Joe's Running For Grandma

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01 February 2010:

Welcome to my Team In Training home page.

I'm training to participate in the Seattle Rock'n'Roll Marathon (26.2 miles) 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 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 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 March 1st, I've lost 40 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!

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

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.

One last note, Thanks to my old roommate Stephen for putting me over my minimum fundraising goal. The donation actually came through right as I was crossing the finish line this weekend. I think that is some sort of positive sign.

Cheers,

Joe