A Milestone!

Finally! It all fell into place! My run/walk actually felt good and I improved my time (18 minute mile!). For you "real runners" you may laugh but everybody has to start somewhere! It may have been the caffeine load or the Thomas the Train set the entertained Jack for 30 whole minutes or yes, maybe it was the man shoes. It actually may have been the visit I had with Lew and Rose and their brilliant but not so warm and fuzzy oncologist. It was good to have a reminder of why I would even dream of doing this.

Man Shoes!

This event is clearly one blow to the ego after another. Man shoes! That was the answer to my shoe dilemma! Man shoes! After doing our second long practice wearing my Keds (and don't think people didn't notice) I suppose I should be thankful for man shoes. I am sure I can "pimp that shoe" to make them slightly more appealing.
I did learn that the answer to endurance event training is ice and ibuprofen after each practice. One woman even told me that last season after a long practice she would immerse her entire self in an ice bath! What a crack pot! It's clear to me where all the looney's have been hanging out on Saturday mornings!

Oh, those shoes!!

I can't believe I bought those crappy shoes! Ouch! My feet were on fire in the first ten minutes! Now I have to go back to that store and be re-humiliated! I have been derailed just a little bit - walking more than running and changing out shoes every ten minutes. Has anyone ever seen someone run a marathon in Birkenstock's? I am serious!

New Shoes

It is quite intimidating being an out of shape person walking into a running store. But then to explain that I need new shoes to run a marathon is downright humiliating. I am sure the young athletic salesman was thinking, "lady, we don't have any magic shoes!"
Ugg! This too shall pass and I will be passing that finish line before I know it...right?!

First "Long Run" Team Practice

My WHOLE body hurts. I have shin splints, calf pain, foot pain, chest pain, thigh pain, knee pain. Mostly I just feel crazy. Funny how your goals change with each passing minute. First, I was going to do exactly my plan of run/walking my training schedule building to longer times with great form. Halfway through I was trying to just hold my head high and my stomach in which eventually turned into just making it back to the parking lot so I could go home. I am feeling a little discouraged but am hoping for big improvement this week.
Thank you to Ann Kingman who worked the morning part of my shift so I could attend our first team practice and who tried to make me look presentable when I showed up to work.

Training Day 5

I talked to Laurie Bethke today. She gives me an update on Lew. Go Lew go! Hang in there! She inspired me to go upstairs and get on that treadmill! She is coming to San Fransisco to cheer me on! She is giving me money!!
I love my new sports bra. I think it makes me run faster!

I am committed

I buy a sports bra. If that doesn't say commitment to a sport I don't know what does!!

Training Day 4

My feet hurt, my knee hurts. All I can think of as the treadmill spins is, why didn't I lose weight after Jack was born? Will I be the fattest person at the marathon? Will people stare in amazement? Will there be a defibrillator nearby?
I email my coach and she gives great advice.

Training Day 3

Fiona comes over to play with Jack while I am on the treadmill. Bad idea. Now I have two 2 year olds staring at me while I run. I wonder if Fiona knows how to dial 911. Then Fiona says, "you run faster than my mommy." She is going to be a politician one day and I will vote for her!

Training Day 2

I am so slow. I am going no faster than a 20 minute mile - I have visions of being left out on the course because it got dark and everyone went home. I won't get the Tiffany Charm awarded by a hunky firefighter at the end of the marathon. People might ask for their money back!
I throw on an ipod with inspirational music. There is a lot to be said for the power of music in your ear!
My dear friend Kim encourages me to start a blog. I am intimidated by the fact that everyone will know my innermost thoughts but I am also overwhelmed with those thoughts every time I get on the treadmill. Who would read it? Could it help Lew and all of those people who benefit from Team in Training? Could it help me run a marathon? Could I really be a modern woman and start a blog?
This blog is born!

Training Day 1

What the hell was I thinking! I am instructed that as a beginner I only have to run 60 seconds then walk 60 seconds for 30 minutes. As the treadmill is turning I am not sure I can run 60 seconds! My two year old is hanging his arms over the safety gate that surrounds the treadmill and staring in wonder. I begin to question if I should have taught him how to dial 911! Then he states, "Mommy you make the floor shake". Not the words of inspiration I was hoping for on training day 1.

Getting talked into it - The Kick Off

So I showed up to a Team in Training information session thinking I would just listen to what they had to say. I was sure they would be unorganized, in it for the wrong reasons, wouldn't really care, had beady eyes - you name it, I was sure I could get out of it. The next thing I know I have tears in my eyes as I hear stories of how patient after patient has benefited from the research that Team in Training has provided with all the money raised. I am inspired by all the speakers who have candy and pom poms and pens to sign up with. I hear about the team Captain's husband who could have survived his blood cancer if he had gotten it 7 years later. He was only 50. This is how quickly treatment is changing. I hear about new drugs that are being developed and the thought that this is on the cusp of being a "manageable disease". I think of Lew and maybe I can do something. How far is a marathon after all? They tell stories of every kind of person - tall, short, fat, skinny, runners, non-runners who complete marathons. They assure us that, in fact, they are not fast runners. Hmm. Could I do this? They tell a story of a lady that took 8 hours to complete her marathon but she did it. Then it happens! A lady sitting in front of me says, "I wasn't even in labor for 8 hours!" I immediately perk up and think, "Well SIGN ME UP! I was in labor for 52 hours I can run 6 marathons!!"

Who is Lew?

For those of you who don't know the wonderful Lew Stanford, let me introduce him. He is my dear friend from Bellingham Washington. We flew together. He was my pilot, I was one of his nurses. He flew me around in helicopters. He is funny and smart and really cares about people. We could be in the thick of it (sick patient, bad weather, everything going wrong) and he would say something funny and real. This is different than real funny - you knew things were still going bad but you somehow felt better about it. For my non medical friends who will be reading this there is an incredibly close bond formed when you work 24 hour shifts together. Even closer when you work at the Bellingham base. For so many reasons but especially because the crew quarters were and are the size of a closet.

Lew and Rose got married at my house, we even share an anniversary! When I was commuting to Bellingham from Tacoma, Lew would generously offer up his house so I would have a place a stay in between shifts. He has a way of making you feel at ease. He doesn't know a stranger, everyone is instantly his friend.

Lew was diagnosed with multiple myeloma in March. He has since gone through radiation and is currently going through chemo. Lew is a fighter and if anyone can beat this I know he can!

Signing up for a marathon

Who signs up to run a marathon?! Crazy people. People who are missing a nut, or have something to prove or are bored. I happen to be none of those people, although my husband would argue the "crazy". Whenever I say crazy, he says, "you mean crazier". Whatever. Anyway, I signed up to run a marathon. I did it out of helplessness. You see, my dear friend Lew Stanford was diagnosed with multiple myeloma and there is nothing I can do. I don't even live close enough to send him a meal although he might be relieved about that - just ask Rick Rathbun who I accidentally poisoned on the morning of his check ride with Art - yikes! Anyway, what I learned is that although I cannot take away Lew's cancer, make him feel better during his chemo or even take him a meal, I can raise money so that brilliant people out there can find a cure or make this a manageable disease. Somehow I live in this interesting culture that says people will give you money if you do things that will embarrass, test or requires pain of yourself. I have no doubt that all of those will occur. Nonetheless if people will give money so that a cure will be found then here we go!