My Fundraising Page

Racing to Save Lives

Welcome to my Team In Training home page.

I'm training to participate in the Nike Women's Marathon on October 19, 2008 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. I am completing this event in honor of all individuals who are battling blood cancers. These people are the real heroes on our team, and we need your support to cross the ultimate finish line - a cure!

Please make a donation to support my participation in Team In Training and help advance LLS's mission. Your donation is 100% tax deductible and 75 percent of the Society's expenditures directly advance our mission.

I hope you will visit my web site often. Be sure to check back frequently to see my progress.

Thanks for your support! Think of me on October 19th as I run 26.2 miles. It will be the furthest distance I have ever ran and I will be drawing upon your support as I battle towards the finish line. OOOOUUUU!!!

~Melissa

Marathon Update:

The Short Story:

As you know I participated, along with 20,000 other people (majority women), in the Nike Women's Marathon last Sunday, October 19th. My goals were to reach my fundraising minimum and complete my marathon with a finishing time of 5:30-5:45. Well I did both, finishing in 5:39!! I'm still surprised and I have to remind myself that it really happened. :) The scary part is that after all was said and done I didn't think it was "that bad". I definitely think I have at least one more marathon in me. I never did hit the proverbial "wall" that you hear about...the point where you don't think you can finish, or the point where you can't take another step...I knew before the race started that I could and would finish.

I want to thank you for all your love and support and for sharing in my journey to complete 26.2 miles.

The Long Story:

The night before the marathon I went to the Team in Training (TNT) Pasta party and it was an amazing experience. When we (Miranda and I) arrived at the Mascone center there were hundreds of TNT members cheering us in. At first I didn't realize what was going on...then I finally realized that they were cheering for me and the other Nike Marathon participants. I got some good video and pics of that welcome. We had a great pasta dinner and heard from some great speakers including Joanie Beniot, the first ever women's Olympic marathon champion in 1984. She is an amazing women and I felt a little start struck when I saw her. I had seen her bio during the 2008 Olympics and couldn't believe she was there!! So motivational!! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joan_Benoit

Back to the marathon prep...I was warned that I would not sleep much the night before the marathon but somehow I thought I would be the exception to that rule. Nope, sure enough I seemed to not get much sleep at all! I didn't feel particularly stressed or worried, I guess I was more excited and was thinking about the course, the weather, the finish line...all that. When the wake up call came at 4:15am I was already wide awake and my eyes were nice and bloodshot. I got ready, ran a quick loop around the hotel, and did some stretching before I met my TNT coaches in the lobby at 5:15am for a pep talk. Then we jumped on a bus to the starting line and arrived nearly an hour before the race start time of 7am. Long porta potty lines and some huddling in the volunteer tent helped occupy our time and kept us warm until we lined up for the race.

My running partner Katie and I joined a faster pace group so that we could have a decent start. I started my GPS watch when my timing chip touched the starting mat and off we went...It was cold but I quickly warmed up. The first 3-5 miles were not too difficult, it was a matter of trying to start off slow, get a proper warm up, and get into a comfortable pace. Then we started into the hills near mile 6 and that was something else!! The first hills were very steep and we just leaned into them and powered up...however after several miles of running up hill and then downhill it started to take its toll. I was breathing hard, my heart was racing, and my right knee started to hurt (IT Band). I had to run the downhills in a zig zag pattern to alleviate some of the stress off my knee. I'm sure I looked funny doing this and I even added another 1/2 mile on to my marathon from doing this (nearly had 27miles on my gps watch at the end). LOL

At the 1/2 way mark I was definitely feeling tired...for some reason I never did find my "zone" this day...rather each step I took was deliberate and did not come easily. Lack of sleep? Was it from running the 1/2 marathon 2 weeks prior? Dunno. Our TNT coaches and captains appeared several times throughout the marathon course and checked in on us. It was great to have them there supporting us and offering words of encouragement and advice on how to nurse my knee to the finish line. Thanks TNT!!!

I did not talk as much as I normally do during my runs as I was focused on the importance of the day and the reason behind why I was running. There were several times between mile 16 and 26.2 that I felt tired, thirsty, and uncomfortable. At these moments and throughout the race I would think about my honorees, Matthew and Devaanshi who are currently fighting their battle with Leukemia. I also thought about Vince, Fester, and Eva who lost their life to cancer and their loved ones who miss them terribly. I know the pain I felt paled in comparison to what cancer treatments entail. I have their names on the back of my jersey and I feel fortunate to have run in their honor.

After I finished rounding Lake Merced and was back on the Great Highway I became very determined. I knew the finish line was less than 3 miles away and nothing was going to stop me from finishing. My knee was really hurting during this time but I tried not to pay much attention to it. I figured I would have a long nice rest after the run so I needed to suck it up and keep moving forward. At this point I had taken 5 Gu's, 2 salt capsules, 2 margarita cubes, 16oz of Cytomax, and several cups of water. I had stuck to my fuel schedule and I knew I would finish strong. At mile 25 my good friend Cindy and her husband Jeff jumped onto the Great Highway and ran with me to the 26th mile marker. Cindy had already run the 1/2 marathon but jumped back on the course to support me during the home stretch!! It was great to have them there with me during that last mile. Thanks Cin & Jeff!! Love ya!!! At mile 26 we separated and I was so close to the finish line I had a perma-grin on my face.

When I was a few feet from the finish line I see the rest of my cheering crowd, Miranda, Amie, Mike, Amber, and Jenny. It was great to see them cheering me on and boy did it feel great to put my foot down on the finishing mat that would log my chip time at 5:39. I then walked over to the nearest Fireman in a tuxedo and graciously accepted my Tiffany's necklace with a smile. I let out a huge sigh of relief and knew that I had did it!!! I was a marathoner!!

I want to thank you for sharing my journey with me over the past 5 months. It's been a fantastic experience and I'm so thankful to all of you for supporting me. What's next for me? Not sure yet...time to set some new goals...stay tuned :)

Hugs,

Melissa

Training Updates:

I started training on June 7, 2008 and have already ran over 150 miles...we train 3 days a week on Tuesday, Thursdays, and Saturdays.

9/27/08: Ran 20 miles at the natural sand bridges in Santa Cruz. Great run, great weather, overall great experience. I wasn't even that sore afterwards. My new superfeet insoles are a lifesaver!! I'm ready now to conquer the 26.2! Bring it on!!

9/6/08: Ran 18 miles on Coyote Creek trail in south San Jose. I saw some wild Turkeys and boy was it Hot, hot, hot!! This was a brutal run and the heat really took its toll on me but I made it to the finish line in about 4 hours....whew. Cramping, nausea...no pain no gain right? :)

8/23/08: Ran 16 miles at Lake Merced in SF. We ran down the great highway , through Golden Gate Park, and then around Lake Merced. It was a beautiful run and I it felt good to get all 16 miles in. I'm definitely feeling the soreness, but the feeling of accomplisment helps me deal w/the limping and tight muscles and joints :)

8/09/08: Ran 12 miles at Portola Valley. This run has TONS of uphills...brutal. Saw a bobcat and got a fantastic work out in!

7/26/08: Today we ran 14 miles at Waddell Creek in Santa Cruz. This was the furthest that I had ever ran. The course was really beautiful and I jumped into the ocean afterwards to cool down my legs. Good stuff!

7/27/08: Ran 6 miles at the Wharf to Wharf race in Santa Cruz. What a blast that was!! I am definitely going to do that race again next year.

Over the next couple of months the distances on our long runs will increase. I have a 16, 18, and two 20 mile runs scheduled before the big day and lots of shorter distances in between. Wish me luck!!