Racing to Save Lives

Welcome to my Team In Training home page!

I just embarked on an exciting journey - I'm training to complete the Rock'n Roll Marathon in San Diego on May 31, 2009, as a member of The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society's (LLS) Team In Training. All of us on Team In Training are raising funds to help stop leukemia, lymphoma, Hodgkin lymphoma and myeloma from taking more lives. We need your support to cross the ultimate finish line - a cure!

I am running the marathon in memory of my dad Hans Thier, who lost his battle with cancer in August 2007. With running 26.2 miles, I will honor and celebrate my dad's life while being able to make a difference - I am determined to do my part in eradicating this disease so that one day families no longer have to go through what my family had to go through when losing my dad.

Please make a donation to support my participation and to further LLS's mission. Feel free to pass this message along to friends and family.

If you'd prefer to send a check, please make it payable to the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society and mail it to:

Sabine Thier

21601 Erwin Street, Apt. 392

Woodland Hills, CA 91367

Thank you! I truly appreciate your support!

Sabine

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

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Update

March 22, 2009

If you don't climb the mountain, you can't view the plain. - Anonymous

I was very excited about our field trip to the Santa Monica Mountains for this week's 8-mile practice run. I love being outdoors and trail running in the mountains makes for a nice change from my usual running locations at work in Calabasas or close to my house at Balboa Park.

This week we met a little earlier - 7:30 a.m. - and we gathered in the mountains off Sunset Blvd. The scenery up there was absolutely beautiful! The run went along the fire roads and the view was breathtaking. We were surrounded by complete nature and we felt we were running in the middle of nowhere. Only little glimpses of downtown Santa Monica with the ocean to our left or downtown Los Angeles to our right reminded us of the fact that we were indeed still smack in the middle of a huge city.

Unfortunately, the scenery was the only nice thing about this run. The weather was terrible! When I left my house in Sherman Oaks, the sky was blue and the weather situation looked promising, but as soon as I went over the hill it started to become very cloudy and rainy. It was very cold in the mountains and the storm that was going on made us freeze even more. I was glad I brought a jacket but it did not provide too much protection from the wind. I don't mind running in the rain too much, but the low temperatures and the cold wind really got to me. All I could think of during the second half of the run was the hot bath that I would take as soon as I got home.

The second unfortunate thing was that my run took longer than necessary because I was forced to walk most of it. Yep, my knees did not agree with the weather either and went on strike shortly after the first two miles of pretty steep incline. I certainly learned one lesson from this practice - trail running is not for me. The majority of the surfaces we ran on were slanted and people having trouble with the IT band need to avoid running on slanted surfaces as it aggravates the knee pain.

As much as I liked the scenery, I was glad when I finally reached our meeting spot and could hop in my car and race home towards my much-needed hot bath and some hot tea for breakfast.

Next week I won't be at practice as I have something pretty exciting on my schedule - the Pacific Half Marathon at the Great Race of Agoura on Saturday! It has been a few weeks since my last race and I am very excited to put on a bib number and timing chip again and I am looking forward to hopefully beat the time of my last half marathon!

March 14, 2009

The person who gets the farthest is generally the one who is willing to do and dare. The sure-thing boat never gets far from shore. - Dale Carnegie

Today we dared and ventured out for our longest run so far - we made it into the double digits by running ten miles!

We met at our usual spot and time - 8 a.m. in Santa Monica - and started out with a nutrition clinic from our assistant coach Craig. We were very delighted to hear that we burn roughly 800 calories when running for one hour - food here I come! It looks like in the next two months I can indulge in a lot of guilt-free eating knowing that I have to eat a lot to sustain my energy and fitness. That is definitely a nice side effect of all this sweating on the sidewalk.

After our nutrition clinic we were on our way to complete our first double digit run. There was an excited vibe among the group as this was about to be the longest run for a lot of my team members. We started out at the pier and ran up north and then turned right onto San Vicente and ran up to 24th Street where we were able to take a quick break at the water stop. We then turned around and ran all the way back to Ocean Street and then back up San Vicente to 20th Street, which was our last turning point and from there we ran all the way back to our meeting spot.

