I finsihed the Denver Rock 'n' Roll Marathon on Oct 17! My time was 5:21:34. The second half was rough but I made it!

I feel so great to be part of such a small percentage of the population that can say they have completed a marathon!

Here's me at the finishline!

Mark and I in front of the Capitol after I finsihed.

We had a beautiful Labor Day morning, especially for a race! Temps were around 60 degrees at 7 am to kick off my first 10 miles race! I felt rested an ready to go when I arrived at the starting line in City Park. I was glad to get in a quick hello to a few friendly faces of coworkers and TNT teammates before taking my placein the corrale.

I wan't overly concerned about time, but had a general goal that I was aiming for. My biggest conern today was trying to really, consioucly, pace myself. Looking back at my two past half-marathons, I am certain that I went out way to fast in both of those races and therefore had nothing left at the end to finish with. I wanted to keep a conservative pace at the beginning here, so that at the midpoint I could turn up the heat and make up time. Negative spilts was the name of the game!

I happened upon a Teammate, Heather, and her husband at the starting line. It was small field of only 1300 and took but a minute for us to cross the startline after the gun. We stuck together for the first 3 miles around City Park, keeping the modest pace I was looking for. Heather took off a bit at mile 3 but I kept my intended pace up , not wanting to spend my energy too soon. My first 5 miles were at a 10:20 pace.

Crossing the 5 mile marker I had just entered Cheeseman Park, it was the end of the main uphill climb and the start of a strong descent. As planned I slashed my pace as I made my way through Cheeseman and over to Alamo Placita Park. At one point I caught back up to Heather breifly. I made up lots of ground with screaming spilts of 9:54, 9:21(!) and 9:51 on miles 6,7 and 8. Mile 9 flattened out and had some more uphill going into Washington Park. I wanted to finish strong for the last mile but I lacked energy necessary. I spent most of my time through Wash Park doubting my abilities and worrying about the additional 16 miles in the marathon, but I was able to kick it for the last 200m and finish strong.

I finished in 1:40:59, a pace of 10:05. I felt pretty good! It is an absolutly beautiful course and I plan to do it again in the future! Now I am just waiting for even photos to be posted so I can pirate one or two of me on to this post!

Time for a much anticipated update!

I am about halfway through my training at this point. Today I went out for 2 hours and put 11 miles behind me! I felt great. But, not every run has been that easy. Last weekend I was lacking sleep and during the second half of the run the only thing that kept me from slowing to a walk was having a teammate next to me keeping pace.

Our long runs are only getting longer from here! We jump up to 2:15 next week and then 2:30 the following week.

Luckily it has been an exciting journey so far! I have been running all over metro Denver, including Boulder. I even got in a run in Northville, MI while I was there on vacation.

I have gotten some cross training in as well. Last weekend I paddled in number of races at the Colorado Dragon Boat Festival. This was the second year that Denver Water sent a team to compete in the corporate division. This year H2Row took 3rd place!

That inconsiderate water waster, 'The Running Toilet,' even came to cheer us on!

Denver Water, the H2Row team, and the Running Toilet would like to remind you:

..And We're Off!

I'm training to run in the 2010 Denver Rock 'n Roll Marathon with The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society's (LLS) Team In Training. As member of the Team In Training, I am 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 and especially in honor of my aunt, Marie Winker, who is in remission from Leukemia. These people are the real heroes on our team, and we need your support to cross the ultimate finish line - a cure!

My team just kicked off our group training, but I have already begun training on my own. After a long hiatus from training, I am again completing 6-mile runs.

On May 16th I ran a 4.8-mile leg in the Colorado Colfax marathon relay. I ran the relay with 4 of my female coworkers. I wasn't feeling my best, but still mangaged a 9:45/mi overall pace for my leg. We finished 3rd in our division - Women's Municipal!

Here I am decked out in my 2010 Denver Water 'Use Only What You Need' t-shirt, making trout everywhere smile, and charging up the one small hill in my leg!

I have yet to determine that I am crazy, but I do have a long journey ahead of me to October and 26.2 miles!

I appreciate your donation to support my participation in Team In Training and help advance LLS's mission.

Check back often for updates on my training progress. Thanks for your support and prayers!