Week 4: Four hilly miles

This week was much nicer weather-wise!  It was perfect, really -- 50s, partly cloudy, and dry.  I was thankful, because the weather made it much easier to get out and run this week when everything else was telling me to stay home!

First, I hadn't done any of my training runs this week.  I've been dealing with a minor issue that makes it uncomfortable to run, so I chose to rest instead.  While I know it was best for me, it left me feeling terribly unprepared for a 4-mile run.  I was still in some pain this morning, so I wasn't sure how it would go, but decided I needed to give it an attempt.

Then, poor Liliana had a rough night and was really struggling to get back to sleep when she'd wake up.  I'm not sure if it was teething or maybe feeling a little off from her vaccines, but in trying to help her, I didn't get to sleep until after midnight, I spent over a half hour up with her around 3, and then had to get up by 7.  Getting out of bed was really tough!

I've also found that the more Liliana grows into toddlerhood, the longer it takes to get ready.  Someone loves to be independent!  As a result, I was wiping the peanut butter and jelly off of her face while rushing out the door 10 minutes later than I'd wanted to be leaving.  Oops.

I'm so glad I made it, though.  More of the team was there today, and for the first time, we weren't running just in the cemetery!  I was excited to try out a different course, and as I expected, it made the run feel much faster than when we were doing multiple loops.  The four miles breezed right by time-wise.

I had to specify time-wise there because our route itself was far from easy.  There were several hills, including one so steep that I couldn't even attempt to run the whole thing while pushing the stroller.  I definitely benefit from the hill training, but it is amazing how much more I feel the stroller when pushing up any sort of incline!  It makes me feel terribly out of shape, but I have to remember that I'm running for Liliana, too.  And even with the steep hills, I ended with an average time of a 10:45 min/mile -- that's a pretty good time for me on a stroller run.

The hills reminded me of one of my most emotional moments of marathon training.  When we did our longest run of our training -- 20 miles -- the coaches left us motivational words along our route in sidewalk chalk.  We always had to run up a steep hill toward the end of our run, and after running so far, the hill was feeling extra tough.  Just as I was ready to give up, I saw the words --

This hill sucks
but cancer sucks worse!

It was that moment where tears came to my eyes and I quickly learned that crying and running do not mix.

There were no tears today, just reflection.  I remembered how hard Caitlin was fighting leukemia while I was running up that hill.  And today, three years later, I run while my mom fights cancer too.

My mom began her journey to becoming cancer-free this week with her mastectomy on Wednesday.  The surgery went well, although they found cancer in one of her lymph nodes and had to remove some additional lymph nodes as a precaution.  They kept her at the hospital overnight but released her Thursday morning.  So far, recovery is going well.  Her strength in facing this amazes me every day.

There are only 5 more weeks until race day.  If you were thinking of making a donation, now would be a great time!  I'd love to reach my personal goal of $1000, but need your help to get there!  Your tax-deductible donation helps fund treatments that save lives, and research to help save even more.

Week 3: Braving the cold for 3.5 miles

I'm not used to this fall running business. Having trained for my marathon over a summer, my running gear consists of tank tops and running shorts.  So when I woke up on Sunday morning for our group run and realized it was 34 degrees outside, I wanted nothing more than to curl up under some warm blankets and go back to bed.

If only cancer would just go hide on cold days!

Thankfully, I have some yoga pants -- what mom doesn't? -- and crossed my fingers that I'd be comfortable wearing my Nike Women's Marathon hooded sweatshirt.  I found my fingerless gloves with the mitten flaps, and my earmuffs.  If there's one thing I know for sure, it's that I need my ears covered on a cold run!  But honestly, I didn't really know what I needed layer-wise for running in the cold, so I just hoped that going outside in something that wasn't quite warm enough for just walking might do it.

Liliana, on the other hand, was good to go.  Thanks to her growth slowing down, she still fits in most of her gear from last year.  She got to stay in her footie pajamas, and we threw on her Columbia fleece bunting and a fleece hat.  I grabbed a blanket for good measure.  I'm not sure she was capable of feeling how cold it was outside!

The other moms were surprised that Liliana didn't fall asleep with how cozy she looked.  She spent some time glazed over, and given that she'd started the day at 5 AM, it wouldn't have been that surprising, but I know my girl all too well.  Two minutes later she was asking for a snack!

The run was tough for me this week, both because of the cold and because we're still running in the cemetery.  It's not a terrible place to run, and it made sense this week because our coach was recovering from a marathon and couldn't run with us, but the loops just get to me.  We had to do three loops this week, and by the third I just wanted to be done.  I think we'll be going out into the neighborhood next weekend; I'm definitely looking forward to a change!

And as for my layers, most of them ended up coming off.  By mid-way through, I was running in short sleeves!  I was a little shocked that I found that comfortable, but the sweatshirt was way too warm.  Of course, once I stopped, the chill quickly returned, and lingered with me for several hours.

This week my mom is in my thoughts more than anything.  Tomorrow (Wednesday), she has her mastectomy, the first step in her journey to be cancer-free.  I'm really wishing I could be there with her, but I can't, so I'll run instead.  Liliana and I will be out in pink tomorrow to honor her.

Week 2: A wet 3 miles

It was a super quiet Saturday morning this week.  Liliana didn't wake up until after 7:30, so there wasn't really enough time to get her ready to go.  Plus, with the threat of rain on a cool morning, I wasn't sure how fun it would be for her to chill out in the stroller getting wet!  Only half of our team was there this week; a couple of moms had prior commitments and we're guessing the others saw the rain and said no thanks.

I'm not a stranger to rainy runs.  When I was marathon training, we had a run just before we were supposed to get by a hurricane.  The rain was falling in sheets and my running shoes had puddles!  In comparison, yesterday really wasn't bad at all.  It was just a light mist of a rain for the most part, which got slightly heavier toward the end of the run, but backed off before we left.

Without Liliana with me, I forgot just how difficult it is to carry things without a stroller!  It was quiet enough without having to entertain her, but I also didn't have a way to carry my phone, so I went without music as well.  I typically like something to help distract me on runs to make them go by faster, and I also like having my phone to track my pace, but I made do without.

We've been running in a cemetery the past couple of weeks.  It's a nice, paved loop that's just over a mile.  Something about the cemetery, the rain and the quiet just made me very reflective.  I don't doubt that many of the people buried there lost their lives to cancer.  In a way, I felt like I was running for them.  I'm still feeling a little rusty, so those three miles were tougher than they used to be, but thinking about the people whose lives have been lost, and those we are trying to save, helped carry me through.

I've been super sensitive to the topic of cancer lately.  As we all know, October is breast cancer awareness month, and this year it hits close to home.  For those who don't know, my mom is battling stage 2 breast cancer and will be having a mastectomy next week, followed by chemotherapy.  The pink is everywhere this month, and every time I see it, it reminds me of her.  Her prognosis is very good, but she has a long journey to remission.

So while I'm technically running for leukemia and lymphoma research, I'm also running in honor of my mom this time.  If I can be half as strong as my mom, I'll be capable of conquering any hill, even while pushing a stroller with a flat tire.  She is so brave and so determined. I feel helpless sometimes, being so far away from her, but at least I can run.