Welcome to Gina Tanner's Training Page!

I am training to run the Nike Womens Marathon as a member of Team in Training on behalf of The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS). There are 60+ people on my team and all of us are raising funds to help stop leukemia, lymphoma, Hodgkin lymphoma and myeloma from taking more lives. I am completing this event in honor of all individuals who are battling cancer, and in memory of my Great Grandmother Gearheart and friend Diane.

Please make a donation to support my participation in Team In Training and help advance LLS's mission.

I hope you will visit my web site often. Be sure to check back frequently to see my progress. Thank you for your support!

5/18/08

Official training started yesterday. The team run was 4 miles and I am happy to report that I actually finished! :) I have to admit that I was surprised I could complete 4 consecutive miles, especially since I have never run more than 1 mile before. Today, on the other hand, is a bit less glamorous because I can barely walk! Some people can easily pull off a fabulous stroll; however I am not one of those people. Everyone keeps staring at me with a look of either extreme pity or disgust. If only they saw the 2 huge blisters I have on my feet. HA! Looking forward to training tomorrow. :)

5/22/08

Walking was still difficult on Monday, so not a lot of training was accomplished. Oh well, gotta start somewhere. :) On Tuesday I went to another team run and that went better than expected. My coach (provided by Team in Training) has me doing run/walk intervals to help me maintain energy throughout long distances and eventually increase my running. After experimenting with different intervals I think I found an appropriate starting interval (1 minute running and then 1 minute walking, then repeat until the mileage is complete). So now I will do that interval for about 2 weeks and then try to increase the amount of time running while keeping the 1 minute of walking. Tonight is another team training session, but this time we are doing running drills on the track. Training starts at 6:00 PM and the weatherman says it will be 90 degrees with 45% humidity. I think I am going to have to learn to like sweating!

A special thanks to Kathryn Hendrix for being my first donor (and a very generous one too)!

5/26/08

Last Saturday’s group run was 5 miles. I was hoping to feel some increase in muscle stamina, but did not. :( I talked with my mentor about it and he said that it could take up to a month of training before I see any noticeable improvement. So while training, I will also be working on my patience. I did, however, notice that I was not very sore on Sunday, which was a huge improvement over last week. Benjamin continues to be super supportive of my training and even got up and ran with me this morning and plans on running with me tomorrow as well.

A special thanks to Nick Orr, Matt Tanner and Donna (soon to be Tanner) for being prompt contributors! The sooner I meet my fundraising goal, the more I can focus on training. Thank you :)

6/2/08

Training has been going very well. Saturday’s run was 6 miles and I am very happy that I was able to stick to my interval the whole distance. I even think that I may be starting to feel the beginnings of more energetic muscles! Wouldn’t that be fabulous :) Training will go as normal this week, but on Friday Benjamin and I fly to Phoenix and then go to Flagstaff and Sedona for his brother’s wedding. Since we will be in Flagstaff on Saturday, I will be doing my 7 mile run at 7,000 feet! Fortunately, we have a group for the run (me, Benjamin, his dad, the pug and Benjamin’s other brother) so if I pass out from lack of oxygen, there are plenty of strong guys to carry me back to the house :)

A special thanks to all my contributors this past week: Pat Biggerstaff (looking forward to seeing you in Flag), my G-parents Tom & Kay Carter (hope the trip to Ohio is going well), Craig Lawhorn (my Lawhorn Farmers insurance agent), Janis Paoli (hope all is well in Nor Cal) and Benjamin Tanner (my loudest cheerleader). Last week I received more donations than any other as well as my largest donation. Thank you for your support!!!

6/11/08

Last Saturday, Benjamin and I were in Arizona for his brother’s wedding. Congratulations to Matt & Donna! Before the wedding, Benjamin and I ran 7 miles on a trail by his parent’s house in Flagstaff. I was concerned that the high altitude would be prohibitive to running, but we were able to maintain the normal interval throughout the entire 7 miles :) Since we will be going to Denver this weekend, I am training on my own again this week.

A special thanks to my contributors this past week: Steve Bromberg, Barbara Madigan, Melissa McCormick, Home Improvements & Repairs (Diana & Scott Smith), Joe Repa, Natalie Steadman and Lee & Mike Wise. This week Home Improvements & Repairs (Diana & Scott Smith) broke the record for largest donation and have decided to come to S.F. and watch me run the marathon!

6/26/08

Lately life has been too much traveling and not enough training :( but I have no travel planned for the next 3 weeks, so getting back on track (no pun intended) should be easier. Last Saturday was 9 somewhat brutal miles with lots of heat and some hills. I have discovered that running uphill is quite challenging! In fact, at times it is nearly impossible . . . like at mile 7!

I have received quite a few donations since my last post! The letters seem to be working :) Special thanks to: Ruth Anderson, Mary & Everett Curzon, Judy & Steve Gary, Janis Haeusslein, Tim Hillsamer & Megan Applegate, Suzanne & Jim Hoggard, Eliza & Mark Larson, Bob & Pat Metzger, Roup Dental, and Carole & Ivan Smith. Thank you!!!

