Erin's Team In Training Progress Page

Sep 28, 2010

I can't believe it. Less than $200 to my goal of $1750 to blast blood cancer!! That's only 14 folks giving $15 each. I can take contributions after the race on Sunday, but I can run much easier knowing that I've reached my LLS fundraising goal. If you can help, please contribute today!


Wow... once again I'm blown away by your generosity. Tremendous thanks to:


Elizabeth W., Madison, WI

Mark R., Madison, WI

Pete T., Madison, WI

Cristy DLC, New Brighton, MN (TWICE!! Thank you Cristy!!)

Michael and Patsy N., St. Paul


I can't believe how many wonderful folks I'm privileged to be surrounded by. Thank you very, very much.


RACE DAY - T MINUS FIVE DAYS!!

My race number is F2853. I have a massive case of the jitters - my hip/leg is still giving me trouble and I don't know what that's going to mean on race day. Lots of water, anti-inflammatories, physical therapy work, the stick, quality time with a foam roller and hopefully a little luck will pull me through.


Race day is currently forecast to be 56*, but sunny. Not bad. Let's hope it holds.


There are 44 other Team In Training athletes that will be running the Twin Cities Marathon. Come on out and support my teammates as we run the most beautiful marathon in America!


Given my hip issues, I'm going to assume a 5:30 finish time - about three minutes faster than my last marathon time. If I'm feeling really good, I'll try for the 5:20 finish time. The race starts at 8am, but since I'm slower, my pace group can take up to 10 minutes to pass the starting mat.


SIGN UP TO RECEIVE TEXTS AS I GET CLOSER TO THE FINISH LINE

Also - you can sign up to receive texts when I cross various points on the marathon course. You'll be notified when I pass the start line, 5k (3.2 miles), 10k (6.4 miles), 13.1 miles, 30k (18.64 miles) and an additional spot, as well as the finish line. Sign up here.


WHERE I'LL BE ON RACE DAY

Here's an approximate idea of when I'll be at various miles on the course, give or take a few minutes. If I'm able to run the 5:20 schedule, you'll see me a bit earlier - about 22 seconds every mile. West River Road on the Minneapolis side of the river is especially sparse and spectators are really helpful there!!


1 - 12:35 (12th St/Hennepin Av; 8:22am)

2 - 25:10 (Lyndale/Douglas Av; 8:35am)

3 - 37:45 (Douglas Av and Oliver Av?; 8:47am)

4 - 50:20 (Dean Parkway/Lake of the Isles Pkwy; 8:59am)

5 - 1:02:55 (West Calhoun Pkwy, between 32nd St & 36th St; 9:11am)

6 - 1:15:30 (West Calhoun Pkwy/Sheridan Av S; 9:25am)

7 - 1:28:05 (22nd/East Harriet Blvd; 9:38am)

8 - 1:40:40 (W Minnehaha Pkwy/Humboldt Av S; 9:50am)

9 - 1:53:15 (Minnehaha Pkwy/35W; 10:03am)

10 - 2:05:50 (Minnehaha Pkwy/Chicago Av; 10:15am)

11 - 2:18:25 (Minnehaha Pkwy/Cedar Av; 10:28am)

12 - 2:31:00 (Cedar Av S/E Nokomis Pkwy; 10:41am)

13 - 2:43:35 (E Nokomis Pkwy/52nd St; 10:53am)

14 - 2:56:10 (Minnehaha Pkwy/Nokomis Av; 11:06am)

15 - 3:08:45 (Godfrey Rd/Hwy 55; 11:18am)

16 - 3:21:20 (42nd St/W River Pkwy; 11:30am)

17 - 3:33:55 (West River Rd/36th St; 11:43am)

18 - 3:46:30 (West River Rd/28th St; 11:56am)

19 - 3:59:05 (West River Rd/Franklin Av; 12:09pm)

20 - 4:11:40 (East River Rd/St. Anthony Av; 12:21pm)

21 - 4:24:15 (East River Rd/Marshall St; 12:34pm)

22 - 4:36:50 (Summit Av/Cleveland Av; 12:46pm)

23 - 4:49:25 (Summit Av/Snelling Av; 12:50pm)

24 - 5:02:00 (Summit Av/Oxford; 1:12pm)

25 - 5:14:35 (Summit/Dale, 1:24pm)

26.2 - 5:30:00 (John Ireland Blvd & 12th St/Rice St, 1:40pm)


And, if you want to bust out your purple and green gear - here are the official TNT cheer stations!


