromptu crazy posing. After that, I was perfectly happy to just head back to the hotel and get some much-needed sleep!

Monday
That should have been the end of my excitement, but unfortunately, travel isn't always smooth sailing. Our first flight was delayed, but the shuttle to the airport was set to a certain schedule so we ended up having to sit in the airport for a while. By the time we landed in Minneapolis for our transfer and got off the plane, it was 7 PM, with the next flight departing at 7:08! I was traveling with two teammates -- Angie, who sprained her ankle, and Patty, who trained to walk -- so it was up to me to sprint across the terminal to have them hold the flight for us. They read our names over the loudspeaker as a last call while I ran. Sprinting the day after running a marathon is pretty much the worst thing you could ever endure, and running with my carry-on didn't make things any easier. While I didn't realize until after I got home, my carry-on hit me in the leg while I was running, causing a huge bruise that still hasn't healed completely after three weeks!

Thankfully we made the flight and got home safely. I was so happy to sleep in my own bed, and even happier to have an amazing massage the next day. While the dizzy spells continued, I was able to get plenty of rest to help.

I've yet to do any running since the marathon, though I really want to. I knew I needed to rest the first week, so I didn't even think about running. The second week, I was simply too busy with work to find time. And this past week, we were completely without power. I spent my daylight hours trying to work at the library, and the evening hours in the dark. It was completely unsafe to run outside with the downed trees and wires, especially in the dark, so running was just out of the question.

This week, I hope to get myself back into a routine of exercising regularly, though I definitely plan to change it up a bit from just running. I hope, however, that I can keep my running endurance up enough that I can leisurely run at least 5-6 miles whenever I'd like. Considering I couldn't run a full mile at the start of the year, that's really a lot!

I do feel some running withdrawal. I don't really have the gear to run in cooler weather, so I'm going to be limited to the gym for the next few months. Despite all the struggles, I really hope I can run another marathon within the next couple of years. Now that my body is more accustomed to running, my hope is that the next round of training will be a little easier. Should I get the opportunity to do it again, I think my goal will be to get through it without needing to walk.

So that's it for this round, for me, anyway!

In honor of a fighting friend

I think I've been pretty upfront in describing how tough the past few weeks have been for me. My injuries are nagging. I've barely run in weeks and feel like I'm losing all the fitness I've gained, trying to rest my wounds. I feel like it's some sort of crazy balancing act between trying to keep myself moving and trying not to make myself worse.

Over the past week, I started telling myself that maybe, if it felt right, I'd run the half instead. I actually started to be OK with it. A half is still significant. It's still an accomplishment to be proud of, no doubt. My friend Angie and several of my teammates are doing the half and they are AWESOME.

But the fact is, running is all about ignoring the logical person in the back of your mind that begs you to stop. I did 20 miles, and 19 miles just shortly before that. I can do 26. It might hurt -- scratch that, it WILL hurt -- but I am inspired and will fight to that finish line.

I learned today that unfortunately, Caitlin has relapsed. In fact, she relapsed shortly after I began this journey, but I never knew. I was busy running and her family was busy supporting her. I've spent all this time thinking that she was still in remission, but she is still using all of her strength to fight. She is currently without any immunity, waiting for her new stem cells to graft.

This run has always meant a lot to me, but it means so much more now. I am going to cross that finish line. For me, but mostly for Caitlin. Because she's a fighter, and I know I can be too.

♥

Week 18: Saying Goodbye

This week was the last group training run before the big day! One week from now, I'll be killing the San Francisco hills.

At least, that's what I keep telling myself.

On Thursday, worried about all of my injuries, I took a trip to Fleet Feet and bought some KT Tape (in purple -- yay Team!). I'd read lots of reviews beforehand of injured runners taping themselves up to survive race day, and figured it was worth a shot! KT Tape comes in pre-cut strips, and they have a whole series of YouTube videos that walk you through how to do certain applications.

I've got the foot technique down. The technique I tried on my knee worked fairly well, but I might experiment this week. The only thing I didn't get right was my upper leg. I realized when I was running today that it wasn't my adductor muscles that were screaming but my hip flexors! I tried new tape after my shower. I don't think I quite found the center of pain -- it was hard with the amount of aching -- but know what to target next time.

My plan this week is to REST. If I'm feeling well enough I'll do a short run on Thursday to try out the new tape applications and keep myself moving, but that's it. I need to heal up as much as I can and hope I'm not in too much pain next week.

The worst part of today wasn't the pain of moving but the pain of saying goodbye. Other than Angie and me, everyone else who has attended our group runs are going to run here in Hartford. The coach flying down with us isn't the coach we've been training with for all these months, either. For them, it was the last time they'd be together before the race, but for us, it was the last time we'd see them at all!

I'm looking forward to meeting our Nike coach and the rest of our team this week, but there's definitely a part of me that wishes I could bring along all the friends I've made over the past few months. No matter how many people are cheering me on at the finish, I'm going to be missing them and wishing they were there with me, and wishing I could be in Hartford for their finish, too.

Today, as I was running, I saw myself crossing the finish line. It's the first time I've had that image cross my mind. There's still a part of me that worries I won't make it with all of my injuries and the time I've had to take to rest, but I know it's possible, and I'm going to give it my all next Sunday!

Thanks to Jon Wilson, Shannon DeZilva-White and Todd Haefele for donating this week and bringing my fundraising total to nearly $3,000! I am so blessed to have such supportive friends and family sending me positive thoughts and making a difference in the lives of those battling blood cancers. I'll be thinking of every one of you on race day.

I leave for San Francisco first thing Friday morning. I'm hoping I may be able to blog while I'm there, but I'll only have my phone to post from, so we'll see! At the latest, I'll see you on the other side of the finish line!

Week 17.5: Can I hold it together?

The past month of my training has been rough to say the least. I've been fighting injury after injury. Even after skipping all mid-week runs for two straight weeks, I'm not healed. And as I approach race day, I'm scared.

My shin is doing better for sure, and is probably the least of my worries right now. The compression sleeves I have work wonders and are very comfortable.

My knees are still achy. I don't think sitting at my desk for 10+ hours a day is helping right now but I don't have a choice. They have improved and I'm hopeful that they will make it through the run. I don't expect them to be pain-free on race day, but hopefully tolerable.

My adductor muscles are a concern for me. They've been aching for the past few weeks after runs, but are now starting to ache sooner and the pain seems to last longer after I stop running. It's simple overuse. I've been doing lots of stretching with the hopes that they'll ease up.

And now I have a new worry -- I have pain in the ball of my right foot, under my big toe. Online research suggests sesamoiditis, inflammation of the small bones down there. It used to only hurt on long runs and go away quickly, but now the ache is lingering.

I feel like everything is fighting against me, but I am too dedicated to this to quit now. I am coming to terms with the fact that this run may be painful for me, and internally deciding what my limits are. I've read that if the pain impacts your stride, you should stop. My plan right now is to shoot for the full, but judge how I'm feeling when I hit the point in the course where the half marathoners and full marathoners split. If I'm in too much pain at that point, I will stop at the half marathon so I can be proud to cross a finish line. If I decide to keep going, I'll take it easy on myself.

I deal with pain every day having fibromyalgia, so I'm OK with not feeling spectacular at the end. Everything will heal in time.

It's funny -- when I first signed up for this, I told myself that a half marathon would be a major accomplishment in itself. Now that I've spent all this time training for the full, I'm finding it hard to remember that. I consider it an accomplishment for others, but not myself. Being a competitive perfectionist does not make it easy to be OK with not reaching your goals!

My biggest fear, aside from injury, is that all the time I've had to take off may have made me lose too much of my fitness to complete the entire marathon. I know that tapering is important, but I've pretty much stopped running altogether, and I can't remember the last time I was able to complete a full week of runs. It's been months -- frustrating!

All I can do now is take care of my body and hope it decides to work with me come race day. I realized my mid-week runs are longer than usual this week, so I'm going to try multiple shorter runs instead to get the same overall weekly mileage with less repetitive stress (and stop altogether if I feel pain). I'm doing everything else I can to give my body lots of time to heal and prepare. I just hope it pays off.

Week 17: Two Weeks 'til Race Day!

I cannot believe that in just two weeks, I will be in San Francisco running my heart out (or maybe I'm running my feet out?)!

