Weeks 16, 17, and 18 - BEN SMASH!!

First off, sorry everyone for the unintended break from blog posting these last couple of weeks. 

Rest assured that in that time I have been running/smashing hills to get stronger and faster, and I have been collecting more donations to smash my fundraising goal!

As I've said before, marathon training takes a lot of time and between training, work, family, and the Jewish Holidays I just didn't have enough energy to post.  But fear not...here's a quick recap of the last few weeks!  If you don't have time to read the whole post and just would like to make a donation:

CLICK HERE TO DONATE

Ben Smash!!  Ben no like cancer or hills!!

Health
Knock on wood, so far so good!  I've had almost no injuries to mention and that is a good thing.  I haven't quite had enough time to do all the stretching and cross training I should, more on that under training, but it seems I'm doing enough to keep going.  I have started going back to my massage therapist Eden at the Portage Park Athletico.  She's great!  I go about once a week for 30 minutes and just let her do her thing on my calves, quads, and hamstrings.  I think it really makes a difference to keep the muscles loose and hopefully prevent injury.  

Training
There are just 23 days until the NYC marathon!  Holy cow is it coming up fast now.  I remember when I decided to finally do the NYC marathon back in January after just finishing the Disney World Marathon, and I remember launching this blog/fundraising campaign back in June.  It seemed like it would take forever to get here, and now I feel like the marathon is tomorrow!  I've got just another big run left and then it's time to taper down to get ready for NYC.  So let's talk a bit about that.

My running for the last few weeks has been about 30+ miles a week.  Not super high mileage, but I'm trying to make each run count.  I run a "short run" of about 5 miles as fast as I can go one day a week.  Then a couple days later I run about 10 miles at a moderate pace, and then on the weekends I've been driving 30 miles southwest of the city of Dupage County where they have a forest preserve known as the Waterfall Glen.  It is a trail loop of about 10 miles, and it's among the most hilly places around.  It kicks my butt every time I run there.  But I hear that NYC is a very hill course, so I want to make sure that I am ready.  I think it's been working.  On Sunday I ran a 5k (3 miles) at a personal best time of just under 22 minutes on a totally flat runway at O'Hare airport (very cool) and then today I ran some smaller hills as the forest preserve by my house at a 8:30 pace which is good for me!  I hope I can keep it up for the marathon.

As I was saying thou, just too much life stuff going on right now to cross train as much as I would like.  A few weeks ago I was swimming 3-4 times a week, these last two weeks I've gone once.  I hope to find some time to go tomorrow - I actually miss swimming.  It is a nice change of pace from the grind of running.

So as I was saying, tomorrow I'm going to go back to the Glen and run the 10 mile loop twice. It will be the 2nd time this training cycle that I'll run 20 miles.  I HOPE to complete it in as close to 3 hours as possible.  It's gonna be a challenge, so I'll do my best.  After that, the runs get shorter and shorter each week for the next 3 weeks until the big day on November 2nd when I take on the 5 Burroughs of NYC.

Fundraising
Okay - here's the exciting stuff!!

I MADE MY GOAL OF $6,000!!!

THANK YOU! THANK YOU!! THANK YOU!!!

I could not have done it without all of your support and I really and truly appreciate it.  I feel so honored that you have all put your faith and money into supporting me, and I know that I'm doing what I can to try and help get rid of this terrible, terrible disease.

Not only have I met my goal of $6,000 - but I have no exceeded it!  That's right, after the "challenge" week a couple weeks ago I didn't have time to really get the word out, but this past week I got some great donations from family and was able to find the time to ask for a few more.

