Lindsey's TNT Fundraising Page

Going the Distance to Make a Difference!

Hi! This page details my journey training to participate in my first full marathon in Chicago as a member of The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society's Team In Training. While putting in the miles to make sure I'm ready to run 26.2 miles on Sunday, October 11, I'm also raising money along with the rest of the Team In Training group to support LLS and help stop leukemia, lymphoma, Hodgkin lymphoma and myeloma from taking more lives. I'm doing it all in honor of the many important people in my life who have been affected by cancer, including my father, my sister, my Grandma Bickers, and my Mamaw Gettelfinger, who passed away of lung cancer this January.

Please make a donation to support my participation in Team In Training and help advance the Society's mission. Also, let me know if you would like to donate in honor or in memory of a friend or family member.

With love,

Lindsey

* - * - * - * - *

I'm training in honor of:

* My dad, Rex Bickers *

* My sister, Whitney Bickers *

* Sarah Kagarise, Brianne's grandmother *

* Linda Duda, my colleague *

* Cheri Davis, Mark's godmother *

* Dr. Susan Kahn * Jack and Kathy Starback *

* Paul Ziarnowski *

I'm training in memory of:

* My grandmother, Gerry Gettelfinger *

* My grandmother, Dorothy Bickers *

* Marcia Goldstein, Louise's sister *

* Mark Dudman, Linda's husband *

* Dr. Mark Egelman, Glenn's uncle *

* Dorothy Puro * James Fitzgerald * Anthony Ziarnowski *

* Bruce Capers *

* - * - * - * - *

Check out my training progress!

Saturday, June 6

Our first TNT group run! 2.8 miles, starting at North Cary Park. It was great to get out and meet my mentees, many of whom are doing their first endurance races! A great start.

Tuesday, June 9

I got myself two new pairs of running shoes at Bull City Running. I'm planning to alternate wearing them so I can get as many miles as possible out of both pairs. With good care, I shouldn't have to buy any more running shoes before Chicago.

My new pair of Saucony ProGrid Paramount

My new pair of Mizuno Wave Rider 12

Thursday, June 11

Sadly, my Team in Training mentor from when I ran in San Francisco in 2007, Kathleen, lost her dear friend Steve in his battle against lymphoma this morning. The funeral will be on Sunday, but even in her sorrow, Kathleen said "one battle lost, but not the war." It's such an important reminder of why we're out there running these miles and raising dollars to support the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. So, this weekend we'll be running for Steve, and Kathleen, and all the others affected by this battle, remembering that we've still got a war to win.

Saturday, June 13

Today, we hit the hills on the Al Buehler trail around the Washington Duke Golf Course. Even though it wasn't a long run, the summer heat and humidity, combined with the ups and downs, made for one heck of a run. It's great for everyone training to run in San Francisco and Raleigh, but for me the hills are just a little extra challenge, since the Chicago course is flat. :-) But, it was really nice to get out with Kathleen and run in memory of Steve.

Thursday, June 18

This morning, I organized my first mid-week run with my mentees. We just made a short loop on the American Tobacco Trail, starting at mile 5.5 and running to the end at Highway 54 and then coming back. But it was great to have some company for the shorter mid-week miles and also to get out early to beat the heat. Later this week, it's supposed to hit triple digits! Definitely not my favorite thing for running.

Saturday, June 20

Today Dan and I headed off on a weeklong vacation to New England. However, I got my long run for the week in with the Team before heading out of town. We started on the Bolin Creek Trail in Chapel Hill Then we ventured through some trail running on the Battle Branch Trail. It was a little tricky, running over roots and traversing up stairs for some of the steeper parts, but it was definitely a good workout. At the end, we got to finish with a nice downhill along Hillsborough Street, before finishing at Foster's Market.

The weather was horribly hot and humid - it was already in the 80s by the time we were finishing around 8 AM - so it was nice to be able to cool down and rehydrate at Foster's. They even gave us a 10% discount for coming in as a team! Then it was quickly off to shower before heading to RDU. I'm grateful that my next run will be in the cooler temps in Cambridge. :-)

Wednesday, June 24

Dan and I are enjoying a little vacation up north before he begins classes at NC State next week. Unfortunately, we can't seem to win with the weather. After the steaming hot temps in NC, it's now quite cold and rainy in Massachussetts. Apparently, there hasn't been a June as cloudy and wet since 1903! On Tuesday, I managed to get Dan out for a 3 mile run along the Charles River, and we avoided the rain. But this morning, I wasn't so lucky. However, it's nice to enjoy some new routes while out of town.

