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!