I'd like to thank:

• My cousin Judy Kent for her donation and for getting her company to match!!
• A work associate Jim Mclean for his generous donation!
• My California Cousins Mark and Patti!  Love you guys!!
• A couple work associates Elvia and Rafael - both are amazing athletes who've done Ironman Triathalons!  You guys rock!!
• My cousins Beverly and Shelly Copeland - I'll be thinking of Susan Levin when I run
• My parents, Ellen and Shelly.  I love you both and really appreciate the support, not just now but always!
• and last but certainly not least - Brenda's medical oncologist during her treatment.  Dr. Virginia Kaklamani.  She was a rock for Brenda during her treatment and it was sad for us to hear that she's leaving Chicago in order to lead a department out of state.  While on the one hand I'm very excited for her, as this sounds like a tremendous opportunity for her professionally AND I'm certain she's now going to be able to help so many more women who are battling this terrible disease, on the other hand it is bittersweet to see her go.  We had a followup appointment today with her, on her last day in Chicago.  Just routine.  It's been 16 months since Brenda's last chemo session.   Everything was fine, and I asked if the American Cancer Society funded any of the research she is doing.  Apparently not her particular research, but Dr. Kaklamani did say that the ACS was a great organization and asked me about my fundraising campaign.  I gave her the info, and a couple hours later I saw she had made a donation.  How great is that? 

So want to see how all these recent donations look on the progress chart?  Take a look below.

After 18 weeks of fundraising I have made my goal of $6,000!!  Thank you!!

There are still a few weeks left to go until the marathon...think we can make it to $7,000??? I can with your help!  So if you haven't yet made a donation, and if you are able to do so, PLEASE consider making a donation to my campaign! 

CLICK HERE TO DONATE

Week 15 recap - challenge week results

Hello everyone!

First I am gonna say THANK YOU for everyone who donated and for those that answered the call to my "challenge week."  The results were amazing.  More on that in a bit.

THANK YOU for all your support! 

If you didn't get a chance to donate yet, and would like to be part of the excitement the link to donate is here:

CLICK HERE TO DONATE

So for a quick recap on the training from last week:

Health
Continues to be good (knock on wood) though I do need to keep up with my stretching!  Hard to find the time to do everything.

Training
I ran 3 times this past week
1) a 5 mile run at a 9:32 pace as I was recovering from the half marathon last Sunday
2) a 9 mile run at an 8:17 pace, as I was feeling good and wanted to push the speed
3) a HILLY 19 mile run at the Waterfall Glen Forest preserve in Dupage where Chicago runners go to train on hills since I want to be ready for NYC which I hear is hilly.  It's tough.  My pace was 11:24, mostly walking the last 4 miles.  Ugg....

I also swam twice last week, including a new personal distance record of 2,100 yards on day, 900 the second day, and I found a little time for my PT exercises a couple times.  I hope this week goes as well.

Fundraising
So the big news is the challenge week as a HUGE success!  I may all my daily goals for the first part of the week, and just tons of support at the end of the week.  Together we raised over $3,000 last week, and I'm now just hundreds short of my goal of raising $6,000 dollars for the American Cancer Society.

Just amazing, THANK YOU ALL!  

I actually made a little video to thank all of my supporters so far, it's about 17 minutes long, check it out if you have the time.  I hope I didn't forget anyone.

If you can't watch the video, here's the quick recap:

I love graphs, so here's a snapshot of my total fundraising amount by week.

Challenge Week raised over $3,000!  That's amazing!!!

I'm not done yet though, there are still 48 days till the marathon and I want to raise as much as I possibly can - so I still need your help.

Marathon training is hard.   It's physically demanding, mentally challenging, and it takes a lot of time.  For my 19 mile run on Sunday I had to drive 30 miles out to the course, then warmup, run, cooldown and stretch, drive back home, shower, etc.  It was almost the full day.  I can't continue to take that much time away from my family.

This may be the last marathon I run, and it may be the only time I raise money for a charity.  Fundraising is hard - everyone has been so supportive but I can't expect everyone to keep giving me money.

So this may be the one and only time I do this.  So I want it to be EPIC!

Be epic with me!  Let's kick cancer's ass together!

If you are willing and able, please consider making a donation.

CLICK HERE TO DONATE

Challenge day 5 - let's finish strong!

