Joe's Running 52.4 For Grandma

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Welcome to my Team In Training home page.

I'm training to participate in both the San Diego & Seattle Rock'n'Roll Marathons (26.2 X 2 = 52.4 miles) as a member of The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society's (LLS) Team In Training.

All of us participating with Team In Training are raising funds to help stop leukemia, lymphoma, Hodgkin lymphoma and myeloma from taking more lives. I am also participating in honor of my grandmother Cynthia "Sis" Calcott and 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!

My grandmother has been battling and coping with Myelodysplastic Syndrome for the past few years, which requires her to have to get a blood transfusion about every two to three weeks. Each time she needs one it takes a toll on her. She told me recently that she wishes that she could give back since she feels like she keeps taking. I told her that is one of my main motivations for doing this......so she does not have too.

By the way how do you like the middle (on the right) picture of her and I circa 1975.....she really rocked the Leopard Print PJ's didn't she!

Please make a donation to support my participation in Team In Training and help advance LLS's mission.

In addition to advancing their mission, you will be helping me achieve my goal of not only completing a marathon, but living a more active lifestyle. As of May 18, I've lost 51 pounds since moving to Seattle last year and I am hoping to lose a lot more by race day.

Keep checking back to see my progress.

Thanks for your support!

JoeT

9 June 2010

Thanks to everyone for the support. I completed San Diego in 4 hours and 42 minutes. The weather was warmer than I had expected so staying hydrated was a challenge. I am still really happy with my first marathon effort. Next up is the Seattle Rock 'N'Roll Marathon on June 26!.

20 May 2010

Had a successful 180 min run on May 8th....I completed just under 19 miles in the 3 hours. This was a nice mental boost as I headed into the Taper period...this simply means that my runs start to get shorter and less intense as the race approaches allowing for my body to recoup and get stronger from the past few weeks of training. With 16 days until the race, I feel pretty confident. I am looking forward to going to San Diego to complete this goal in honor of my grandmother.

4 May 2010

Grandma is back at home now and recovering from her time in the hospital. She fortunately did not have to go into the rehab facility. Hopefully she can get some strength back and start getting around on her own again.

3 May 2010

Thanks to everyone who participated in the 50/50 cash raffle at McCoy's bar on Saturday. Hopefully I can do it again before the next Sounders game as well.

With just about a month left to train for San Diego and this weeks looming 180 min run, I would be lying if I said I was not nervous. With the support of my friends, family and Teammates I am sure that I will do just fine though.

My Grandma update is not so good. Last week she was admitted into the hospital with pneumonia. I spoke with her yesterday and she sounded weak but optimistic. She said she sounded worse than she felt and that her throat was just scratchy from the oxygen. She also said she received a lot more blood and platelets this past week. She is supposed to find out today if she was going to be release to go home or be released to a rehab facility. I will keep you posted.

12 April 2010

Just put up a few more pictures on this page. The bottom row of pictures of me show my running progression since March 2009. You can really see the weight loss between the first and last picture. Only 56 days until the San Diego Marathon. I am starting to get a little nervous about it.

4 April 2010

Happy Easter everyone,

Some of you may have noticed that the list of donors dropped off the page and the total mount raised was removed as well (don't worry it will come back in a week or so). The reason why this happened is b/c my Seattle page was switched to San Diego.....that's right I changed my mind and decided to run the San Diego Marathon on June 6. This is supposed to be a fantastic race to run in so I am really excited. I am still registered to do the Seattle Marathon too. Just not sure yet if I will do it as a Full or Half Marathon. We will see how I feel.

30 March 2010

I had a great weekend back in Raleigh NC this weekend visiting family and participating in the Raleigh Rocks 1/2 Marathon....only my 2nd Half Marathon race (if I have done 2 Halves.....does that equal a Full? Can I now call myself a Marathon'er?).

The race was more challenging than I had expected. It was a pretty hilly course with some bumpy streets that were under construction. At mile 11, the bumpy uneven streets were kind of brutal. But I made it though. I finished at my 10 minute goal pace with a time of 2 Hours and 10 Minutes. This was 27 minutes faster than my Seattle 1/2 last November. I learned several things during this race that I need to work on for sure by June. The most important thing is that I need to probably switch to the chewy gell tablets for replenishing my electrolytes. Either that or force myself no matter what to consume the gell packets. I think part of my mental ramblings I experienced were brought on by not replenishing my fluids properly. I will work on that. Over all though I think I did great and my family was shocked that I finished when I said I was going to.

19 March 2010

Hello Everyone,

Just wanted to give you a quick update on my training. The mileage is really picking up along with my donations. I am running 5 days a week now and have several shorter preperation races this month.

I ran the Seattle St. Patricks Day Dash last Sunday and bettered my time from last year by 8 minutes. I felt pretty good about it. This coming Sunday I will be doing the Mercer Island 10K and the following Saturday March 27 I will be doing my second 1/2 Marathon in Raleigh North Carolina. My coaches have said that I should run these races nice and easy and not shoot for a P.R. because they don't want me to get injured before the Full Marathon in June. Therefore I'm going to just enjoy my time out there on the courses and try and work on pacing myself.

Anyways, I'm feeling pretty good. As of today, I have lost 43 pounds and I am getting closer and closer to my goal weight of 200 pounds. This is a scary concept in my mind but seems very possible.

As for my Grandmother, her health is better than it was at this time last year but she still needs to get a new blood transfusion every few weeks. The days leading up to the transfusion are very tough for her but afterwards she seems to be a new person. Hopefully one day with the help of your donations, Cancer Researchers can come up with a way for the Elderly to deal with this disease without the need of the constant intake of new blood.

Thanks for your support and keep checking back.

Cheers,

Joe