Tomorrow, we are driving up to Vermont, where we'll see our friends, Joan & Chris and Kristin & Adam, before meeting up with Kelsey and heading to Montreal.

Sunday, June 28

It was a busy couple of days, but Vermont and Canada were great! We had lots of fun visiting with friends, hiking, eating Ben & Jerry's ice cream, checking out the sites in Montreal, and finding some good eats with Kelsey. Now, that we're back in Cambridge, I know my in-laws are ready for some sun and a little summer weather, but I greatly enjoyed being able to get up early to do my five mile run in the cool temperatures, with a light drizzle. The high when we return to NC later today is around 95, so I definitely didn't want to save my long run for that - I'll have enough of that the rest of the summer!

Saturday, July 4

For the holiday weekend, Dan and I made a trip to Washington DC to visit with his cousins - Adam, Beth and Sam, and Sam's girlfriend, Meghan. We had a lovely time with them, enjoying a Nationals game at the new stadium, and then watched fireworks out on the Mall. However, you would think that after 3 years of running and traveling, I would have learned:

1) To check the elevation of any new route you map out in an unknown area. Without thinking to do this, I managed to run myself up a mile long hill...twice!

2) Not to get overconfident and decide not to bring water just because it's supposed to be a low humidity day. Low humidity is a relative term when it's July in the south.

3) To remember when your cousin mentions that there's a Krispy Kreme close to her house and check out where it is so that you don't run past there with 0.75 miles of your long run left and no money. It's bad enough to be really hungry at the end of your run; it's worse to learn that everyone's decided to walk back (up the hill) to the Krispy Kreme as soon as you return back from your long run.

Doh!

July 11, 2009

Feeling awesome about training today. The weather was cool and we ran a nice 7.5 mile route, mostly shaded through Duke Forest, and I finished almost exactly on the pace I was aiming for, despite a number of hills along the way.

Also, it was nice that today was a Friends & Family training day, so Dan came out for the first leg of the course, and then met me back at Duke at the end of the run. Having company is always fun. Next week, I'll be in Indiana for a cousin's wedding, so I'll have to see if I can convince some other folks to run along with me.

July 18, 2009

Dan and I made a quick weekend trip to Indiana for my cousin, Alex's wedding. Luckily, the weather here is abnormally cool, so this morning was perfect for a long run. I took on some hills, running along Old Hill Road, Old Vincennes Road and Slate Road, in Floyds Knobs, and was rewarded with some beautiful views. Unfortunately, Google maps doesn't seem to know all the road names out that way so well, so I couldn't find my turnaround point, and I think I ran a little extra than my planned 8 miles, but it was a good strong run, so I can't complain too much. And when I got home, there was fresh banana bread and sliced peaches from Huber's to refuel with. Yum!

July 19, 2009

This morning I got in a nice quick recovery run with my cousin, Elizabeth. She's 12 and getting ready for some good runs with her school's cross country team this fall, so we did a nice 2 mile loop around her neighborhood with her mom. Again, the weather was great, and it was fun to chat with Elizabeth about her team, even if she did cream me on the final (uphill) sprint back to her driveway!

July 25, 2009

Today was our first double digit run! We did 10 miles with the Raleigh group, starting in North Cary Park and heading into Umstead Park. Of course, this means more hills for this girl, who's training for the super flat course in Chicago, but I guess what doesn't kill you makes you stronger! And although it was hot, I kept right on my intended pace, doing intervals of 9 minutes of running alternating with 1 minute of walking in between. And by doing the intervals, I got to catch up with several different teammates as I leapfrogged along the course.

After our run concluded, we had our Mission Day, enjoying some breakfast as folks talked with us about the services that the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society provides and why the money we're raising is so important. So today was a great day to kick off the more serious part of training!

August 1, 2009

Today was just one of those runs. I started the morning driving the 6 miles from my house to the Durham Bulls Athletic Park . Then after meeting the group, I ran those same 6 miles along the American Tobacco Trail to just past Woocroft Parkway and then ran right back downtown. It was two miles further than any of our previous training runs in super humid air. Whew! But ultimately, 12 miles is 12 miles, and the point is that I got them done.

