Week 10 - training at Wally World

Time once again for my weekly training update, thanks for reading along.

This week I’ll review:

A)   Fundraising status 
B)   Health status 
C)   An example of what “marathon training” means

A)   FUNDRAISING 

I am really proud to say that collectively Team DetermiNation has raised over $375,000 so far for the NYC marathon.  That is almost staggering to me.  I’m so grateful to all of you who have supported me as part of the Team.  Together we are going to bring more birthdays to those who are affected by this terrible disease. 

On a personal level, last week I got a couple of generous donations from my neighbor who’s family has been affected by cancer, as well as a friend and fellow endurance athlete Stephanie.  Stephanie takes to the open water as to raise money to fight cancer – I think I’ll stick to the land. 

I’m at $2,250 towards my goal of $6,000.  So I’m just over a third of the way there, with just under 3 months left to go. 

If you are able to make a donation, please CLICK HERE TO DONATE

B)   HEALTH 

So far so good.  I’m reasonably healthy and don’t have any major issues at this time, and I pray that I can complete my training in good health and run a good race.  If you wouldn’t mind saying a similar prayer for me I would surely appreciate it. 

I’ve been cross training as much as I can, mostly swimming.  There is only a few more weeks left until the outdoor pool that I go to will close until next summer.  It’s a shame that it’s closed for so much of the year. I suppose I will try the indoor pools until the marathon, but they aren’t as close, as big, or as convenient as the pool by our house. 

I’ve been able to run more and at a faster pace recently, so I’m thinking that is a good sign.  Today I started a new course of physical therapy called ASTYM.  It’s hard to describe, you could google it, but basically it’s a hard plastic edge that the therapist runs over my legs to break up the muscle and remove scar tissue with the idea that after a few treatments my legs will be a bit more flexible which should help me run better and with less chance of injury.  Wish me luck!

C)   THIS is marathon training!

So this past weekend my wife had her high school reunion up in Michigan, and as it turns out her cousins were going to be there as well for a camping trip.  So we thought it would be a great idea to join the family at the campsite and rent an RV to see them when we weren’t at the reunion.

My wife's family at the RV park.  Lots of cousins!

We got in on Friday afternoon, and after setting up the RV we hung out with the family.  There were a lot of them there, most I hadn’t seen in a couple of years.  Thing is, I was already a bit tired and as much as I wanted to stay up late with everyone else around the campfire I had to turn in at 9pm so I could get up early to run the next day.  No one said anything, and I think they all understood, but I did feel bad not being able to spend more time with them.

But that’s what marathon training is, it’s a sacrifice.  It’s physically demanding, mentally demanding, and it takes up a big chunk of your life.   I’ve already done 3 marathons so far, but this time – being part of the DetermiNation team and having everyone supporting me really helps me to take it seriously in a way I never did before.  I always had the motivation to get myself ready to run 26.2 miles, but this time I feel a responsibility to not let everyone else down.  It’s tough at times, but it feeds my inner fires when I’m not feeling up to a workout. 

Anyway, being at an RV park there weren’t really many options for my run.  It was dark when I got up and ready to run at 5am.  I wanted to run at least 11 miles.  I didn’t know the lay of the land, and the roads in the area were fairly narrow.  So I didn’t have many options. 

However, there was an amusement park directly across the street and it had a big empty parking lot at 5am.  One of the best things I ever bought was a running watch with a GPS tracker, so it could tell me exactly how far a loop around this parking lot was.  Turned out it was 1-1/2 miles around, so if I looped it about 8 times I’d get to my 11 mile goal.  It was pretty strange to run in an empty parking lot around and around.  But it beats a treadmill.  While I was running I kept thinking of Wally World from National Lampoon's Vacation.  I half expected John Candy to come on out and stop me telling me the park was closed. 

An empty amusement park parking lot makes for an excellent impromptu running track.  But it kind of reminded me of something I'd seen in a movie once....

Hmmm...empty parking lot at an amusement park...

After the run, which took me about an hour and forty five minutes, I got back to camp and showered, stretched, changed, and waited for everyone else to wake up. 

It was an interesting experience.  But that’s what it’s like to try and train for a marathon – you have to fit the runs in when and where you can. 