Last week's run really shook me. As excited as I was to survive the 20 miles, I wouldn't really say that it went well. It was the first time where my stopping point felt like my true stopping point.

That said, as I mentioned last week, I learned several lessons about prep. This week, for my 10-mile run, I did everything I could to feel fully prepared:

• SuperFeet insoles went back in my shoes. I realized most of my major injury problems started after Fleet Feet suggested I try running without them. They are in to stay!
• I didn't run at all this week due to knee pain, but I found a PT routine online and did my exercises religiously to help build strength and flexibility in my legs.
• I paid for more classes at West Hartford Yoga and went to class on Wednesday night. The additional stretching and relaxation definitely helps!
• Yesterday, I drank a lot of water and ate better. Dinner was pasta. I don't necessarily believe too strongly in the power of carb loading, but pasta the night before does seem to help, if only because it doesn't feel too heavy.
• I went to bed somewhat early! Still didn't get as much sleep as I would have liked, but it was definitely more than last week.
• I got up two hours before the run and had a whole wheat bagel. I've never really eaten much before a run, but have realized I definitely need my energy.

I took today's run much slower than usual and spent extra time at the water stops to stretch. Telling myself that it was OK to run slower was difficult, because I don't feel like a fast runner even at my usual pace! It takes a lot to remember that it's not about speed, especially with lots of other faster runners on the road.

My knee felt much, much better today, so I knew I had to have done something right this week! It ached a bit on hills, but was otherwise fine, and didn't feel overly stiff at the end. I was also much stronger energy-wise.

Of course, now that my knees are on the mend, something else had to jump in. My hips, which typically only hurt on really long runs, started yelling almost as soon as I started running today. It's just an ache, so I'm hoping some extra stretching this week will help.

I'm very hopeful that I'll be able to complete my mid-week runs this week, for the first time in several weeks. As much as I've enjoyed the extra sleep in the morning, I'm excited to be more active again!

Thanks to Saurav Kumar, my Aunt Tracy Florant and cousin Aria Florant for donating this week, as well as everyone else who has donated so far. This week, I also made a personal donation of $500. I'm 89% to goal, so if you've yet to donate, now is the time! Help me make it to 100%!

Week 16: "This hill sucks, but cancer sucks worse"

Today, I accomplished something I thought impossible: 20 miles of running. I was nervous going in, having taken nearly the entire week off of training runs to try to rest my aching knee. Thankfully, while it definitely ached, it held together enough that I didn't need to stop.

The run wasn't easy. I suffered due to some mistakes I definitely made in prep (lesson learned!):

• I should have eaten a healthier dinner last night.
• I should have slept more before the run.
• I drank a lot of water yesterday, but I should have had more.
• I should have dragged myself out of bed sooner and ate more pre-run.

By halfway through, I was definitely hurting. My joints ached -- something I'm used to from long runs -- but on top of it, I was shaky and slightly dehydrated. It didn't help that it was warm and humid outside! I was thankful for Gu, Gu Chomps and Gatorade for giving me the sugar I needed to keep going.

Today's course was also hillier than most we've done, which of course was great training for me as I prepare for San Francisco, but also challenging! The coach left messages on the road in chalk for us -- "GO TEAM," "U ROCK," "KILL THE HILL" -- helping us through some of the rougher points by reminding us that we weren't alone.

As I reached the final hill, one that we climb toward the end of every training run, I was truly ready to stop, but knew I just had to push a little further. About half way up, at about 18.5 miles through the course, I found another chalk message:

THIS
HILL
SUCKS

At this point I smiled and laughed, knowing how true it was. But then I saw the message continued:

BUT
CANCER
SUCKS
WORSE

This is when I learned that crying and running don't mix.

At that moment, I saw Caitlin running beside me, along with everyone else in my life and my friends' lives who are battling cancer. My pain wasn't my pain anymore -- it was theirs, and I was just experiencing a taste of it. My pain was nothing.

Of course, at that exact moment, some guy was running down the same side of the road in the opposite direction, so I had to try to hold myself together. I knew he wasn't going to get it. The crying then closed my airways a bit, triggering something similar to an asthma attack, so I wheezed my way up the rest of the hill. Despite this, I conquered the rest of my run and crossed the streamer "finish line" that my coach held out for me with pride.

I walked back to my car and found this:


I love my Team!

I tried driving home with it on my window, but there wasn't enough tape to hold it on. I had to pull over to take it off before it flew away. Whoops!

It's with heartfelt appreciation that I thank everyone who has donated so far, including this week's sponsors: Chris Hall, Caitlin Niles, Jen Bergman and Kat. We're almost there! Three weeks until race day, and 70% of the way to my fundraising goal! My feet may hurt, but I'm proud to help kick cancer!

Week 15: One Month to Go!

There is less than one month until marathon day! When we started training, it seemed like the day would never come. Now it's almost here, and I'm reaching the parts of my training that scared me the most!

This week was fairly uneventful in terms of training. I actually completed all of my mid-week runs this week, no skipping due to injury. Hurray! My shin still gives me some occasional pain, but the exercises and compression sleeve continue to make it easier to work with. I didn't feel any pain at all from my shin on today's 10-mile run.

Now, the pain I'm dealing with most is in my left knee. My left side takes the biggest beating when I run because the roadways are dome-shaped for drainage and I spend most of my time running on the left shoulder. It's nothing more than a nagging ache, but I wish I could have a roadway to myself so I could run in the middle! My coach advised me to skip some of the mid-week runs this week if it continues to bother me so that I'll be in good shape for the weekend.

This weekend's run will be really important, because it's the longest run of our entire training: 20 miles. After running over 19 miles last week, I'm not too worried. It's actually exciting to reach this point in my training! I'm also happy that it's going to be in West Hartford, where I'm more familiar with the roads and hopefully won't miss a turn. There's still a part of me that can't believe I'm capable of running that far, so I'm nervous. I'm afraid my shin or knee might act up to the point where I can't finish. Fingers crossed my body holds itself together!

Whenever I'm in pain or thinking about the road ahead, I remind myself why this is so important. When LLS was founded in 1949, a diagnosis of blood cancer was considered fatal. This year, my friend Caitlin was able to achieve remission almost immediately after starting treatment, thanks largely to the research programs that LLS has helped to fund. Though much progress has been made, we still have a long way to go. One-third of all cancer-related deaths in children are caused by Leukemia, and every 10 minutes, a person in the US dies of blood cancer.

Based on that statistic, during my marathon run alone, over 30 people could lose their battle to blood cancer. My hope is that we can work to cure blood cancer once and for all!

Thanks to all those who have donated so far! Here's what your donation helps to fund:

• Encourage scientists to pursue blood cancer research. Grants to young scientists help grow research talent even as federal research funding becomes increasingly limited.
• Develop "targeted therapies" that kill cancer cells selectively. By hitting specific molecular targets, these treatments don't harm patients' healthy cells, resulting in fewer dangerous side effects.
• Test immunotherapies. Immunotherapies strengthen a patient's own immune system so it can better fight infections and attack cancer cells, reducing the need for damaging chemotherapy.
• Improve the safety of today's cures. LLS funds research to predict, manage and prevent complications in patients most at risk for long-term and late effects of treatment.
• Help patients and their families make informed decisions. LLS supplies information and counseling to help guide patients through their cancer journey and access current treatment and clinical trial options.
• Provide financial aid and co-pay assistance. A cancer diagnosis is hard enough without having to deal with its financial burden. We provide programs to help relieve the economic strain of a blood cancer diagnosis.
• Offer community services. Among the wide array of programs LLS provides are those that link newly diagnosed patients with trained volunteers and that help young cancer patients return to school after an absence resulting from treatment.
• Encourage our state and federal legislators to support blood cancer issues. With your help, LLS brings to the attention of lawmakers the urgent need for increased government funding and support of research and patient access to affordable treatment and quality care.

(This list is from LLS's Why Give? page)

If you haven't made a donation yet, you have until September 30th. Any amount that you can afford to give is appreciated! Just click on the "Donate Now" link to the right to make your donation.

Thanks so much to my week 15 sponsors:

• John Darasz
• My White Ave. neighborhood, who donated bottles and cans from our block party

Week 14: More than expected!