7/14/08

This Saturday’s run was 12 miles through downtown Austin and the University of Texas at Austin campus. I finished in about 3 hours and was fairly sore the next day :) Training has been going well. I have started to attend the Wednesday track practice since it is in the morning and much cooler than the Thursday night practice. This weekend Benjamin and I are going to Lake Powell with his family. Swimming will be great cross training.

I continue to receive donations in the mail and through the website! I am now past the half way mark. Special thanks to my contributors these past weeks: Tom & Sherry Birch, Al Branch, John & Cecy Brooks, Lori Metzger, Nancy Foreman, Jason Geis, Jewel Hunt, Carrie Jenkins, Rick Lindley, Chris & Mike Mitchell, Jody & Dennis Tanner, Sherry Tanner and David & Frances Larson.

7/28/08

Benjamin and I had a fantastic time at Lake Powell! Unfortunately, I did not get any training accomplished (nowhere to run and too scary to swim) but it was great to rest, relax, and get a fabulous tan :) Getting back to training was not too hard after 4 days of rest. I did feel like I lost a little bit of cardio ability, but it came back after a couple of days. The big news for this weekend is that I completed a half marathon (14 miles to be precise) on Saturday! I was a little concerned about the distance since I missed the long run the weekend before, but I finished in less than 4 hours and was able to maintain my interval most of the time :)

The good news about fundraising is that I have raised over 58% of the total! I still have over $1,500.00 to raise before the race, so for those of you who have not donated it is not too late!!! Special thanks to Don and Kerri Campbell for donating last week. Hope all is well in Cali. I appreciate your support :)

8/11/08

After the 14 miles two Saturday’s ago I injured my foot :( so after talking to my coach I stopped training for about a week. But now I am happy to report that on Saturday I did 5 miles and Benjamin and I ran this morning (2.5ish miles) and I had no pain at all, so all is well. I have been watching the Olympics and think that becoming more fit myself has given me a new appreciation for athletes. It is amazing to me how fit the participants are and what amazing feats they can accomplish with their bodies. Men’s swimming has been of particular interest to me and I look forward to seeing much more :)

Unfortunately, there is nothing new to report regarding donations. To those of you who have donated, thank you and please feel free to pass along my information to your friends, family and coworkers; you never know who will want to donate. Mark & Eliza Larson told his parents about my undertaking and they sent me a donation too! To those of you who have not donated, it is not too late and I appreciate any help I can get :)

8/18/08

This Saturday’s run was 10 miles and everything went great! My foot did not hurt at all, so I think that I am completely healed :) This week I go back to my massage therapist and I am super looking forward to that, especially since she will be able to work on other areas than just my lower leg and foot. On Saturday, after my run, I tried a cold bath for the first time. My coach has been telling the team about the benefits of an “ice bath” after long runs. Apparently taking an ice bath accelerates recover/healing time after long runs. To take an ice bath you are suppose to fill the tub with cold water, get in and get use to that and then dump in 5 lbs of ice. I have to admit that I chickened out and only did the cold water thing (no ice), but I did feel really good on my run this morning, so maybe it did help recover more quickly. This coming Saturday I am scheduled to run 16 miles. Benjamin and I will be in Ohio visiting my G-Parents so hopefully I will be able to find a place to run there.

Good news on the donation front. Since my last post I received 2 donations. Special thanks to Monica Kim, Jake Walsh and David Kuwaye for their support!

9/3/08

This past Sunday I participated in Nike’s Human Race. It was a 10k (6.2 miles) and the largest race ever organized with over 500,000 runners in 26 cities all over the world, with a total of 3,156,599 miles ran. It was my very first official race and was great practice for marathon day. My official time was 1:35:02 and I placed 211294.

9/15/08

This Saturday’s long run was canceled because of Hurricane Ike. The previous Saturday I did 16 miles. I felt great until my knee started to hurt around mile 12. My coach says that this is the point in training that people start having knee issues, so it is very normal. I purchased a “foam roller” which helps with self-massage so I am hoping that my knee will feel better soon.

I received 1 donation since my last post. Thank you Susan Bell!!!

9/29/08

Training has been difficult lately because I am still having knee trouble. Since the marathon is less than 1 month away, our training has started to “tapper” which means we are lessening the number of miles per week so that muscles can fully recuperate. I am hoping that tapering will help :)

I am still about $1,100.00 short on fund-raising, so a teammate and I are putting together a fund-raiser at a local Mc Donald’s.

10/6/08

Today’s run went much better. I think my knee is finally starting to relax :) And a good thing too . . . only 13 more days until Marathon Day!!!

The fund-raiser at McDonald’s went well. I raised about $150.00 total! A special thank you to the Benton family for hosting the fund-raiser and my teammate Carrie and her husband and my hubby for helping out!!! Also, thank you to Timmy Mitchell, Dominica and Alberto Valencia, Bill Hulsey and Nicole and Martin West for donating this past week! Only about $800.00 left to raise :)