Speaking of “can” if you “can” donate to my page PLEASE do so, it’d be a really great thing to do.  

CLICK HERE TO DONATE 

Week 9 - I'm cancelling the pity party

Hello again everyone and thanks for reading along as I work towards my goal of running the NYC marathon and trying to raise $6,000 for the American Cancer Society.

Training update first (then fundraising)

Well it would appear that my recent foot troubles may be related to the equivalent of a "blow out" on one of my running shoes.  If you don't know, running shoes last usually about 300 miles, after that the cushioning starts to degrade.  I keep a log of how many miles I run on a particular pair of shoes, and after about 250 miles or so I get a new pair and start to break them in.

The current model shoe I wear is the Brooks Ghost.  I like it, it's worked well for me.  I've actually bought 4 pairs of them over the last 12 months, as I've run about 1,200 miles in that time.

However the latest pair I bought I have just never liked.  I had no idea why, as they are basically supposed to be all identical.

So this past week I took them to my local running store, I was there to see about some cushioned insoles as recommended by my podiatrist - more on that in a bit.  When the salesman looked at the shoes he turned them over an noticed that the seal on the right foot over the hole that they inject the cushioning gel into was torn.  He told me that when that happens the gel inside gets exposed to air and hardens, no longer cushioning the foot.  I hadn't yet told him about which foot hurt or where, so when he said this I believed him.

I'm no longer going to use that pair, even thou it only got 100 miles on it.  Instead I've called the previous pair into active duty for a bit.  They have 300 miles on them, but they will do for a couple weeks until I decide if I want to try a new style or just get another pair of Ghosts.  Some of that will depend on my upcoming therapy sessions - again more on that soon.

In the meantime it's nice to know what the potential reason was for why I was having the pain in my right foot.  Mentally that was a big relief.

What the doctor said last week:

"Have I told you that you have almost no fat on your feet?"

Yeah, having no fat sounds like a compliment, but when I heard that from my podiatrist my heart sank a bit.  I was actually pretty bummed.  See running is great, but it is hard on your body.  Especially your feet.  Having no fat on the bottoms of my feet means my body is subject to more of the forces when I run.  I had a stress fracture on my left foot a couple years ago.  As I just mentioned above when my shoe blew out, my right foot started feeling it.  It's possible that other runners may never have even felt that, but me - it sidelined me for a couple of weeks.

I looked it up on the internet to find out more.  NEVER DO THAT.  The internet is full of haters.  Turns out the medical term is "something something ATROPHY"

Great I'm thinking...ARTROPHY.  My body is wearing out I'm thinking.  It pissed me off.  I started thinking that running for me was over.  It made me think about that expression how youth is wasted on the young - and if only I knew in my 20s how lucky I was to still have some fat in my feet.

But then I went for a run.

I think the best part of running is how motivating it can be.  I was running along a popular trail and there were lots of runners out, some of whom were senior citizens and a couple were disabled.  It got me to thinking about how many aches and pains they must have, and how they'd probably look at me and if they heard me complain about not having enough fat under my toes they'd laugh.

As if that should be the worst thing in the world.

Even my own mother who went through a knee replacement surgery earlier this year would probably tell me to quit complaining.  Don't worry Mom, I know you still love me :-)

Anyway, it was enough to snap me out of my funk and rethink things.  Sure, I'm not getting any younger and things are going to get harder as my body ages, but that doesn't mean I give up.  I thought about all the disabled athletes in the world, especially the runners missing their feet or legs.   They still find a way to keep going.  Maybe it's hubris on my part, but while I may not be as fast or strong as some I don't think anyone is tougher than I am.  So if these other people are able to find a way to keep going, than so can I.

Back to what the doctor said and what's next:

So after my doctor mentioned the lack of fat, she did say I was okay to run and that I should consider some more Physical Therapy.  I have always enjoyed my PT, so I thought it was a good idea. I went back to the therapist I saw for my runners knee in May/June and she is going to try to work on my chronic tightness in my calves, hamstrings, and quads.  I can tell right now I'm pretty tight in my legs, so I really hope it helps my running.  She mentioned a treatment called ASTYM to try and break down the muscles a bit and try and improve the flexibility.  I'm kind of excited about it.  Stay tuned for more on that.