This week was very difficult for me. My shin issues continued for much of the week. I ended up going to spin class instead of running for most of my mid-week runs, and even that was causing problems.

On Thursday, I had a moment where I feared that I would need to drop out of marathon training altogether. I felt like I was doing everything I could to care for my shin, but nothing was working. I didn't know how I was going to make it through the scheduled 18-mile run. It hurt to stand or walk for any length of time.

In a late-night act of desperation, hoping to find something different to try, I stumbled upon this brilliant Runners' World thread, where someone in a similar situation -- training for a marathon with recurring shin splints -- was kind enough to share the homework he was given by a physical therapist. The routine included several exercises I hadn't seen in my previous research.

I gave it a go for the first time on Friday night and knew there was something different about it. For the first time in over a week, my shin didn't hurt at all, and the exercises felt like they were working the right area.

Saturday morning, I woke up to much less pain. I did the exercises again, then attempted my 3-mile training run, figuring it would be the deciding factor as to whether or not I'd attempt the 18-miler. I got through the run with pretty much no pain until I stopped, and after 20 minutes of icing and elevating, that pain went away for most of the day as well. Feeling much more encouraged, I also stopped by Fleet Feet and bought a Zensah compression sleeve, which was also highly recommended in the forum thread. After my quick turnaround, that thread was gospel, and I a believer!

Of course, things couldn't all go completely well from there. My street had a wonderful block party on Saturday afternoon, but it led to me standing for several hours straight. The shin was NOT pleased. I went to bed in pain after giving it an ice massage, and slept with my legs elevated, hoping to undo the damage of standing overnight.

This morning was iffy, but I put on the compression sleeve, warned my coach, and gave it a go. This week, we ran part of the Hartford Marathon course, for my teammates who will be running it next month. It was a nice change of pace, but the turns were very tricky to find, and even with two coaches there, it seemed like we needed more to help us find our way. At one of the water stops they left for us, we ran out of cups, leading me to drink straight from the gallon of water. Hey, when you're thirsty, you do what you have to!

My shin spoke up 3 times during the run, but quickly settled down. I spent a lot of time focusing on my running form and keeping my pace moderate. The compression sleeve gave my shin just the right amount of support while also being able to breathe, unlike the brace I used to wear. It was definitely money well spent!

There were several times where the directions weren't quite clear and I thought I'd made a wrong turn, forcing me to stop and consult my GPS map. Only once did I actually miss a turn, but thankfully there wasn't a way for me to go too much further, so I didn't get too off track.

Still, the run ended up being much higher in mileage than it was supposed to. Instead of 18 miles, my GPS claimed I ran 19.24! Considering our longest run before the race is 20 miles, I guess I'm not too worried! My lower body is definitely stiff from going that far, but if I can do it after a week of deconditioning, I'm definitely optimistic for marathon day!

I'll be continuing to do the shin splint exercises daily from now until the marathon, even if/when the pain completely subsides. I've learned my lesson about how careful I need to be with it, and will be doing everything I can to prevent further injury in the next month!

Thanks to Chris Roberts and BackToLearn.com, my week 14 sponsors! If you are interested in making a donation, please note that the deadline is September 30th. So if you'd like to donate and haven't done so, take a moment and do it before you forget! :)

Week 13: Rest

This past week, for the first time, I did not complete my long run.

I got through most of my mid-week runs alright, but my shin has not been doing well -- I especially felt it toward the end of my run on Thursday. I was originally going to go for a very-early-morning run with my friend Mike while in Rochester on Sunday, but he ended up having to work. Not wanting to run on my own in the wee hours of the morning, and with a shin that was still nagging me, I decided it was best to just skip it and rest. It was only a 10-mile run this week, so I'm thankfully not behind on my overall progress.

My shin is still bothering me a bit today, which is really worrying me. Aside from the wedding on Saturday, I've spent most of my time resting, icing and stretching. When I am up and about, I wear an Ace bandage, which seems to help. The pain isn't much, and it's sporadic, but I spent weeks getting myself pain-free and it appears it may take weeks to get myself back there.

I'm going to try to run tomorrow morning and start this week fresh, being very careful to take it slow with short strides. The long run this weekend will be 18 miles. It's very important that I complete it.

Part of me is also starting to worry about completing the actual marathon. I've made it through my long runs just fine so far, but the longest we ever get to run before the marathon is 20 miles. While that's somewhat normal, I've learned through research that our training plan is quite light on overall weekly mileage compared to most other plans. Combine that with the number of weekly runs I've had to skip recently to keep my body together, and I can't help but wonder if I'm going to have enough training to push through those last 6.2 miles on my own!

This week is supposed to be the last week of our "strength phase," meaning the miles start to back off from here. While I know I need to taper the last couple of weeks before the marathon, if I can get through this week with minimal shin pain, I may extend some of my mid-week runs for a week or two just to give me more confidence.

It's hard to believe that the marathon is only a little over a month away! As a reminder, if you've been meaning to donate, you have until the end of this month. Every dollar makes a difference toward saving lives!

Thanks so much to my week 13 sponsors:

• Bonnie Huzey
• Joan Pinkney

I also just got payment from Amazon.com for the Associates link I used to have on the blog (unfortunately, they canceled the program in Connecticut due to new laws).

After the checks are processed, the updated total will be $2002.39!

Week 12: Drained

I've reached a point where I am just exhausted! There doesn't seem to be enough time during the week to do everything I need to do once I throw in running. It's been tough!

This past week didn't go as planned for running, either. Due to Hurricane Irene, I ran on Saturday morning in Glastonbury instead of my usual Sunday morning in West Hartford. The Saturday run starts an hour earlier than the Sunday run does, plus it's a half hour drive from my house, so I had to get up extra early! Combined with the sleep deprivation I already had, getting out of bed was quite the challenge.

The long run this week was 16 miles, and was the most challenging run yet. The distance itself was fine -- I'd ran nearly 15.5 the week before -- but I was run down to start, and had some emotional challenges along the way.

We're really getting into the toughest part of our training now, and it's very easy to suffer from an injury. Of the 7 of us who started off with the intent to run the 16 miles, only 3 of us actually succeeded.

My friend and teammate Angie suffered an ankle injury only about a mile in, and had to stop. The first portion of our run was an out and back, so I found her on my way back to the start. This run was really important to her, so I felt terrible.

Another teammate got about 3 miles in, then realized the injury she'd been nursing for a week wasn't ready for a long run yet. She had to stop and get a ride back to the start with Angie.

During the second portion of our run, I found another teammate walking slowly -- she'd hit an emotional wall and had to stop soon thereafter.

Another teammate almost made it, but started feeling too much pain around mile 12 and had to stop.

As I watched my team dwindle, I started to wonder if I was going to make it. I wasn't in much pain thanks to my new shoes, but I was really feeling tired from lack of sleep. My Gu packs were barely keeping me going. The hills in Glastonbury were far more challenging than the ones I was used to running, making the run even tougher to get through. And as a final blow, right as I finished my water at the final water stop, Irene decided to greet us with a torrential downpour, with only two miles to go.

I'd run in rain plenty of times, but this was by far the worst I'd ever ran in. My shoes were full of water, with rain covering my glasses and dripping into my eyes. I was drenched from head to toe. I tried to take it easy, but I just lost it emotionally after a couple of minutes, and had the dumb idea of trying to sprint. I took off in frustration, speeding up from an 11:30 minute/mile pace to a 7:30 minute/mile pace, faster than I'd ever run before. I sped past one of my teammates as if she was standing still. I ran until my shin started hurting -- unfortunately sprinting was far too much impact for my healing shin to handle.

I got through the rest of my run by repeating my mantra -- "light on my feet" -- over and over again. The shin eventually settled down enough for me to finish the run. My first words at the finish: "That sucked!"

My shin is still recovering, unfortunately. I was doing so well! Thankfully this week backs off on the mileage a bit, giving me some time to recover. I won't be doing any more sprinting in the near future!

Week 11: Running alone, and Nike!

So it's official: I am running 26.2 miles at the Nike Women's Marathon (NWM) on October 16th! I sent in my paperwork and registration late last week. My Nike confirmation came via e-mail this morning, so it's really happening!