Mile 4.5 (8:00 a.m.) - Located in Minneapolis at the northwest corner of LakeCalhoun near the Calhoun Beach Club (corner of Lake St. & Dean Parkway).

Mile 10 (8:40 a.m.) - Located at the intersection of Portland Ave and 50th St.

Mile 17 (9:15 a.m.) - The TNT cheering section will be just prior to the official mile 17 water stop of the marathon. We will set up at about 34th Street and West River Road . Park along Edmund Blvd. It runs parallel to the River Road. You will need to walk down a small hill to get to the River Road. (It is about 4 blocks south of Lake St.)

Mile 22.75 - also mile 6.75 of the TC10 Miler - (9:35 a.m.) - Located at the intersection of Summit Ave. and Snelling Ave. (This is our official Honoree Cheer Station).


A few notes about cheering - first, cheering is AWESOME. You can't know how fantastic it is to be cheered on by hundreds of strangers! If you're planning to be cheering on runners on Sunday, or are a volunteer, you are a ROCKSTAR.


As awesome as cheering is, though, remember one thing:

- Don't say "you're almost there" unless you're at the St. Paul Cathedral. 26.2 miles is a really long way, even if you've already done 13, or 15, or even 20. : )


See you Sunday!!


Sep 27, 2010

Wow. I'm sorry it's been so long since I've blogged. The good news is that my workload has increased quite a bit and involved a great deal more travel this year. I love my new portfolio, but it certainly has reduced my blogging time!


First things first - I have a TON of new donors. Thank you so much!! We are only $394 away from goal!! Big thank yous to:


Duane N., Ortonville, MN

Paul B., St. Paul

Jenny L, Madison

Carole L., Green Valley, AZ

Jane P. and Dave M., St. Paul

Ethan F., Minneapolis

Kecia P., Grand Forks, ND

Penny Ives, Minneapolis

John B., St. Paul


Training is going alright. I've gotten through a very warm summer - much warmer than last year - and missed only one long run the entire season. The midweek runs, though, have been a different story - it's been tough to balance the extreme heat and risk of heat stroke and our training schedule. Last season, a teammate had to drop his race because of heat stroke. A seasoned runner can tolerate heat more easily, but as I am only in my second year of running, I've been playing it safe - spending more time cross training in the pool on days when the heat was unbearable.


Last race, I finished in 5 hours and 33 minutes (5:33) and change. I'm hoping to run the same this time around, and if things go really well, finishing 15 minutes earlier. We'll see.


There are so many things to do! We just received our race jerseys today; I'll need to add my name and my honorees to mine. (This year, I'll be using iron-on letters, not the puffy paint. Last year's jersey looked... grass-rootsy : ) ). And I have my bib number - F2583.


FOLLOW ME ON RACE DAY VIA TEXT MESSAGE

Follow my progress on race day. Every time my race chip crosses a mat along the course, you'll receive a text message. Register here.


RACE INFORMATION

Come on out and support my fellow runners on race day! We'll have 44 athletes besides myself running in the Twin Cities Marathon from the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society's Team In Training program. The race starts at 8am, but it's best to assume that I'll be starting around 8:10am (takes awhile for thousands of runners to get across that start line!)


The race is 26.2 miles between the Minneapolis Metrodome and the Capital in St. Paul.


Spectator guide [pdf]

Course map [pdf]

Starting area map [pdf]

Finish area map [pdf]


More soon!

Aug 03, 2010

Wow - training is going quickly! Only 61 more days until the race in October. And SIX DAYS before August 9. If you haven't already, please consider contributing today. I'm at 47% towards my goal of raising $1750 by August 9 for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society - but I need your help to get across the finish line!


Big thanks to most recent donors - you're great!


Kris & Britta, Moorehead, MN

Stacey K., Minneapolis


As far as a training update - we're getting up there in mileage! Last weekend, we ran 16 miles, much of it along the marathon route along Minnehaha Parkway, Lake Calhoun and Lake Nokomis in Minneapolis. Some exciting news there. I had been having trouble with getting enough electrolytes and fluid in, especially when it was warm (like it has been), without upsetting my stomach. On a friend's and coach's advice, I tried a salt tablet (only for the long runs), and lo and behold, I wasn't nauseated. Not once. Couple that with the fact that my right leg felt good - only hurt at the beginning until mile 1, then after mile 3, then after 6 it felt great - and that's a successful run in my book! We'll be doing 16-17 miles in the next couple of weeks, and jumping up to 18 soon.