First off, I have to give out a GIANT thank you to everyone who has donated to the American Cancer Society this week as part of my fundraising campaign for the NYC marathon.  I've truly inspired by everyone's support and generosity.

CLICK HERE TO DONATE

On Wednesday I went to the pool early and swam the longest distance I've ever done - 2100 yards or about 1.2 miles in just over an hour!  Then on Thursday I got up at 4am to get a long run in and ran 9 miles faster than I have in months.  I'm feeling good and am trying to stay healthy. 

Fundraising is tough.  It's actually hard for me to ask friends, family, even strangers I meet for money.  I know there are lots of other worthy causes people donate to, or that people may be unable to donate at all.   That's why whenever I get a donation I'm always so excited and honored. 

This week was about trying to kick the fundraising up a notch, and it's worked.  But I'm not done.  Cancer isn't quitting so neither am I.
 You want to know the hardest part of running the 26.2 miles of a marathon.  It's the last .2 miles.   About 1,000 feet.

You've already been on your feet running like crazy for hours, and you are so close to the end.  Sometimes you can even see the finish line in the distance. 

But you aren't there yet.  You have to keep going! 

That's where you have to dig down deep, and give it everything you've got left, and finish strong.

Here I am fighting to the finish line with a 15 year old at a neighborhood race.  I was giving it my all.

At the finish line of the Disney Marathon earlier this year.  After everything Brenda went through the year before and all the training I did I jumped for joy at the finish line.  So high that I practically jumped out of the picture.

Because what's the point of holding back at the end?

And that is where we are today, the end of my challenge week.

So if you've been holding back, now is the time to get in those donations!  Let's push that fundraising thermometer so far up cancer's ass it cries mercy!  AND WE WON'T SHOW IT ANY!!

Together we can beat cancer.  But I need your help. 

If you are able to, please consider making a donation today.  As I've said before and will say again, no donation is too big but more importantly no donation is too small!!  Whatever you can spare will go to an extremely worthy cause. 

PLEASE CLICK HERE TO DONATE
 

Day 4 - Remembering 9/11

You know when I originally thought to do this "challenge week" I was waiting till after school started so I'd have a bit more time to blog about it.

I didn't think about today being the anniversary of 9/11.  It's been 13 years already.

I don't want to take away from the memory of the events that transpired on that day.  In fact, as I was thinking about it on my run this morning I decided what I could do.

I remembered how the nation rallied together to support those affected, and one of the things was the donation of blood.  It's been a while since I have donated, and I've got enough time to recover before the marathon - so why not donate. 

I'm glad I did.

Day 3 - where the money goes - a little here, a little there

Hello all.  First THANK YOU!  All the donations this week have been amazing.  I am humbled and just in awe of all my heroes out there. 

For today's challenge, I don't have a specific target amount.  Instead I'd like to see what we can do if we all work together.  How many donations can I get no matter the amount?  $5, $10 - whatever you can give.  It all adds up!  Can I get 10 people to make a donation today?  20 people? 

I'm looking to show what we can achieve if we all work together!  PLEASE HELP!  Take a few minutes, go to the website, and donate if you can.  

CLICK HERE TO DONATE

If everyone can give just a little bit, think of how much we'd collect as a group?

Team DetermiNation (our charity team name) is the group running the NYC marathon with about 200 members.  Together we've raised over HALF A MILLION DOLLARS so far!!

 
The theme for the week has been to explain where the money you donate goes.  I mentioned some of the support that Brenda received.  The wig.  The Look Good Feel Better seminar.  We were lucky to live in a major city close to the hospital where Brenda got treatment, but we made a friend who was also being treated for Cancer and she lived a few hours away.  When it came time for her to have radiation treatment that would have meant every day for 6 weeks she'd be driving hours back and forth.

The American Cancer Society provided her with subsidized lodging in the city so that she wouldn't have to commute back and forth every day during treatment.   

 Here's a breakdown of how all the money collected gets distributed.  