I'm very excited, though also a bit scared. When I signed up for Team In Training, I chose the NWM and a full marathon fully expecting that I would probably "drop down" to run a half marathon in Hartford. I was just aiming high. I've been doing pretty well with training but I almost feel this pressure on myself now that it's in writing.

I'm also far from my fundraising goal, which I'd really like to strive for! I can accept donations through September 30th. If you've been thinking about donating and just haven't gotten around to it, now is a great time to make a difference! The latest breakthrough in curing Leukemia was partially funded by LLS, and even better, the gene therapy they're investigating may also help to cure other forms of cancer, too!

Training-wise, the last couple of weeks have been rough on my body. I've started dealing with a lot of soreness in my hips and knees. I'm also still trying to fully heal the shin splint in my left leg. With the shin splint, it's been weeks of feeling better, followed by a flare.

This weekend, I had another challenge: running 15 miles completely alone in rural Pennsylvania. This is only the second time I've missed a group run with the team, and the first where I didn't have a running buddy to help keep me motivated. I was especially nervous about possibly running on the roads, because while there's less traffic, they're used to looking out for tractors, not runners! Cell phone service is also spotty, so there was the risk of not being able to call anyone should I have an emergency.

I chose to skip my 3 mile run on Saturday and run my long run then, so I only had one day of running to worry about while I was away. When my mother-in-law found information on the Pine Creek Rail Trail, a lot of my worries were put to rest. The start of the trail was only a 20-minute drive from the house, and worth it to stay off the roads. I wasn't sure what to expect regarding the trail itself, but it was wonderful! It was all level gravel, very wide and well-kept, with mile markers and even facilities along the way. There was cell service at the start of the trail (and possibly further in, I didn't check), so I knew I could call to get picked up if I needed to cut my run short for any reason.

The start of my run was lonely; I spent the first 2 miles bored out of my mind and started to wonder if I could make it on my own. But then I got to cross some roads, came across some walkers along the trail, said hello to some grazing cows, and started feeling energized. The gravel trail kept me shin-pain free for the entire run. I ended up running 15.35 miles in just under 3 hours, which considering how easy I was trying to take it to protect my shin, is pretty good!

Yesterday I bought new running shoes, as the ones I was wearing needed to be replaced from all the running. I found out that my aches and pains could have been due to my shoes, so I'm hopeful the new shoes will help me feel strong again! These ones should take me all the way through to marathon day. I had some issues with the fit on my run today, but I'm trying out some lacing adjustments to help. If it doesn't, I'll just have to swap them out for a different pair at Fleet Feet until I find ones that are perfect!

I've been running nothing but easy-paced runs lately to try to minimize the stress on my joints. I'm very hopeful that I'll be feeling well enough with these new shoes to start some speed and hill training soon. I'm going to need some hill training for San Francisco, that's for sure!

Week 10: Fundraisers, mud and 14 miles, oh my!

First of all, I want to send a huge thank you to everyone who came out to Tastes N' Toasts last Wednesday! The weather was perfect, the music was great, and we raised $374 to help cure blood cancers! If you couldn't make it but wished you could have, consider making a donation through the "donate now" link to the right!

This past week has been crazy! I ended up skipping all of my training runs last week to try to rest and heal. I attempted my run on Wednesday and felt shin pain nearly immediately. I knew that if I had any chance at making it through the weekend, I had to listen to my body, so I stopped. I'm glad I did!

On Saturday, I completed the 3.2 mile Warrior Dash in Windham, NY. It's a challenging course involving extreme terrain and lots of obstacles (with plenty of mud)! The first 1.5 miles or so went straight up an advanced ski slope, and I have to say, that was by far the hardest part! The sun was beating down on us at that point, and I had no choice but to walk much of it.

I was really scared of the obstacles before the start. I'd wanted to do more strength training, but once I got into all this marathon training I just didn't have time! But when I got to the obstacles, I was pretty impressed with how well I was able to tackle them. The toughest part was being concerned about possible injury. I knew that if I injured myself, the chances of me completing the marathon would be slim! Thankfully, I managed to keep myself from falling or slipping in the mud for the entire race, and left with just a few scrapes and bruises. I also finished in under an hour, so I'm happy with myself! The official photos should be released soon; I'm hoping that at least one of them came out well so I can share. I ran with my friend Mike, who was in costume as Mr. T. Overall, it was an amazing experience!

After an epic Warrior day, I was concerned about completing my 14-mile training run yesterday. The ski slope course had been tough on my shins and I got to bed late. My dinner Saturday night was a giant Turkey leg and a beer -- not exactly full of carbs -- and I feared being slightly dehydrated. Dragging myself out of bed was hell, especially because it was rainy outside. I just wanted to sleep!

Somehow, my body managed to hold itself together for the entire 14 miles. It wasn't particularly fun -- the rain gradually fell harder throughout the morning, and by mile 10, my body woke up and realized that I'd been punishing it for two days straight. Toward the end, the entire lower half of my body just ached! I stayed strong though, and pushed myself to the end.

After forcing myself to a gentle yoga class today, I think I'm recovering well, though I just realized I'm supposed to run 5 miles tomorrow morning -- I thought it was only 3! The mid-week runs are really starting to scale up. I hope I can keep up!

Thanks so much to my week 10 sponsors:
Rebecca Meddick
Theresa Santa

After Wednesday's fundraising check goes through, the total will be $1945.52! With your help, we could be over $2000 soon!

Week 9: Aches and Pains

This past week was a tapered-back week in terms of miles, and I was definitely thankful for that! Sunday's long run was "only" 7 miles.

I ended up taking off on Tuesday because of my achy knees. I just wanted to play it safe. I was able to complete all the rest of my training runs for the week without any problems. I assumed Sunday would be a piece of cake, especially since I had a 6-mile mid-week run, but I was most definitely wrong!

We start off our group runs each week going down a long hill. About a half mile in, I had a sudden, sharp pain in my right hip, forcing me to stop immediately and walk. Just as I feared having to stop on the side of the road and have one of my teammates tell the coach I needed help, it disappeared and I was able to keep running.

A few minutes later, I almost wished I'd had an excuse to stop, because we got caught in a torrential downpour. I basically felt like I was running fully clothed in the shower! I was thankful for the rain -- before that moment it was so humid I could barely breathe -- but it was definitely the hardest rain I've ever run in, and was dripping in my eyes despite the coverage from my glasses.

As I attempted to see the road through the rain, I started feeling pain in my left shin, again. Every time I think I'm over the shin splint, it comes back! Thankfully I'd brought my brace along, leaving it with the coach just in case. I grabbed it at the first water stop and wore it for the rest of my run.

The rest of the run was mostly uneventful, but it didn't feel very good. I was definitely glad that the mileage was short, because I'm not sure if I could have made it through anything longer.

Unfortunately the hip pain returned on Monday. Between that and the shin pain, I skipped today's run to be safe. I've done some research on my hip and am pretty sure it's Piriformis Syndrome, which is basically inflammation of a muscle that can cause pressure on the sciatic nerve. The pain's in the right spot, feels very much like sciatic nerve pain, and reacts well to the suggested stretches. It's been better today, so I'm probably going to try my 3-mile run tomorrow given that it's short and see how I feel. If I feel any pain tomorrow, I'll cut it short, skip Thursday's longer run and opt for more rest.

The rest is important, both for my overall progress and for this weekend! Not only will I be running 14 miles on Sunday morning, I'll be running in the New York Warrior Dash on Saturday afternoon. Warrior Dash is a 3.2 mile race on a ski slope with crazy obstacles, including jumping over fire and crawling through mud under barbed wire. I'll be running with several friends from Connecticut and a couple from back home in Rochester, including my friend Mike, who accompanied me on my 13 mile run a couple of weeks ago. It's going to be great, but exhausting to be sure! I'm also going to have to be very careful to avoid injury. In fact, I think I may hold back on sending my marathon recommitment paperwork in until after I've made it through this weekend, just in case!

And tomorrow is my big fundraising event -- Tastes 'N' Toasts in Blue Back Square! I've been hoping for good weather over the past week, but I'm still not sure what's going to happen. The forecast has been everything from 90% chance of rain to sunny! If the rain can stay away, we should hopefully have a good turnout. Unfortunately, if there's one thing I learned from my very first fundraising event in the center, it's that nobody in West Hartford likes to visit the center of town when it looks like rain!

