A Second Chance

To all my loyal readers who may not have made a donation to The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society yet... all is not lost. I will join the summer season as a mentor to help others reach their goals (run training & fundraising). I too will have to raise funds for cancer research and patient care. You can support my summer goal to raise another $2,500 with a simple click here

If you made a donation already you can always chip in again! No one is turned away.

Cheers.

Recovering

I'm still trying to wrap my brain around the experience to write up a good summary for everyone. Soon... I promise. I'm still a bit achey - been stretching & icing my legs every night. I feel the twinge of shin splints acting up. I need to rest. The recovery calendar suggests running a few miles. I don't think I'm ready yet. All Tuesday night & Wednesday I had horrible stomach cramps. I either ate something bad, caught a bug or maybe I am suffering a bit of dehydration. Tonight my mentor group meets for dinner so those of us who ran can share our experience with those waiting for their event in the next few weeks.

Things I learned:
It is possible to enjoy running 13.1 miles. Ok, it ws fun for the first 11.5 miles.
I'm a little sad my event is over. I've got post race blues.
I will do it again, not for the joy of running but for the joy of supporting The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.

I need to get some work done now. Thanks for checking in.

I did the damn thing!

It took me 3 hr 09 minutes to run 13.1 miles. The course was beautiful. The weather was perfect. I had a blast... until mile 11. You know "the wall"? Well it sure felt like a literal wall to me. I'm too tired to process right now but here are some pictures in summary. YES! My legs are sore sore sore. No! I can't walk well right now. YES I'd do it again - just let me recover first.

Here is my photo gallery

Before: Still happy - before the race.

After:
the face of total exhaustion

The Final Hours

Hi!
I've been resting all week & icing my muscles in preparation for the race on Sunday. Today I will lay out all my stuff to make sure I have what I need. I may need to make one last trip to REI. I get one last adjustment at the chiro this afternoon. I will pack. I will try to get to bed early.

Tomorrow we drive to the redwoods to check in for the race, find our hotel & get our last load of carbs at the pasta party.

Sunday I'll get up early enough to enjoy a PBJ sandwich & head to the start.

When will my nerves begin to act up? When will the adrenaline kick in? When with this even be over? In just a few hours!

I've spent the last 3 months training my body - I've run about 200 miles. I've received amazing support and reached my fundraising goal! I learned that I was the top fundraiser for 1/2 marathons this season. I couldn't have done this without you!

On Monday I get to follow the "recovery calendar". On Tuesday I guess I'll start my new role as mentor for the next season.

Today's post isn't the end of this blog because I joined the next season as mentor training for the Nike Women's Marathon. This new role will bring new challenges and new stories to share. The new season also bring another opportunity for you to help me raise funds for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.

Let's work to find a cure for blood cancers. We can save others from having to go through painful treatments or greive the loss of aloved one. As Coach Al says, "Let's do the damn thing!"

The Countdown

Five days left. On Saturday we'll head up to the redwoods to run The Ave. 13.1 miles through some of the tallest trees in the world.

Want to know what I'll be experiencing:
Read the course description

I'm excited & I guess I'm a bit nervous since I had a horrible time sleeping last night.

Tomorrow night we have a send off party where I'll pick up my race packet & figure out where I'm going this weekend. Saturday night TNT hosts a pasta party to top off our last few days of carb loading. Sunday morning please keep me in mind as I'll be making my way along the beautiful course. Of course I'll have in mind all the honorees who've inspired me during the past few months. With each step I take I'll be thinking of your family & friends who have had to fight a blood cancer.

Stay tuned for a post race report.

Faster Than Lightning

Today our track workout was a learning about how fast we really are. Coach told us we were going to run a mile as fast as we can to test our understanding of our ability. We had to predict how fast we could run four laps of the track, run them & see how well we know ourselves. I guessed that I could run the mile in 12 minutes.

We did 1/2 mile warm up, our usual stretches, shout outs, cheers and a moment of silence then off to the races. The first lap was OK & coach was impressed by my rhythm. The second lap the breathing was harder. The third lap I know I slowed. As I came around the last turn into the home stretch I heard them counting: 9.25, 9.30 I kicked on the power boosters...9.31, 32, 33, 34 & I crossed the line at 9.37.

Whoooo hooo under 10 minutes. I know I couldn't keep that pace up for another lap but I was impressed with my time.

At the end of the cool down laps coached looked at the clipboard where we all predicted out times. "Hey! Where's Sarah? She doesn't know squat!"

I've never run for speed - I run a pace I know I can keep up with for the duration. I expect I'll finish the race next weekend somewhere in the 12-13 min. mile pace. I'm OK with that. A few months ago I couldn't keep going beyond a mile & it took over 15 minutes to do it.

New Commitment

I went to the meeting last night to become a mentor for the summer season marathon team. I'll be assigned a group of 8-12 runners and work with them to achieve their goals (to cross both the race & fundraising finish line).

During this past season my big hurdle was staying healthy & uninjured while running. Raising the money was easy due to the generosity of friends like you. Now that I know I can complete a 1/2 marathon I will have to focus on the challenge of education & fundraising for a second season.

As long as families and friends have to endure the loss of a loved one to blood cancer I will have a commitment to this cause. My season as a participant ends soon and I'll have to shift my focus to help others get through the aches & pains of running and fundraising. If you are interested in joining TNT to train for a marathon let me know. It would be great to have you on my team!

To everyone who has already given so generously, THANK YOU! I may need your help again soon. To all my readers who have yet to give I will count on your support this next season.