On San Vicente we run on the green strip between the lanes and this terrain is pretty tough on my legs as the ground is uneven and there are a lot of tree roots that you have jump over or avoid altogether. For most of the run I did well - I felt energetic and could easily keep up the pace with everybody. However, the last two miles were pretty tough as my legs started to get really tired from balancing on the uneven ground and my knees began to signal that they had it for the day, i.e. knee pain.

I made it all the way to our meeting spot, but I was glad when I could finally sit down and rest and stretch those tired legs. But despite the aches and pains, it felt great to have completed a 10-mile run - my second longest run ever.

For the next two weeks we are in recovery mode - in the past six weeks we have continually built up mileage, muscles, and cardio and now it is time to give our bodies some rest by tapering down a little. We still have our mid-week runs on the schedule, but next Sunday we "just" go for an eight-mile run in the Santa Monica Mountains. I am excited about this change of scenery and am looking forward to some trail running in the woods!

March 1, 2009

The first requisite of success is the ability to apply your physical and mental energies to one problem without growing weary. - Thomas Edison

This was a good week that included an experiment and a revelation - I figured out the source of my knee pain. In November 2008, I started training for the Surf City Half Marathon in February 2009. Mid-December I decided to get new running shoes to help prevent any injuries. I went to the running store and left it with a pair of super-comfortable running shoes. I was excited! However, with the use of my new shoes started the knee pain. I always had it in the back of my head that the shoes might cause the pain, but I figured since the guys at the running store fitted me with the shoes, that the increase in mileage was a more likely reason for my knee pain.

So this past week I decided to think outside the box and started an experiment - I dug out my old running shoes and wore them for all of my runs for the week and guess what, I had no knee pain at all! The ultimate test was our 7-mile training run on Sunday and I was able to complete the whole run without any pain! It was a great run - the weather was gorgeous with bright sunshine and warm temperatures. For this run we took the route up north along the strand and then up and down San Vicente. Due to the nice weather there were lots of people out and about that early in the morning and we heard a lot of Go Team cheers from numerous runners, convertible drivers, and bikers passing us by.

After the run I was extremely hungry and I was more than happy to join the rest of the team for a hearty breakfast at Coogies. After breakfast, I went on my next mission - getting new shoes at the running store. I explained my knee and shoe situation and detailed the whole development, which left the store associates a little clueless because they confirmed that the shoes they had sold me were a good fit for my feet and running style. After some brainstorming and experimenting with a range of other suitable shoes, I picked a pair that was most comparable to my old running shoes and I am eager to try them out on my mid-week runs next week.

I hope that I can now close the chapter of this annoying running injury because next week we are doing an 8-mile run down in Marina del Rey - the mentors had told me that it is a beautiful run and I really want to fully enjoy this run without having to worry about my knee.

February 22, 2009

A desire can overcome all objections and obstacles. - Gunderson

This quote pretty much sums up my current situation in overcoming my knee problems. I am getting really hyped up about the marathon - I can't wait to get ready and tackle the race on the big day in May. However, my IT band and my knee appear as a little obstacle on my path and I am determined to not let this obstacle get in my way of successfully completing the marathon.

The remainder of my flu and my hurting knees forced me to take it easy for yet another week. I wanted to make sure to get the inflammation out of my knees before getting back to running. I was frequently icing and stretching at work and Advil was my constant companion this past week.

I took off running Monday and Tuesday and rested my body. On Wednesday I drove down to Howard Hughes Parkway to attend the Team's Strengthening & Conditioning session at Spectrum gym taught by our coaches. This gym work out focuses on injury prevention and trains our core, hip and butt muscles - muscles that runners need to work which will help them to develop a good running style and to stay injury-free.

The gym work out with the Team was great and left me sore for a couple of days. On Thursday I was finally able to get out again for my mid-week thirty-minute run. I ran after work with a few runners from work, one of which is my wonderful Team in Training teammate Lori. The run felt real good - my knees cooperated and only felt slightly tender toward the end of our three-mile loop.

For today's running practice, our coaches had scheduled a five-mile run along the strand all the way down to Washington Blvd. in Venice and back to Santa Monica. Just like last week we were broken up into pace groups and we ran the distance in five-minute run and one-minute walk intervals.

The run was great! Running though Venice is very entertaining, to say the least. Despite the early hour, a variety of ...ummm...interesting and slightly crazy people line the strand setting up their stands, burning incense, playing music, and socializing with each other. Needless to say, with this kind of entertainment and the nice company of my teammates, the run went by very fast. Before I knew, we reached the halfway point where we took a quick water break and then we headed back to our meeting spot.