Thanks so much to my week 9 sponsor, Sherry Haefele! Aunt Sherry officially brought the fundraising total to over $1,500!

Tastes 'N' Toasts event next week!

Tastes 'N' Toasts - benefiting the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society
Wednesday, August 10th, 5 PM - 10 PM
Hosted by Umi Sushi + Tapas, 53 Isham Rd., West Hartford

Invite your friends and come to Blue Back Square on Wednesday August 10th to enjoy dinner and drinks in West Hartford Center for a great cause!

A $10 donation to the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society gets the following discounts at participating Blue Back Square restaurants:

• Umi Sushi — 10% off on all conveyor belt sushi & tapas items, $7.95 chicken ramen, $2 Sapporo & domestic drafts
• Besito — ½ price Besito Patron Margarita and all appetizers excluding guacamole
• The Counter - Custom Built Burgers — Free 50/50 appetizer with the purchase of two burgers
• Fleming's — ½ price burgers and ½ price wine by the glass
• Moe's — Buy one get one ½ off
• Uncorked — 20% off all wine by the taste, half glass or full glass
• Rizzuto's — $5 wines, $4 beers, all call drinks $5, $5 calamari, $5 bruschetta

There will be a table at Umi to accept your donation and give you the sticker you need to get the discounts.

From 7-9 pm, Lipbone Redding (http://www.lipbone.com/) will be performing in the courtyard area directly across the street from Umi. Blue Back Square will also be giving away tickets to see Cirque du Soleil Quidam at the XL Center during the concert! It should be a great time!

Hope to see you there! Even if you can't come, please feel free to share this event with your friends!

Week 8: Half marathon down, half to go!

This week's long run was 13 miles -- that's a half marathon (if you add the 0.1 miles, which of course I did)!

It was my first time not running a long run with my Team In Training group. I had the option of connecting with Rochester's group for their run, but opted instead to run with my friend Mike. Mike hadn't run that far in quite some time, but has been heavily training for our upcoming Warrior Dash, so he was up for the challenge. I was a bit nervous for taking on the run without the group, but I loaded up my Camelbak with half Gatorade, half water, packed a Gu and my shin brace, and put one headphone piece in so I could hear my Runkeeper distance and pace prompts while still talking to Mike along the way.

We ran along the Erie Canal, which was far flatter and straighter than I'm used to. The section we ran along was over 80% gravel and dirt, which was far friendlier to my shin and joints than the usual cambered roads I typically travel on. I think I have that to thank for being able to complete the run, as I had to cut Friday's 4-mile run short due to shin pain and feared I wouldn't survive the long run because of it. I had about 30 seconds of shin pain about 75% of the way through the run, but it went away, thank goodness!

Unfortunately, Mike was a little under-hydrated and started having issues when he ran out of Gatorade with a couple of miles left. He pushed through most of it, but had to walk/run the last mile. I walked with him for some of the time, then ran on ahead and walked back to meet him once I was finished.

Overall, the run felt great! It helped that the weather was far more cooperative than the previous week: not too hot or humid and cloudy skies for most of the run. I enjoyed a post-run protein smoothie from the Pittsford Wegmans Tea Bar, something I definitely miss here in Connecticut!

The only real pain I've had while recovering from yesterday is in my left knee. It's very stiff and sore, but I'm not sensing any actual injury -- I think it's just whining a bit from all the activity. I've been taking it easy today and may skip tomorrow's run if it's not feeling better by morning. At this point, it's important not to push myself too hard so I'm not risking injury.

Thanks so much to last week's sponsors:
Peter Maurer
Jen Bergman
American Products
Kathy Porcelli (my mom!)
Ruthie
Elly Garver
Rose Gabriel

Unofficial total is $1491.52!

My date of recommitment is August 19th. That's when I officially make the decision on my fundraising goals and which marathon I'll be doing. If you're planning on making a donation but haven't done it yet, now is a great time to show your support and encourage me to go for the Nike Women's Marathon in San Francisco!

Week 7: ...ugh. (11 miles)

So far, my training's been pretty good, aside from a couple of very minor setbacks. I'd say the overall mood of my blog has been pretty positive and upbeat.

The week leading up to today wasn't great. I managed to somehow pull my calf muscle just right in personal training on Tuesday to bring my shin splint problems back, forcing me to cut my run short on Wednesday and skip Friday's run altogether. Friday was also super hot outside, so I was better off.

Today, I'm going to be blunt: the run sucked.

First, I'd eaten way too much on Saturday, and specifically, way too much junk. I think I had 10 chocolate chip cookies by the end of the day -- I have a weakness for cookies -- and that was only the tip of the iceberg. I woke up this morning feeling gross.

Then I stepped outside. It was thankfully slightly cooler than the past few days, but it was like mother nature smothered me with an electric blanket and said "Here, try running! Muahahahaha!"

Then we got started. It was like trying to breathe water. And within a couple of minutes, each one of us developed our own swarm of gnats, which flew either over our heads or just behind for the entire run. We all looked pretty ridiculous, flailing our arms around to try to keep them from flying in our faces. During water stops, they'd dive-bomb our heads and try flying in our ears.

At each water stop, I had two cups of liquid, typically one Gatorade and one water. This is more than usual for me, but I was losing so much through my sweat that I had no choice. As a result, the 5 minutes of running immediately following each water stop was almost painful due to water sloshing in my stomach.

I had Gu at my third water stop. I tried vanilla this time, which was tolerable but not nearly as good as last week's chocolate. I don't think I would have completed the run without it, but was really hoping for a better flavor to pick me up.

There was one point about three-quarters of the way through where I nearly lost it. I was so exhausted that I thought I might have missed a turn, so overheated I wanted to melt. There were almost tears. Then, by some miracle, Madonna came through my headset and sang:

You push me
To go the extra mile
You push me
When it's difficult to smile
You push me
A better version of myself
You push me
Only you and no one else

You push me
To see the other point of view
You push me
When there's nothing else to do
You push me
When I think I know it all
You push me
When I stumble and I fall

Keep on pushing like nobody

Every race I win
Every mood I'm in
Everthing I do
I owe it all to you
Every move I make
Every step I take
Everything I do
It's all because you push me

You push me
When I don't appreciate
You push me
Not to lie and not to hate
You push me
When I want it all to end
You push me
When I really need a friend

You push me
All I wanna do is cry
You push me
When it's hard for me to try
You push me
When I do it for myself
You push me
Only you and no one else

I know the original inspiration for the song is a relationship, but it ties back to my running journey in so many ways. I thought about Caitlin, about all the people battling blood cancers, and how they push me through my runs. When it's difficult to smile, when I want to cry and give up and go back to bed, the cause is what pushes me through.

It got me through that rough spot, and up the hell hill right before the end of our course (along with some Dragonstea din tei/Numa Numa). It took everything I had to get through the 11 miles today, but I survived. Thankfully, there was a icy-cold washcloth waiting for me at the end.

I almost broke down again when I got home and realized my husband was in the shower, as I'd been looking forward to that shower the whole ride home. When he got out of the bathroom, his shower had been so hot that I was hit by a wave of humidity, bringing back all of the pain I'd just been through for a moment.

But then I took a cold shower, came out to a plate of freshly-cooked eggs waiting for me, and took a moment to breathe (and drink lots more Gatorade). I'm exhausted but doing much better.

This week starts 5-day running weeks. I'm really hoping my shin holds on and the humidity takes a vacation. I'm heading to Rochester late this week to see friends, family and coworkers, and couldn't be more excited. I'll be running 13 miles next weekend with my friend Mike, who trained for a marathon last year, along the Erie Canal. Hurray for a change in scenery!

Week 6: 10 Amazing Miles

Ack! My mileage just hit double-digits, and my legs haven't given up on me yet!

This morning's run was one of the best long runs I've had. I ran the 10 miles in just under 2 hours, including water breaks, and my overall heart rate was pretty low, considering. And even though it was ridiculously hot and sunny, I was barely bothered by it. Maybe it was the fried dough and ice cream at last night's carnival?

I also tried Gu today around mile 6, after not enjoying the PowerBar Gel I tried a couple of weeks ago. I grabbed a chocolate one (Chocolate Outrage), thinking it was a safe place to start, and it was amazing! Tasted like a melted chocolate bar, and considering how hot it was outside and how warm the Gu got by the time I had it, melted chocolate seemed perfectly reasonable. No weird aftertaste or anything, either. I'm afraid the other flavors I bought may not be able to compare!