72% of all the money raised goes towards fighting cancer.  Only 6% is their management expenses, and that's outstanding.  The other 22% of their expenses is also understandable.  It takes money to make money, right?  Flyers, websites, banners at events, etc.  That's actually really great for an organization of this size.    

But notice that the LARGEST percentage of the money goes towards Patient Support.  The people that are affected by cancer.  The people that really need help.

The other reason I chose to support the ACS was that they support research and prevention, so that hopefully one day cancer will be a thing of the past. 

Did you know that the American Cancer Society is the nation's largest private funder for cancer research?  

Cancer freaking scares me.  1 in 2 men will develop some kind of cancer within their lifetime.  I'm trying to do something about that, and I really need your support.

So today, if you can spare a fiver or whatever - please consider making a donation.

Let's see what we can accomplish when we all work together!  

THANK YOU!!

CLICK HERE TO DONATE

Day 2 of where the money goes week - Look Good Feel Better

This week I'm going to up the posting in an effort to try and kick up the donations.  This is day 2 of 5.  

If you want to just skip the reading and go straight to making a donation, the link is here:

CLICK HERE TO DONATE

First a quick bit on training.  So I ran a half marathon, 13.1 miles, on Sunday and then Monday night I went to the pool at 8pm for their evening lap swim hour.  I managed to get in 1,100 yards or just over 1/2 a mile.  I was tired.  I wanted to sleep in today, but I have to train if I'm going to finish the NYC marathon.  It's a tough course, so I'm just going to have to be tougher.

Brenda and the millions of people like her didn't quit - so neither will I!

I got up at 4:30 and ran 5 miles this morning.

Fundraising - Look Good Feel Better
 
First off I just want to thank everyone for donating yesterday...I got 5 donations!  That tied the most donations in a day I've gotten.  Awesome job everyone!  Together we raised $175 which exceeded my days goal of $150 - the cost of a wig for a cancer patient who lost their hair from chemo.  Awesome job Jason, Erin, Kirsten, Jen, and Tim.  You guys are heroes!

So TODAY I want to talk about another program the ACS has partnered with, which Brenda took part in during her treatment.  Its an organization called Look Good Feel Better, LGFB, and they are awesome. 

So you know that chemo is like the worst thing.  Maybe ever.  You lose the hair on your head.  You knew that.  Did you know you lose your eyebrows too?  And your eyelashes?  They fall out after the hair on your head, but you lose them.  Think about how strange that might make someone look.  Plus people sometimes lose weight from the side effects of the chemo drugs.   You just start to "look ill" you know? 

It's terrible.  

And while it may not be true that's better to "look good than to feel good" (did I just date myself with that reference?) it's certainly true that it's hard to FEEL good when you don't LOOK good.

But here's where Look Good Feel Better comes in.  They have sessions, paid for by the American Cancer Society, where women can go and get free cosmetics and tips from professional makeup artists on how to apply them so that they can start to look better, which hopefully makes them feel better, which hopefully MAKES them better.  And I believe that it does.  Attitude is so important during treatment - hell during life - that anything you can do to feel better you should do. 

The cost is $200 for a woman to attend one of those LGFB sessions.   Here's an example from their website of what a difference it can make. 

Photo by Chester Simpson/LGFB of Heather from Virginia.  

Can we raise that much today?!  Even if we raise a portion it's still making a difference in the life of someone and their family. 

Please consider making a donation if you can.  I like to say that no donation is too large, but more importantly no donation is too small!  Every little bit helps and makes a difference! 
 
CLICK HERE TO DONATE TO MY NYC MARATHON DONATION PAGE

and if you would like to learn more about Look Good Feel Better, perhaps make another donation directly to them, the link for their website is: http://lookgoodfeelbetter.org/

Week 13, 14 - Time to get serious and where your money goes.

It was a busy week last week.  Work stuff, family stuff.  Some running stuff.  Sorry for missing the update - but here you go.