Luckily, for the most part of the run my knee held up. It was only during the last mile that I felt some tenderness and slight pain. I guess I will have to keep my treatment a priority and keep on stretching, strengthening, icing, massaging with a foam roller and resisting the urge to go beyond the distance of my training schedule to overcome this stubborn running injury. I need to be ready for the seven miles we are scheduled to run next Sunday!

On another note - after the run, the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society held a bone marrow drive, which allowed us to get registered as potential bone marrow donors. It just took filling out a form and a quick swab with a q-tip and we were registered. It felt good passing on my information to become able to help save a life should I be a match with somebody in need of a bone marrow transplant. You should get registered too!

February 15, 2009

Accept challenges, so that you may feel the exhilaration of victory. - George S. Patton

This was a tough week. After the great start to the season last Sunday, I was eager to follow my daily training schedule provided by our coaches. This schedule requires us to do three midweek runs, 30 minutes on Tuesday, Wednesday and Saturday, and one strengthening and conditioning session on Wednesday evening at the gym.

But things turned out a little differently this week - a flu virus got a hold of me and put me out of commission from Tuesday until Friday. Working out was not an option - I have not felt this sick in years.

In addition to my training schedule, I also had a 10K race lined up on Saturday, to which I had been looking forward for a very long time. A whole group from my work had signed up and I did not want to miss out on the fun of running with my co-workers.

Luckily, after days of impatient resting and recovering, I was feeling good enough to participate in the 10K race. It was a good race and I felt strong enough to set a new personal 10K record. But unfortunately the race caused another problem - it made my IT band syndrome flare up again.

IT band syndrome is a very common injury of runners. The IT band is a long and thick tendon that runs on the outside of the thigh starting at the hip and ending at the knee. When the IT band, like in my case, is short and a little tight, then it causes pain at the outside of the knee. This injury has plagued me for the past six weeks despite a very strict treatment plan consisting of icing, regular consumption of Advil, rest, endless stretching, and extremely painful massages with a foam roller.

So this morning I drove to practice with gimpy knees and a slight fear in the back of my head that my 4-mile practice run today could turn out pretty painful. For this practice we were for the first time divided into pace groups based on last week's times. Since I had a good run the week before I was put in the fastest group, but I opted to go with a slower group because of my gimpy knees.

Unfortunately my premonition became true - after two miles I had to switch to the slowest pace group and I eventually ended up walking the last half a mile because my knees were so painful. I was very upset as I had hoped that my diligent treatment would slowly show some success.

I guess I will once again take it easy this week - instead of running I will walk for 30 minutes or use the elliptical trainer. And Advil, my ice pack and my foam roller will be my best friends. And I am planning a trip to the running store to double check that my shoes are right for my type of foot. Cross your fingers that things will look better at next Sunday's practice!

February 8, 2009

The journey of a thousand miles begins with one step. - Lao Tzu

Well, in my case it is a journey of 26.2 miles and I made my first step towards this goal today with my first Team in Training practice in Santa Monica.

After attending a few informational meetings and learning a lot about this amazing program, I was eager to hit the road (or in this case, hit the strand) and get started with the training for the big day.

Running a marathon has been on my "life to-do-list" for a very long time and after my father passed away, it was clear for me that I would combine this life-long goal with raising funds for cancer research.

Full of anticipation this morning, I was amazed to find myself in the company of about 80 like-minded people gathered at 7:30 a.m. close to the beach in Santa Monica. At 8:00 a.m. the coaches took the stage and provided us with more useful information about the running program and then guided us down to the beach for our first practice run. After some stretching we were finally on our way - 3 miles in 4-minute-run-1-minute-walk intervals. I finished the run in 28:54.

What a great way to start the day by running at the beautiful beach in Santa Monica - even the weather showed mercy as the much expected rain did not fall and instead we ran in bright sunshine. After the run we got back to our meeting spot and were delighted to find lots of bagels and juice waiting for us for a delicious post-run breakfast.

Today was a great start to my journey of crossing the finish line in San Diego on May 31 and I cannot wait for my 4-mile practice run next Sunday morning!