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Running with the Bulls

In Memory of Jim Wood

I never knew Jim. He and my dad became close during their time in New Orleans immediately after Hurricane Katrina when they worked for Texas DMAT-1. Jim was a returned Peace Corps volunteer, like both my parents. He was a husband, and father to two young daughters. He and his wife had just bought a beautiful tract of land on which they planned to build their dream home when he was diagnosed with Burkitts Lymphoma. In reading his emails, I understand why my parents held him in such high regard. This was a man who was more concerned about a sick colleague and how his absence affected the team, than he was about anything going on with his medical treatment. Throughout the intense treatment he underwent, his sense of humor remained strong. Jim died at home on June 21, 2009 - within a year of his diagnosis. So I run for Jim - and his wife and daughters - in the hopes that our fundraising can help research that will lead to a cure so other families can be saved from losing fathers and husbands.

In Honor of Janet Hitz

Mac and Janet have been friends of my parents for years. I have memories of them from my earliest childhood. Imagine my surprise when Janet responded to my request for a donation with the revelation that she had been diagnosed with non-Hodgkins Lymphoma in 1997. Of course, my mom had told me when Janet shared her diagnosis so many years ago. And I have no excuse for not remembering except that, like most of us, I was too wrapped up in my own silly world to remember. I thought I started this process without a personal connection to LLS. As I go along, I'm learning that the only reason I thought that was because I hadn't opened my eyes to see. When I asked Janet if I could honor her on my page she wrote me back with this: I encourage you and your team mates and know your generosity of spirit and cause are very appreciated - from those of us who are still kicking and those who have gone before us. Each rung in the ladder gets us closer to having cancers of all kind less of death sentances and more hopeful lives. So I run for this beautiful, strong woman. And I hope that my efforts will help her to live a long, healthy life.

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I am training to run a half marathon in San Francisco this coming October. Yes, me. The klutz who is lucky to get through a day without tripping on her own feet! But getting in shape and helping a great cause is good motivation. The only better motivation would be a pack of wild bulls behind me.

I've chosen to become 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 would love to honor your family member or friend specifically, so please share their names when you donate.

My dad ran marathons for many years. He also organized them for various groups. So I would think I'd have a leg up - knowing what to expect from the whole marathon experience. Instead, I like to say, I'm a well-informed paniced. Fun is definitely not in my top ten reasons to be doing this. But anyone who knows me knows I have a stubborn streak a mile wide. So I will complete the entire 13.1 miles. I will follow the training program and be as ready as possible when I get to San Francisco.

Here's where you come in. I can train every day between now and October 18th, but without your help I won't even make it on the plane. I need to raise $5,000 before October 1. If you're here because you got a letter or email from me it means we have some connection. We work together, or went to school together or are connected through family or community organizations. Regardless, you are someone I know cares about the world around you.

Please make a donation to support my participation in Team In Training and help advance LLS's mission. Those big donations are great, but everything helps! So please give whatever you can.

Come back and check in on me. If I know I'm being watched, even by the invisible Intarweb masses, then I'll stay on track. I'll try to update here on my progress. Thanks for your support!

My first deadline is August 12 - when I need to have raised half my goal amount. Please help me get there! We got there!!! Now on to the finish line!

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Training Log

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May 22 I need some music people! Send me your favorite songs to work out to. My only requirement is that it be high energy with words I can sing along to (even if it's only in my head!) Send me an email to shanti dot day at gmail dot com with your suggestions!

June 4 This weekend was Kick Off and these TNT people really know how to throw a party! It was great to meet all the other wonderful people going on this journey with me. I also got to hear from our Honored Teammate - Angela McCoy. This lady is quite inspiring. She has beat cancer - TWICE - and already done a triathalon. Plus she's running the Anchorage marathon with her husband for their 11th Anniversary. Her story makes me feel really bad when I want to skip a day of training because I'm a little tired and it's 90 degrees outside. I did buy a new pair of Nike's and though I scoffed at the impact they could have, it really has made the training a lot easier.