So overall, things are well. My body is starting to feel comfortable with longer runs, even with humidity. Pain is minimal now, heart rate is lowering, and my short runs during the week are becoming slightly faster. I'm feeling pretty excited, and am so thankful that I chose to try for a full marathon, because clearly a half marathon would have been a piece of cake! In two weeks, I'll be running 13 and will be halfway there!

Thanks so much to my week 6 sponsors:

• David Mammano
• NextStepU

Every dollar makes a difference!

Week 5: Catching my breath!

This past week felt like cheating! Our runs during the week were a bit longer, as I'd mentioned in my last post, but the long run was "just" 6 miles!

I can't say "just 6 miles" without some extra quotation marks, because it still baffles me that 6 miles is no longer that long. A little over a month ago, I ran 5 miles for the first time in my life; now, 5 miles is something I do almost once a week as an easy morning run.

And that's the other big accomplishment from the past week -- morning runs! I have never been a morning person. A few years ago I told myself that I was going to force myself into being a morning exerciser; it lasted two days. Last week's attempts to get up early worked out pretty well, so I've started making it a new habit!

I should be clear: I hate the alarm going off early and dragging myself out of bed, and I don't expect that to ever change. What gets me out of bed, however, is knowing that I'll already have my daily exercise out of the way and that I'll be able to do it while it's cool(er) outside.

Today I am truly thankful for having the motivation to drag myself out of bed early, because it's 90 and humid this evening, with an air quality alert in effect. This morning was still pretty humid, but only around 70 or so. I actually had my best morning run yet today, which was a great way to start off the week!

Thanks so much to my week 5 sponsors:

• Lynn Farnung
• Liz Kline

Your support is truly appreciated! I'm trying to make it to $2,000 by the end of this month. If you haven't donated yet, now is a great time! :)

I'm doing a lot of brainstorming this week for fundraising. I'm still working on the details for Tastes & Toasts on August 10th, and I hope to have another couple of events scheduled soon!

Week 4: Moving along

This weekend's long run was the same 8ish miles, so no new milestones to report. It's actually come at a good time because I'm trying to get my left leg to heal. I skipped on Friday's shorter run to try to give it some time to rest, and I'm glad I did — I was able to run the entire 8.5 miles without using my shin splint brace! Hurray!

The pain now is in my calf, which I actually suspect was originally caused by using the brace for my shin. The problem with protecting one part of your leg is that the other parts have to take extra force to compensate for it. I've been doing a lot of stretching lately, which seems to be helping.

This week's mid-week runs are longer than they have been. I ran 4 miles this morning (for the 4th of July, woo!) and I'll have 5 to run on Wednesday. The longest we've had to run so far on our own is 4. I'm going to hopefully try getting up early on Wednesday to run, while it's cooler outside.

Fundraising-wise, I'm now ranked #4 on the Connecticut Nike team! It's really exciting, but at the same time, I have a long way to go. I'm hoping to get some corporate sponsorship letters out this week, and start planning a neighborhood can drive. I also need to start thinking about next month's event in West Hartford Center, so I can be sure that it is awesome!

I hope everybody enjoys the holiday and the short work week!

Week 3: rainy thoughts and 8 miles!

So week three went pretty well, despite fighting what has become a very nasty shin splint! My ice wrap has been getting a lot of use lately!

My Wednesday run was 4 miles in the rain. It's funny how in just a few short weeks, rain has gone from something I avoided at all costs to something I run in without a second thought! The rain and overall gloomy weather seemed appropriate though, as I had just heard about a friend of a friend's daughter losing her battle with leukemia, and a co-worker's son being diagnosed with cancer. I thought of both of them on my run.

My shin was not particularly happy but managed to hold out. Toward the end of my run, I had this moment where I started thinking about the sadness of the day and how the rain hitting me was a lot like tears. I pictured every drop hitting me to be a tear from a person who was affected by cancer, and realized that even adding them all together over the course of the run would come nowhere near the number of people battling cancer in the world right now. I let their tears help me get through the run and finished strong.

Saturday's run was almost 8.5 miles. I was nervous about my shin but gave it a shot, wearing a brace for support and trying to stay away from heel striking, and surprisingly got through with barely any pain at all!

We also started trying out some running fuel at our second water stop, with the option of gels or chews. I tried out the chews, thinking the texture might be less gross, but the ones they had were so chewy my jaw hurt! I'm definitely sucking it up and trying a gel next time.

Week four has not started well -- after a rough day, my two-mile recovery run involved exhaustion, pain and even blood! I had a ton of plans for around the house tonight but my body is telling me that just won't be possible. I can only hope the week will get better from here!

25 percent!

Rolling out of bed at 6:30 this morning came a little easier than it did last week. I'm hoping it's a trend, but knowing me, I'm not getting my hopes up! I will never be a morning person, even if I try to pretend for the next few months!

Today's route was almost 6.5 miles, which is just about 25 percent of the full marathon! My GPS app failed me again, this time for crashing about halfway through my run. I think my phone may have a tougher time getting through this marathon than I will.

Like last week, the mileage wasn't a big deal at all. Honestly, I think my mid-week runs were tougher, even though they were shorter. I've yet to find a teammate who runs at the same pace as me, but I'm still thinking that being part of a team helps to make the runs go better. I have water stops to look forward to, and friends at the end. When I'm on my own I have to be completely self-motivated because there's nobody looking out for me!

Next weekend's run will be on Saturday because the coaches need to be at the Fairfield Half Marathon on Sunday to support some of our team members. It'll be an 8-mile run, and our coach said we'll get an introduction to gels. I just started getting into Gatorade, so I'm swiftly transitioning into the serious stuff!

Thanks to my week 2 sponsor, Bertera Subaru of Hartford! My husband Blaine got a new Subaru Forester from them a few weeks ago and they were kind enough to make a donation when they heard about the cause.

Unofficial fundraising total is $956.52!

Why I do this

Every day, I talk about my marathon efforts to anyone and everyone around me, spreading the word about the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society and the Team In Training program. And yet, there are always people who look at me with that facial expression that could only mean one thing: they think I'm crazy.

Am I crazy? Quite possibly so, but I'd like to think I'm at least crazy with a purpose. The pain I'm feeling today as I continue to recover from my first long run is nothing compared to the pain of someone being treated for cancer. It's not going to kill me and can get better with some combination of ice, heat or Advil.

Runner's World magazine highlights Team In Training in their July issue, on newsstands now. The main article, which looks at Team In Training from the perspective of a participant from Oregon, truly resonated with me.

"Becoming a runner has let me understand cancer better," she finally says as we hit the turnaround and begin our descent. "If you have cancer, if someone you love has it, even if you're just a grunt like me--it's all a long march. It's not going to be over in a day. During the toughest miles, you find out you're all alone, but at the same time, you feel incredibly connected. You learn that you're capable of doing things you never could have imagined."

This is why I run.

20.6 percent!

Today's run ended up being 5.39 miles! The exact distance is courtesy of my GPS-tracking teammates, because I couldn't get my app to lock down my location this morning. There were five of us there to train for a full marathon, and while we all ran at very different speeds, just knowing there were others out on the road with me and a coach at the halfway point was motivating.

The distance itself was surprisingly easy. I used my heart rate monitor to ensure I was keeping a decent pace, and probably could have kept going. That was definitely an encouraging feeling! I'm proud of myself for surviving and for training myself well enough to be able to handle the challenge!

I am dealing with a little shin pain, which I fear is a recurrence of the shin splint I had a few months ago. I didn't feel anything until the last mile or so, and the pain was fairly mild, so I'm hoping I'll be fine with some icing and rest. I also learned today that asphalt is softer than concrete sidewalks, so I'm going to make sure I'm sticking to the road as much as possible from now on! On my run today, I had to cut to the sidewalk a few times for safety and definitely felt a difference.