Quick marathon training fact: we never actually run 26.2 miles for a training run. The longest we'll run will be around 20 miles.


PT is going well. It seems my right leg, which is apparently weaker than the left, is finally starting to respond to the series of strengthening exercises I've been directed to do.


Finally, a mission moment. Here's a little bit more about the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.

Jul 22, 2010

Whew! What a week it's already been. First things first - we're now 44.7% towards our goal of $1750. I can't believe it - how great is that? Only three weeks and a half weeks left to go. If you'd like to donate, you can do so by clicking the badge on the right-hand side of this page.


BIG THANK YOUS to our most recent donors:

- Alison L, St. Paul

- Dalton & Anna, Ohio

- Brad B., St. Paul


"Mini mission moment", or why I'm running: Leukemia causes more deaths than any other cancer among children and young adults under the age of 20. Every 4 minutes one person is diagnosed with a blood cancer.


Training update

We did hills for our mid-week team run - 8 of them, with each hill being a half mile! That's four miles of hills, two miles just going up. And my midweek runs seem to be going a bit faster... I completed today's 5 mile run at a pace of 10:21, which is so hard to believe. This time last year, I was doing sporadic runs at everywhere from 14 to 10:30 paces - mostly toward the 12-13 minute pace mark.


I can't believe we're doing 15 miles this weekend already! Whoa! Going to try out the salt tablet strategy and see how that goes. Thanks again for all the support and encouragement from everyone. We'll get there yet!

Jul 22, 2010

HOLY COW! In one day, we managed another 10% towards our goal - so far we've raised $732.40. That's almost 42% towards the goal of $1,750 by Monday, August 9. Woohoo!! Pretty awesome. If you haven't already, you can donate - just click on the badge on the right side of the page. Less than four weeks left, and every little bit counts and is very appreciated.


BIG THANKS, my-awesome-colleagues edition:

- Kate E. and Pat S., Minneapolis

- Ruth P., Minneapolis

- Sheila B., Minneapolis

- Bob F., Boyceville, WI.


Training update

Went to the physical therapist this morning recommended by my coach. If you've been following my DailyMile posts (and if you haven't, I can't blame you - interesting to me and maybe four other people), you'll know that my right IT band has been giving me trouble AGAIN. #$#$%!! This was the same injury that jeapordized my participation last year. This year, I have been so careful to stretch after running and dedicate about 30-45 min after each run to core and hip flexor strengthening. So when I started to feel that familiar migrating pain on my right leg again - quad to IT band to glute and back to IT band - I was pretty disappointed and frustrated. After icing, treating with anti-inflammatories and taking it easy for a week didn't work, the next stop was the PT.


Boy, am I glad I did. Talk about a valuable lesson in going to the doctor when the pain doesn't clear up after a week and not waiting longer. Turns out my right side is weaker than my left, something I found odd since I'm right-handed. And since we caught it with about eight weeks left in the training schedule, there's still time to do strengthening exercises to make things workable for the race in October. In other words - not only do I know now what's causing this persistent injury, I can actually do something to to fix it. Hooray!!


Well, we'll be doing 15 miles for the long run this weekend. On Coach Jan's suggestion, I will be experimenting with salt tablets for this long run to see if they help with the cramping I experienced at last year's marathon in mile 21/22ish.


PSA - Walk or run your first marathon, half marathon, triathlon or century ride and be part of a great cause. Join Team In Training!

More generally, this post is a stellar example of the support that Team In Training offers its participants as they work to support the mission of the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. Most folks who are part of TNT are first-time endurance event participants. When I first started Team In Training last year, I hadn't done anything more than a 5k (3.1 miles), and I was hardly alone. This season there are plenty of folks on the team who at this point in the season are running and walking farther than they've ever gone in their lives. It's pretty cool.


Our Minnesota run/walk marathon and half marathon TNT teams have a coaching team. Not just one coach, but three - a head coach, running coach and walking coach. They give you a schedule and you're able to run with the team twice a week. There are informative clinics about various endurance sport issues, like nutrition, injury prevention and gear. TNT has two team shops per season where the weekly long team run is held at a local running store, and afterwards, the store can determine the best shoes for you, and gives a generous day-long discount to team members - 25-30%. Even better, you get a personal mentor to help you with fundraising, not to mention support from the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society staff. It's pretty awesome. And of course you get to be part of making the mission of a great organization possible. Can you ask for more? I can't! If you're interested in learning more, check out Team In Training, and if you're in Minnesota, check out TNT Minnesota.