June 14 We did our first "official" training. I was a little overwhelmed when our little group of 15-20 suddenly turned into over 100, but the energy was pretty great! We ran at the San Antonio Zoo and I kept finding myself distracted by all the cool birds waking up with the morning, but I managed. The big news of the weekend is - I RAN! I actually lifted my little feeties and jogged for probably a block and a half total. It wasn't awful and I didn't die. And so far, my knees aren't punishing me, so I guess there is more actual running in my future. I'm going on this little adventure with my friend Maribel. She insisted we take "before" pictures after our run Saturday morning, so I've posted it here. That's me on the left up there. Just a bit more motivation for us!

June 22 Another week of training survived! I've started doing what they call "interval training". Saturday that meant I was supposed to walked for 5 minutes and ran for 1 minute. What it really meant was that I walked for 5 minutes and ran for as long as I could - which was anywhere from 30-45 seconds. This week I'm going to try a training class one of the coaches does called Plyometrics. Everyone I've talked to says it is very effective but totally kicks your butt.

June 23 It's time for a bit of mea culpa. I tried Plyometrics yesterday and it destroyed me. I couldn't even finish the workout! I think it was a combination of heat and a really intense program, but I only got about halfway through before I had to give up and go home. I felt so very lame, but I will be back next week (actually, in two weeks, since I'll be out of town next Tuesday) to conquer Plyometrics. I will note that, even having only done half the circuit, my thighs and butt are still complaining mightily, and I'm very glad that tonight's workout is swimming.

July 5 I skipped a week here because last week's run was really hard. We only did 3 miles, but it was 10 times harder than the three miles I had done the week before. My knees hurt, my shins hurt, and forget running. I walked most of they way. Very slowly. The next day I woke up to a giant bruise and lump on my right shin where I had kicked the picnic bench. I barely noticed when I kicked it - I tend to injure myself a lot so I don't pay much attention anymore. But apparently the swelling had already started, and I think that's what caused all the pain. Anyway, I got back on the proverbial horse yesterday. We had our last practice at the Zoo, and I did the marathon distance - 5 miles. What they didn't tell us as we started was that this route was FULL of hills. Big, steep, painful hills. Thank goodness for my coach, Marissa. She stuck with me from the water stop at about 2 miles all the way back. I kept with my intervals (1 minute run: 5 minute walk) except on the hills. Today, my knees and left ankle are super sore but it's a good sore. It's a - you've worked hard and now we have to recover - sore. I am, however, calling my doc on Monday just in case. I'd like to check with him and make sure I'm not doing any real damage to my knees and ankles and find out what I can do to prevent injury as I go through this.

July 14 Ok, it's been a week and I have done almost Nothing! But I've had a good excuse. Last Sunday I wasn't able to bend or straighten my left leg without entirely too much pain, so Monday I went to the doc. He poked and prodded and diagnosed pens anserinus bursitis - Runner's Knee. Guess that makes me a real runner! He said no running, no walking for long distances, absolutely nothing that would be high impact for at least a week. Imagine the shock I felt as I kept pushing to find out how soon I could go back to running. I tried Plyometrics last Tuesday (success!!!!) and my knees were so sore on Wednesday that I took the doc's advice. No run for me on Saturday. I've also been doing all the stretches he showed me 3-4 times a day. Today it's back to Plyometrics and tomorrow I'm going to try a short run with the Wednesday practice. This coming weekend is the garage sale and then 8 miles on Sunday, so I need to get my butt in gear so I don't kill myself.

July 20 Last week I made it to Plyometrics on Tuesday and the run on Wednesday. Then I spent all day Saturday at the garage sale. Sunday morning it took every ounce of motivation I could muster to get out of bed but I did it! Almost as soon as I started running, my shins started hurting badly so I did 4 miles instead of 8. The good news? I managed an average of a 16:00 mile, which is a full 3:00 per mile faster than I started. And a generous icing of my shins after I got home took care of the shin pain.