Here's a graph of the last 12 months of my running.  The 81 miles was in the month of April, which was the Illinois Marathon.  That was when my latest pain cycle started, of the runners knee then followed by the foot pain.  Now that I'm feeling pretty good I'm looking to ramp the mileage back up.  I've got 15 miles in August so far, and I'm ready for more.

FUNDRAISING UPDATE

Again, I'm so thankful to everyone who's been donating to my campaign.  Honestly, seeing those donations come in is the best part of my day and I get SUPER excited.  I've said it before, but I'll say it again - knowing I have all the support of my friends and family just pushes me to try harder.  For example this morning I woke up at 4:30am so I could go out and run for 5 miles, get home in time to help the kids get ready for school, then go to the pool at 7am and get in another 45 minutes of swimming before heading to work.

Its tough, but I know the hills and bridges along the NYC marathon course aren't too easy.  Everyone that has donated to me now feels like we are a team, and I'm gonna do everything I can not to let this team down.

Also, I heard on the news the other day about some exciting new research into cancer that's happening now.  I'm not able to understand all the medicine and science behind the research, but they reported that in 20 years the treatments we are using today - specifically chemo - could be a thing of the past.  That would be WONDERFUL.  It made me think about how people used to use leeches to cure their ailments.  Maybe one day people will look back at what "state of the art" medicine is like today and they will think about how far things have come.  I can only hope that the money we are raising now helps fund the research that will make that dream a reality.

 Weekly fundraising total

So here's where I am today.  After 9 weeks I've raised $2,175 and that is awesome!!  Below is a chart of my weekly fundraising progress, along with a trend line.  I'm really hoping to make it to $6,000, and the trendline shows I'm close.

But I need your help to keep going.

So please, if you are able, consider making a donation.  Anything and everything will help!  It will mean the world to me and to those who are affected by this terrible disease.

Thank you!

CLICK HERE TO DONATE

Week 8 - Tri and try again

Hello everyone.  Thanks for following along as I work towards my goal of raising $6,000 for the American Cancer Society and to run the New York City Marathon.  Here’s your weekly hump-day update.

Let’s start with my training.  

 

I’m going to the doctor later today to get a check on my right foot.  I’ve had some strain in the big toe and it would hurt to run long distances.  I’ve been resting it, and been swimming instead.  A lot.  I have also been trying to bike on the weekends to have a longer cardio session. This past Saturday I did run a 10k race, it was the Big Ten Network’s BTN Big10K, and it was a lot of fun.  I did the 6.2 miles in fairly good shape, my foot felt overall okay.  When I was done I decided to bike a bit, so I went for a 20 mile bike ride.  That went well too, so I figured why not go for a swim too?  I’ve never done all 3 in one day before.  So I swam 700 meters. 

It wasn’t official, and it wasn’t in the proper order, but I’d done my own little triathlon that day.  I may never do it again, but it was interesting.  The next day on Sunday I went to play Ultimate Frisbee in the morning, and that is a workout too.  Having to take the last few weeks off from running hasn’t been that bad, in some ways I almost feel more fit. 

I do need to get back on the road, and hopefully I will soon.   In the meantime, cancer doesn’t stop so neither will I.  One way or another I’m going to be ready to run the NYC marathon on November 2^nd.

Fundraising

VERY EXCITING NEWS!  I am at the 1/3 point of my goal to get to $6,000 as I have now raised $2,000 thanks to all of your amazing generosity!  I am humbled and inspired to keep on going and really make a difference on the war against cancer. 

Please, if you are able to, keep those donations coming.  Together I know we can make a difference in the lives of so many people affected by this terrible disease.

CLICK HERE TO DONATE 

100 days to Glory

100 days from today is the NYC marathon, and as they say "if the good Lord is willing and the creek don't rise" I will be there to participate in my 4th marathon ever, and my 3rd of 2014!!

Hard to believe that just over a year ago I was pretty much unable to do anything athletic because Brenda was going through her breast cancer treatments, chemo especially.  Surgery was tough on her, but I think chemo was worse.

But here we are, over 1 year after treatment ended and what a difference!  Brenda is doing great, our kids are awesome, and I've been able to run with a vengance.  I've run more than ever before in a 12 month period. 

