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!