July 27 Well I've given up on "training for the marathon" instead of training for the half. From here on out I'll stick with the distances our coaches put for our half-marathon training. Saturday that meant 5 miles. It should have been easy, but I thought it would be a good idea to change things up a bit. I switched from 1:5 intervals (run 1 minute, walk 5 minutes) to 1:4 intervals. Who knew one minute would make such a huge difference? My shins and all my joints are fine. But my muscles HURT. Right above my butt, my calves, even my core were not happy with me most of Sunday. Then, this bright girl decides that today is a good day to wear her 3" (but VERY fashionable) heels. I swear, I'm usually a very smart person!

Since our runs are now going over an hour, I spent some time at Roger Soler's buying up a bunch of their energy chews. I've heard lots of horror stories about "goo" and I couldn't eat a whole energy bar out there if my life depended on it. The chews mostly have the consistency of gummy bears, and there is even one made by Jelly Belly. So I got a bunch of them and we'll see which one works best. I also bought a lovely hat to sop all the sweat off my brow. Apparently it IS possible to be so sweaty that you can't wipe the sweat off your face.

In non-training news, I have officially passed the 50% mark on my fundraising! Thanks to all of you who have made this possible!!! I sent out reminder emails, and I hope to get reminder letters out next week. Please spread the word to your friends and family. And check out above where I'm listing the events that we are doing to fundraise. Every bit helps!!!

August 6 Last Saturday was brought to you by the IT Band and the words "OW" and "OWIE". We started our last two months of training at La Cantera. This means hills, hills and more hills. At the water stop I mentioned to one of our coaches that the muscle on the back of my thigh was a little sore. She said that was the ileotibial band (IT Band) and showed me how to stretch it. I turned around, made it across the street and my leg cramped. Hard. And continued to do so for the entire 2 miles back. The silver lining is that it hurt so bad to walk that I was forced to run. And I finally learned how to run slooooow. According to my partner-in-crime, Maribel, and my coach, Ronda, I run to fast. Sure enough, slowing down meant I could run for twice as long. Who knew?

August 10 Another week to the Done List. Some muscle issues, but I did the stretches throughout the route that I learned and it seemed to be ok. I took an ice bath when I got home. I am still not a total convert, but I keep doing it. This weekend it was actually really nice since our AC went out Friday night, so the cold wasn't too bad. Oddly, the only thing that really hurt long term was my feet. So I invested in the extended release Tylenol that had been recommended, and we'll see if popping a couple of those before next week's run helps. It feels like I'm in the doldrums. Just plugging along without any real motivation. So although the distances are getting longer, I'm not getting any faster. I need to make a concerted efforted to get out and RUN during the week or that's never going to get any better.

August 26 Sorry about the break, but I actually got to take a vacation last week! I went with my husband and parents to Big Bend for what was supposed to be a leisurely overnight float. It turned into two days of paddling a canoe. Good - lots of great exercise of muscles that don't usually get used, and it really wasn't all that bad. Bad - it was anything but relaxing!! Thank goodness for the Gage Motel and their fantastic restaurant where we all spoiled ourselves the last night. Anyway, training! Last week was a step-back and we only did 5 miles. It should have been easy, but I apparently had one last lesson to learn. I skipped the ice bath since I didn't really think it had done much. Boy was I wrong! Saturday and Sunday my muscles explained to me with every step that those ice baths do a great job of settling down the pain before it even get started.

This week I am getting back on the weekday runs. I took our dog George out on Monday for a couple of miles and tonight I'm headed to the scheduled practice. I also bought a new pair of shoes. I didn't think I'd worn down the old pair much but looking at them side by side it's obvious that there's been big changes - after only a few months! And today I got my confirmation email from Nike. I'm officially registered. The butterflies are going crazy in my stomach.

I'm out of room! Read the rest of my training blog here