Make a Donation

We are no longer accepting donations for this event, however you can still make a donation to The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.

Supporter Comments

"Hey Erin, Best of luck with the training. I'm training for the marathon too and I'll hit you up for funds too :) Miranda"
Miranda & Paul Godfread
Sun Jun 13 12:20:50 EDT 2010
"Good luck with your training and your run Erin. I am glad to see so many supporting the eradication of all these cancers. Run strong my friend. Fondly, Linda"
Linda Alonge
Sun Jun 13 09:06:00 EDT 2010
"Here you go again! I'm hoping to follow up with another $26.20 donation in a month or two...since this is your second full marathon! Good luck and safe training!"
Jannette Swanson
Wed Jun 16 02:32:14 EDT 2010
"Go, Erin, GO!!! We'll be there cheering again this year!!!"
Kate Ellis & Pat Smith
Mon Jul 19 01:40:45 EDT 2010
"Good luck Erin!"
Jenny Lynes
Tue Aug 3 12:24:15 EDT 2010
"Go, Erin, Go!"
Liz McMann
Wed Sep 29 03:36:41 EDT 2010
"Go, Erin, Go!"
Liz McMann
Wed Sep 29 03:38:38 EDT 2010
"Way to go, Erin!"
Andrew Hine
Thu Sep 30 06:07:42 EDT 2010

My Fundraising Total

103%
103 %

Make a Donation

We are no longer accepting donations for this event, however you can still make a donation to The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.

In Honor of

Ned Jimmerson and Sam Weis

My Thanks To

Linda S Taylor $100.00
Mark Redsten $100.00
Duane Ninneman $100.00
Michael Noble $60.00
Carin Skoog Anderson... $50.00
Phyllis Nelson $50.00
Jane Prince $50.00
Paul Busch $50.00
Mark Snyder $50.00
Bill Steen $50.00
Susan Solomon $50.00
Elizabeth Wheeler $35.00
Kate Ellis & Pat... $35.00
Peter Taglia $30.00
Michelle Rosier $30.00
Cristy De La Cruz $26.20
Jannette Swanson $26.20
Cristy De La Cruz $26.20
Elizabeth Cader $25.00
Jeni Henrickson $25.00
Daniel Endreson $25.00
Sara Rummel $25.00
Eli Sagor $25.00
Liz McMann $25.00
Liz McMann $25.00
Kecia Peters $25.00
Ethan Fawley $25.00
Carole Lynes $25.00
Jenny Lynes $25.00
Stacey Kawakami $25.00
Alison Lindburg $25.00
Ruth Patton $25.00
Kari Merritt $25.00
Linda Alonge $25.00
Joram Manka $20.00
Julie Jimmerson $20.00
Kris Kerzmann Trygst... $20.00
Carolyn Ruccolo $20.00
Sarah Curry $20.00
Darrell Gerber $20.00
Bob Fitzwilliam $20.00
Sheila Bayle $20.00
Emira Ibrahimpasic $20.00
Andrew Hine $15.00
REBBECCA ALBERG $15.00
Brett Smith $15.00
Brad Baso $15.00
Sarah Koper $10.00
Mary Lukkonen $10.00
Dalton Little $10.00
Margit Myers $10.00
Miranda & Paul G...

Supporter Comments

"Hey Erin, Best of luck with the training. I'm training for the marathon too and I'll hit you up for funds too :) Miranda"
Miranda & Paul Godfread
Sun Jun 13 12:20:50 EDT 2010
"Good luck with your training and your run Erin. I am glad to see so many supporting the eradication of all these cancers. Run strong my friend. Fondly, Linda"
Linda Alonge
Sun Jun 13 09:06:00 EDT 2010
"Here you go again! I'm hoping to follow up with another $26.20 donation in a month or two...since this is your second full marathon! Good luck and safe training!"
Jannette Swanson
Wed Jun 16 02:32:14 EDT 2010
"Go, Erin, GO!!! We'll be there cheering again this year!!!"
Kate Ellis & Pat Smith
Mon Jul 19 01:40:45 EDT 2010
"Good luck Erin!"
Jenny Lynes
Tue Aug 3 12:24:15 EDT 2010
"Go, Erin, Go!"
Liz McMann
Wed Sep 29 03:36:41 EDT 2010
"Go, Erin, Go!"
Liz McMann
Wed Sep 29 03:38:38 EDT 2010
"Way to go, Erin!"
Andrew Hine
Thu Sep 30 06:07:42 EDT 2010