So week 1 is complete! Thanks so much to my pre-training and week 1 supporters:

• The Green Teahouse
• Mom & Dad #2 (Blaine's parents)
• My brother, Joe Haefele
• Grandma Haefele
• Aunt Ann Haefele
• The Rocktaschel family
• Wayne and Julie Crawford
• Tricia Hamlin
• Doug Walters
• Sergey Katsev
• Brian Abraham
• All my CT friends who have "purchased" some of Ed Stuart's homemade wine
• Everyone who has bought some of my matcha (green tea) cookies

Unofficial total raised so far -- including this weekend's cookie sales -- is $756.52! You are amazing! ♥

Number jitters

This week was the official start of training, but until now, it didn't "feel" like the start. My runs this week were 3 miles, the same as I've been running for a few weeks now. The only thing the schedule did was make sure I didn't make any excuses to get out of a run. I even ran in 90+ degree heat (slowly, with lots of water)!

Tomorrow marks my first long run of 5 miles. The number scares me a little, even though I'm at the point now where I stop at 3 and feel like I could keep going. I'm sure I'll make it, but there's this small part of me that's somehow convinced that once I get to 3.5 miles, my body will explode/melt/disintegrate/spontaneously combust, because in my mind, I am not a runner.

And yet, all signs should tell me otherwise. I have a home screen on my phone dedicated to music and my GPS app for running. I have a heart rate monitor, an Armpocket, a Camelbak, running shoes, special insoles and a special way to wear my headphones so they don't fall out of my ears when I run (I wrap the cord up and behind my ears). Ten minutes ago, I realized I needed to wash a load of athletic wear — I have enough workout clothes to fill a washer. And tomorrow, I'm going to get up earlier than I would for work — on a Sunday — to run with my team. I'm already starting to get ready for bed on a Saturday night!

I'm not even through week one and this experience has already changed me. I am truly excited for the weeks ahead, and so very thankful for those who have already made a donation to support my efforts. Thank you so much for believing in me and in this cause. We are making a difference!

30:25

So yesterday was the first big day of the year: the Race for the Cure! Admittedly, I wasn't particularly thrilled with getting up even earlier than a typical workday on the weekend, but it was for a good cause with great friends. :)

Here we are, ready for the race!

I didn't think it was worth paying extra for a timing chip, so I just used the GPS app on my phone to get my approximate time. The end result: 30:25!

This is definitely faster than I usually run. I'm a competitive person, so I think I got caught up in the whole "race" thing! I was breathing pretty heavily toward the end, but at least I didn't need a medic. :)

I also started to learn the secret of drinking out of a paper cup while moving: squeezing the top. I had to have been hilarious to watch at the first water stop, when I got more water ON me than IN me, even when I slowed down!

Overall, the race really helped me feel good about where I'm currently at as a runner. And I love that I can now run 3 miles without being sore the next day!

This coming week, I have three, 3-mile runs to do on my own before my first long training run as a team on Sunday morning. I just saw that the coach made the meetup a half hour EARLIER, as if it wasn't early enough — I guess I should say goodbye to sleeping in for a while!

What a gorgeous day!

I'm definitely becoming more of an outdoor runner. The weather this evening was beautiful -- sunny yet somewhat cool, and a little breezy -- and I quickly realized it was perfect for my last run before the 5k! Hopefully the weather will be just as great on Saturday. I definitely felt a lot more motivated!

The reservoir trails were almost a little crowded today, probably because everyone felt as motivated as I did. I was passed by a few runners, which discouraged me a little bit at first. I had to take a moment and remind myself that back in January, I couldn't run a mile straight at ANY pace without a break, so slow or otherwise, I'm still doing well. Then I saw one of the passing runners taking a break every minute to walk and catch her breath, while I slowly caught up to and passed her. It's terrible of me to admit, but passing her later made me smile a little bit. I felt like the slow and steady turtle, winning the race. :)

Local friends, please mark your calendars for August 10th! I'm excited to announce that I'm partnering with Umi Sushi for a Tastes & Toasts event in Blue Back Square (West Hartford Center). For those unfamiliar, during the summer, the restaurants of Blue Back Square pair up with great charities every Wednesday night. For a $10 donation, you get great deals at Umi, Besito, The Counter, Fleming's, Moe's, Uncorked and Rizzuto's. The restaurants take turns "hosting" a charity, and Umi has agreed to pair up with LLS! And even better, there will be some great live music from Lipbone Redding in the courtyard right across from Umi!

Everyone who knows me is very well-aware that Umi is my absolute favorite restaurant in town, so I can't wait for what will be a wonderful evening. More details to come!

Last week of lazy!

I haven't posted in a while — I've been super-busy with other life stuff, but not quite so much on training. In some ways, it's on purpose, because it's my last week before marathon training starts, and I'm planning to run my first full official 5k on Saturday morning! I'll be participating in Hartford's Komen Race for the Cure.

Crossing the finish line on Saturday is going to mean a lot to me. I've only attempted one other race before, a few years ago, and walked almost half of it. I'm confident I can run the entire distance this time, which will prove to me that I'm in the best shape of my life and ready to take the next step!

Next week starts the real marathon training, which both excites and scares me a little. I'm fine with the mid-week runs, but even the first long run is more than I've ever done before. I'm trying not to think about it for now. :)

Motivation

So yes, I may have one of the smallest wrists in the world, but check out what I got at the LLS office tonight!

I'm planning on wearing it every day, and probably staring at it a LOT during my longer runs to remind myself why this is so incredibly important.

3 miles strong

OK. Let me start by saying I did NOT want to run today, at all. I woke up in a bad mood, my throat is a little sore, and I'm just tired. I wanted to spend all day in bed. But my husband needed to get out to test the bike he might be buying from a co-worker, and I knew that I didn't have a single good excuse, so out I went.

My goal over the past couple of weeks has been to get strong enough to run a solid 3 miles outside, with hills and such, without needing a walking break. Today, I managed to pull that off.

My pacing was pretty good, too. There were a couple of rough hills along the way and my heart rate got a little higher than I'd like it to be, but I recovered just fine. My 5k time was 32:51, right around a 10:30 pace. I'm very happy with 10:30.

I also played around with my stride. I had a mini-coaching session with my personal trainer on Thursday, thanks to my team training members calling out, and he introduced me to the concept of pose running. Pose running is essentially running on the balls of the feet (plus a lot more than that, but that's the most simple definition!). It was obviously a very brief introduction, and I quickly realized that it was not something I could personally maintain for more than short distances without a lot more training, but for whatever reason, it seemed to make hills a lot easier to climb. So I started changing up my stride when I was climbing, and it worked! It's probably not the "right" thing to do but so long as I'm not injuring myself and I'm still moving, that's all I really care about.

This coming week is going to be tough to fit my runs in, thanks to several Team In Training meetings and webinars, but I feel better knowing I've already met my preliminary pre-training goal. The Race for the Cure is just under 2 weeks away, so now I just need to keep reinforcing that distance so it's even easier.

Busy busy!

What a busy few days it has been!

Last week, I ran for 3 miles straight on the treadmill and could have kept going. It was just a matter of slowing my pace by 30 seconds a mile! It definitely made me feel better after last Sunday's painful run at the reservoir.

Saturday was the Spring Stroll, which went well considering the town of West Hartford was practically empty! I guess everyone thought the weather was going to be bad, even though it was pretty nice for most of the day. There were a bunch of great charities sitting around with nobody to learn about them! It definitely didn't feel like a typical Saturday in the center. Regardless, we still raised over $77 on Saturday, and an additional $14 on Sunday/Monday because the Green Teahouse continued to sell my matcha cookies. There may be more cookie-baking in my future!

I've made Sundays my no-excuses, run outside days, and this past Sunday was no exception, despite the rain! To be honest, the rain was actually somewhat nice -- I kept cool and nobody was on the trail other than a couple families of geese! My pacing is definitely getting better. I had to take a couple of walking breaks, but I felt a lot more comfortable when running and managed to slow myself down a bit. Including the walking breaks, my average pace was 11:33.

Only one problem; rain and glasses don't mix!

Spring Stroll on Saturday in West Hartford Center

I'm teaming up with The Green Teahouse in West Hartford for the first annual Spring Stroll in West Hartford Center and Blue Back Square!

If you're in the area, please stop by on Saturday between 11 AM and 4 PM to say hello, learn more about Team In Training or the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, and make a donation to a great cause!

The Green Teahouse will be donating a portion of their profits for the afternoon to LLS. You can also try some great tea samples or enter a raffle for goodies!