CLICK HERE TO DONATE TO MY CAMPAIGN

1) Health

I'm happy to say that so far so good.  No real issues to speak of, and I hope that continues.  I didn't get a lot of stretching in this past week, but I also didn't run much so I hope those balance out :-)  I plan to do some yoga in the morning.

2) Running

It's been going well.  Last week I ran 30 miles, which capped off August where I ran 110 miles!  The most miles I've run in 5 months.  My long runs are going to start to get longer now, I'll be running 20 miles in just a couple of weeks. 

Last week I went back out to the Waterfall Glen Forest Preserve last week to run 17 miles - those hills are killer!  But I did it.  And I need to keep running there to get used to hills since I understand the NYC course is hilly.  At least compared to the flat land here in Chicago.  

Yesterday I ran a half marathon here in Chicago on the south side of Lake Shore Drive and got my 3rd best time ever!  I ran it in 1 hour, 54 minutes, and 39 seconds.  It was my 13th official half marathon, and my 5th this year.

Actually, I've run a lot of races this year.  Let's see....
I've run:

• (1) 3K (1.86 miles)
• (1) 5K  (3.1 miles)
• (1) 10K (6.2 miles)
• (5) Half Marathons  (5 times 13.1 miles)
• (2) Full Marathons  (2 times 26.2 miles)

For a GRAND TOTAL of 129 RACING miles for far this year.  What's that look like?  Well here's a photo of my medal collection from this year (and my Chicago Marathon medal from 2006 on the far right)

My 2014 Running medals, 10 so far!  Plus my 2006 Chicago Marathon medal on the far right

But....I have one more medal to add to this collection.  The NYC marathon medal.

3) Fundraising
I NEED YOUR HELP!


I've got 55 days until the NYC marathon, and I REALLY need your help to make my fundraising goal.  So to that end, this week I'm gonna be pushing a bit for donations.  I know that there are a lot of great charities out there to support, but if you are able to donate $5 or $10 or whatever to my campaign PLEASE consider doing it this week!  I'm just over $2,400 now and I would love to see a bunch of donations roll in and push me up to the fundraising minimum of $3,400 this week so that way everything else I can raise in the next couple of months is like a bonus.

After 14 weeks of Fundraising I'm at $2,420

Let's be serious, cancer is a major issue.  I know statistics can be interpreted in many ways but some stats I've seen show that 1 in 4 people will develop some kind of cancer in their lifetime.

One. In. Four.

It makes me sick.

Another statistic I read was that 1 in 8 women will develop breast cancer.  That's insane!

It has to stop.

We have to help those affected now, find better treatment options, and eventually a way to prevent it altogether.  I believe these things are all possible, and I believe that the American Cancer Society (ACS) is one of the best ways to meet those goals.

What does the American Cancer Society do?  

Great question.  They do almost everything related to the treatment and prevention of all type of cancer.   This week I plan to share some ways in which the money you donate will be used by the ACS, especially the different programs they have which we used while Brenda was going through treatment.

I'm going to start with one of the biggest things- WIGS!

The ACS provides a wig to women that are going through chemotherapy and have lost their hair free of charge.  Wigs, good ones like the ACS provide, are not cheap.

When Brenda first started to lose her hair, it was one of the toughest parts of the treatment.  I remember the doctor explaining it as "now you can't really hide your illness, it's pretty much out there for everyone to see" and I can't imagine what that must be like.  Having a wig, it's like a shield I imagine.   Sure the people you see all the time know it's not real, but to just go to the store for groceries or on some other errand...who needs to be stared at?

Brenda about a month into treatment had lost her hair.  The wig the ACS provided looked GREAT! 

For $150 dollars ACS can provide a wig to someone who has lost their hair.  

I think that it is so important during treatment to have a positive attitude, and I think that anything that can be done to make someone look and feel better is worth it!

So please, please, PLEASE!  Consider making a donation to my campaign this week.  No amount is too small!  Together we can make a difference....I know we can!

Please join me. I'll do the running - you help with the donations.  Deal?

CLICK HERE TO DONATE TO MY CAMPAIGN

Thanks,
Ben