August 8, 2009

This week I enjoyed the double pleasure of a drop back week and a lovely, shade trail to run on. After 9 weeks of building mileage in our long Saturday runs, today I got a little break and got back to 10 miles. (You know you're deep into marathon training when running *just* 10 miles is a break!) Also, we explored beyond Durham County and ran on the southern leg of the American Tobacco Trail down in Apex. It's a bit of a drive, especially since we're heading out early in the morning for our run - to beat the heat, but it was worth it. The trail is well-maintained packed dirt and tree lined. The shade definitely helped it feel a little cooler, and as usual, I enjoyed exploring a new place. It was a good refresher run after last week's difficulty and a good break before things get really serious. Next Saturday, I'm back up to 12 miles, and then after that, everything is brand new...starting with 14 miles and through 20 before the big day!

August 15, 2009

Today we did some serious hill training. We hit the 4 mile Korstian loop in Duke Forest three times! The loop has two major hills, so each time around got tougher and tougher. For folks on my team preparing for San Francisco and the City of Oaks marathons, this was great training for their hilly courses. Of course, Chicago is a flat course, so this training was just killer. Training on those hills definitely makes you stronger though, when I'm running in Chicago I'll be glad to have done the hills!

August 22, 2009

Today, we ran the North Durham Greenway, which took us from the old Durham Athletic Park, past Northgate Park, the Museum of Life & Science (and the Brontosaurus which has now had it's head replaced after being vandalized earlier in the year), Whipporwhill Park, and out to Horton Road. Whew! This marathon training thing is getting serious. This morning's run totaled 14 miles in hot, humid weather. We got started at 6:30 AM, but it was already up to 79 degrees! I'm not sure why I thought it was a good idea to train to run 26.2 miles in the middle of summer in North Carolina! But with any luck, I'll make it through all this training and then Chicago will be nice and cool on October 11, and I'll be ready to rock the flat course!

August 29, 2009

Today was a major milestone. This morning I ran 16 miles - further than I've ever run before in my life! My legs are definitely feeling it, but the marathon is starting to feel much more real now. Next week, we'll drop back to 12 miles, and then we'll have two more (super) long runs before the big day. Luckily, the temperature is supposed to drop way down this week, so I should get in some refreshing runs before we get to the biggest training runs. :-)

September 5, 2009

Hooray! This morning was a lovely run - only 12 miles and great, cool weather. I know, I know...since when did 12 miles become a short run? It's a little crazy, but compared with 16 or 18 miles, 12 is a nice. This is reminding me that a half marathon is a much more reasonable race, but for now, I'll take the break before we get closer to Chicago.

September 12, 2009

We're under 1 month to go! Very exciting!

This weekend, I'll be working at Duke on Saturday and Sunday, training new peer health educators. Because of that, I just did a five mile run this morning, and then I'll do my long run on Monday, with my TNT running buddy Kalina. She's camping out for Duke basketball tickets this weekend, so she's also glad to have some company for her make-up run. Hopefully a couple extra days between long runs will allow my legs to be good and rested before we take on 18 miles on Monday. I definitely felt good this morning, and I'm continuing to love the cooler weather, so hopefully it'll be an awesome adventure on Monday morning.

September 14, 2009

Today I rocked it. I just finished 18 miles, and I'm feeling fantastic - like I could conquer the world. It was a total confidence booster. I definitely owe a major thanks to Kalina and her friend, Tim, who were superstars along with me on the trail. Here's where we went - all around Durham! Now, I've got one 20 mile run left, and we'll taper down from there. Very exciting!!! :-)

September 26, 2009

After an awesome 20 mile run, I am officially ready for Chicago. I was mentally ready for it to rain the whole time, after looking at the Weather Channel's hour-by-hour forecast, but it ended up dry the entire time. Kalina and I ran all the way from North Cary Park, through Umstead, to the NC Art Museum and back! At the end, we even felt good enough to sprint it out at the end! Now, it's time to taper. SUPER exciting!

October 9, 2009

1 week to go! This morning, I had a nice taper run on the American Tobacco Trail down in Apex. It's hard to believe that I thought of this as a "short" 8 mile run. I specifically remember the first time I ran 8 miles and how terribly long I thought it was. Now, it seems like a drop on the bucket. I guess that means I'm ready! Chicago, here I come!