More info on the Spring Stroll, courtesy of West Hartford:

Shop, Dine, Stroll, Care! West Hartford Center and Blue Back Square will host the First Annual Spring Stroll on Saturday, May 14, 11:00 AM-4:00 PM. Local charities will be participating in the Spring Stroll to help raise awareness of their needs in addition some businesses will be donating a portion of their sales that day to the charity of their choice. There will be fun events for parents and kids alike with discounts at your favorite locally owned and operated downtown businesses. Kids events will include face painting by Fantastic Faces, painting the sidewalks, and balloon making, to name a few. Visit the PATCH booths which will be on the corner of Farmington Avenue and LaSalle Road and in the Square at Blue Back Square where you will pick up your list of participating businesses and a butterfly that will get you the great discounts that day. Each business that is participating will have a butterfly in their window so you can identify them. Please help make this a great event and support your community and some of the local charities.

Tough run

I had a rough day today. Of course, just as I started to feel down, the sun went away and the sky got all gloomy, too.

First, some good news -- I will be teaming up with the Green Teahouse for the Spring Stroll in West Hartford Center next Saturday. The event goes from 11-4, but I probably won't be there right away due to the Team In Training kick-off meeting. The Green Teahouse will be donating 2.5% of their proceeds for the day to LLS, and I'm going to have at least part of a table for... something! I'm still working out the final details.

So this afternoon, I tried running around the block with my dog, Bella. She gave me a whimpering guilt trip as I was getting ready to head out, so I figured I'd try taking her along for a test run. She couldn't quite get the hang of the running thing, and then she tried to attack my neighbor's unleashed dog. I had to drag her in the house.

After dealing with that situation, I decided to drive over to the West Hartford Reservoir on my own for a peaceful run on nature trails, to make up for the chaotic short run with Bella. I quickly realized that I have one running pace, and it's too fast for tackling hills, so I had to take several walking breaks. My overall time wasn't terrible -- about 11 minutes a mile, including my warmup -- but it didn't feel good. The only thing that cheered me up was the random bagpiper in the woods.

So it's 6 PM on Sunday, I'm already in my pajamas, and I'm pretty much ready for today to be over. I'm trying not to be too hard on myself, because not every day is going to feel great. I think I'll do better once I have my coaches to encourage and help me. In the meantime, I just have to keep at it!

0.6 miles away!

I ran 2.5 miles today, which is 0.6 miles away from a 5k! The Race for the Cure is about a month away. I'm totally going to be ready!

Tonight's run was definitely better than when I did 2 miles. I didn't have any shoulder pain to contend with, thanks to my friend Amity's reminder about running like you're holding two ice cream cones. Apparently I was just twisting my body too much! I still do some twisting out of habit, but it's much more controlled.

My heart rate was better this time as well. I still have some work to do to bring it down a little more, but I know it will get there in time. I've been trying to keep to a 10-minute mile, but I expect to slow that pace down once I get to longer distances so that I'm not burning myself out.

I really didn't start to feel exhausted until the last couple of minutes, which seemed to stretch on forever. Maybe it's because I caught the time when I was about 18 minutes in, or maybe I was just bored! There are no more intervals for the rest of the Couch to 5k series -- just gradually increasing running times -- so I think I'm going to start venturing outdoors a little bit more. I just need to pick out some interesting routes.

Fundraising is off to a great start -- I'm now up to an unofficial $400, and my first community event is tentatively going to be next Saturday. I should be working out the details this weekend, so more on that soon!

First Fundraiser - Success!

I'm excited to announce that my first fundraiser went great!

My husband Blaine and I had a grilling/wine/cheese/game night with friends. I was planning on having the game night before I even signed up for Team In Training, but decided to offer bottles of Blaine's dad's homemade wine for anyone who donated $15 or more. We raised $130 in one night of fun! (It might take a couple of weeks for processing, but it will be showing up in my fundraising tally soon!)

Everyone seemed to have a great time. I'm so thankful to have met such amazing people in Connecticut over the past year and can't wait to do it again!

I definitely learned a few lessons though, the most important of which being that if you ask for food, my friends will bring a lot of it! Thankfully most people brought their leftovers back home with them, but there were still enough here to completely fill our fridge. We also bought too much extra food ourselves -- most of our awesome cheese didn't even make it onto the table!

On the plus side, nobody went hungry!

I'm definitely hoping to get a run in tomorrow. I'd like to try out my new Armpocket, which just arrived in the mail today. It's purple -- for Team In Training -- and fits my arm and my phone perfectly! I also need to run off some of these calories...

The Great Outdoors

It is absolutely beautiful outside today in Hartford! It's 80 degrees and sunny. Of course, I've been locked up inside all day working so I haven't had much of an opportunity to enjoy, but I opened my office window for some fresh air!

From what I've been told, this is great running weather. But there's just one catch — I've been training completely indoors so far. Because I started my training in January, there was no way I was going to take on cold and snow as I learned to run. Now I have no excuse, other than the fact that the treadmill feels more at home.

The official start of Team In Training's fall season is in a couple of weeks. At that point, I'll have no choice but to run outside, because the group runs are at the West Hartford Reservoir. Part of me wants to attempt to venture out on my own, but in all likelihood, I think I'll stick to the familiar while I still can!

One of my biggest concerns about venturing outdoors is pacing. When I attempted to run the Chase Corporate Challenge a couple of years ago, I had great time on my first mile, but used up all my energy quickly and had to resort to walking. The treadmill feels safe because I tell it how fast I want to go, and it makes sure I can't go any faster or slower.

The closest I can get to that outdoors is GPS tracking. I have a great app for my phone that can do it, but no way to carry my phone! The Droid isn't exactly the smallest, sleekest phone on the planet. It also doesn't have an official armband, which poses a challenge. Guess I'd better do some research for purchasing one, because the marathon isn't going to happen on a treadmill!

Pre-training Milestone 1

I passed what I consider to be my first major running milestone tonight — running for 2 miles/20 minutes.

The decision to try to run a marathon for Team In Training came after I'd already committed to a couple of smaller races. I'm running in the Race for the Cure on June 4th, and Warrior Dash on August 13th.

I started Couch to 5k training in January with this really awesome podcast. Couch to 5k wasn't new to me — I attempted to complete it a few years ago for the Chase Corporate Challenge — but I've never made it all the way through.

This time, I had plenty of time before my first race, so I'd decided to take it easy and repeat the C25K training weeks as needed until I felt comfortable. I decided on 6 MPH runs and 4 MPH recovery walks at a 0.5% interval on the treadmills at the gym. I repeated weeks 3 and 4 a lot, partially due to my being afraid to move forward, and partially because I had a bunch of stumbling blocks (shin spints, sick, etc.). In fact, I repeated them so many times that I'm now barely going to finish it before the Race for the Cure, but I'm determined!

This week is now C25K week 5, which is a scary week because every day is different. Day 1 involves three, 5-minute runs with 3-minute walk breaks between. Day 2 involves two, 8-minute runs with one 5-minute walk break between. Day 3, the scariest day, is a 20-minute straight run, no breaks.

Days 1 and 2 weren't too bad. I actually did them a couple of weeks ago before coming down with a terrible cold, so this week was a repeat. Day 3 scared the crap out of me, because I've never run for 20 minutes straight in my life.

I went to the gym today armed with my friend Jon and my interval podcast, and managed to snag the best treadmill in the gym (the one where the ventilation system blows right on you, giving you a fresh breeze!). I covered the time on the treadmill with my towel, set my TV to closed captioning on Comedy Central so I could distract myself with the Daily Show and Colbert Report, and just ran.

It wasn't an easy 20 minutes, and it took everything I had toward the end not to look at my progress, but I did it! And even more amazingly, after I walked for a couple of minutes, I felt like I still had energy to do more running! My heart rate got a bit higher than I wanted, but it actually slowed down a bit once I got a rhythm.

...I got a rhythm. Weird.

My legs were fine after the run. No shin pain or achy knees! The worst part was actually my shoulder. I'm not sure what I did, but it was not happy with all the movement. I took one of my muscle relaxants tonight, so hopefully that will help ease things a bit.

I celebrated my progress with a protein shake and a smile. I feel like I just jumped my first hurdle. I'm 8% of the way there! :)