Maybe too much.  I've been resting my right foot for the last couple of weeks, but I'm going to give it a go tomorrow when I run the Big10K.  I probably won't be going all out, I just want to finish feeling good.

In the meantime I've really come to enjoy swimming as a form of not just rehab, but exercise.  It's a workout.  I want to keep going so I can get faster and more stamina in the pool.

So here we are...100 days to go.  I'm almost done with the busy season of work, and as long as my foot cooperates I should really start to put in some LONG runs over the coming months.  Stay tuned.

Also thanks again to everyone who's donated to my campaign so far.  I've half way to the minimum and that's awesome!  I really want to do more than just the minimum thou.  Who knows if I'll ever want to, or be able to, raise this kind of money again for the American Cancer Society - so please help me to make as big an impact as possible.

As the sign says...100 days till THE NEW YORK CITY MARATHON!!!

CLICK HERE TO DONATE

Week 7 - just keep swimming

Time for another weekly update on my training for the New York City marathon.

TRAINING:

I’ve been swimming a lot it seems.  I’ve been to the pool 4 times in the last 7 days.  You know what?  I kinda like it!  Don’t start thinking that I’m gonna do triathlons, I am not an open water swimmer so I’d have to get used to that.  However so far, I kinda like it and I think I’m getting better.  I know I have a lot I can improve about my swimming, but so far it’s good cross training. 

I did get the aqua jogger belt late last week, and I did try it out.  I’ll try to use it again this week once or twice in the pool.  Basically it’s a big foam belt I wear on my waist and it let’s me “jog” in the water to simulate running.  With luck, I won’t loose too much fitness before I get back on the road. 

I also went for my first really long outdoor bike ride this past weekend, I had enough time to ride for 18 miles and felt pretty good.

I’m going to try and run the Big10K this weekend, I signed up for a it a while ago.  I have the pride of the Illini to uphold – so I hope that my foot feels good on Saturday.  But we’ll see. 

In the meantime, between the biking, swimming, and some yoga I did – I think my fitness level is okay.  

I'll "just keep swimming, just keep swimming" on my way to the New York City Marathon in 103 days!

FUNDRAISING:

Not a good week.  I didn’t get any new donations, so that’s kind of a bummer.  I’ve still got 3 months before the race, so I know there’s lots of time to raise more – but if you are planning to donate and can throw a couple bucks my way sooner rather than later I sure would appreciate it.   

CLICK HERE TO DONATE 

Week 6 update - an injury

 

FUNDRAISING: 

I’ll start with the fundraising for this week’s update.  I’m ecstatic to say thanks to all of the generous donations I’ve gotten I have made it to the halfway point minimum requirement almost a month ahead of schedule! 

Together we have raised just over $1,700 and as you can see from the graph, I've been making steady progess towards my goal of $6,000.  With your continued help, I think we can get there by November if not sooner!  

BTW the entire DetermiNation team has raised over $200,000 so far for the NYC marathon.  WOW! 

THANK YOU ALL!

I’ve gotten my invitation to officially sign up for the New York City Marathon and I’ll be registering shortly.   I can’t thank you all enough. 

I’m still hoping to raise well over the minimum, because I really want to make as big a difference in the lives of those affected by cancer as possible.  With your help, together, perhaps we can put an end to cancer.

You know, earlier today, a friend of mine was talking to me about how his wife is just about to start chemo for uterine cancer.  We ended the talk about how important research is, and that one day, people will think about chemotherapy the way we think about how at one point leeches were considered to be a medical treatment.  Wouldn’t that be something?  I have to believe in that future, because people given enough time and resources are able to create and discover amazing things! 

That’s one of the reasons I support the American Cancer Society, because in addition to supporting those currently affected by cancer, they support critical research to find better ways to cure or even prevent this disease. 

So please, if you haven’t yet and are able to, consider donating to my campaign and join team DetermiNation!  Let’s put an end to cancer!

CLICK HERE TO DONATE 

TRAINING:

I wish I could say this has been going as well. 

You know what the hardest part of marathon training is.  It’s not the running, thou that can be tough for sure.  It’s staying injury free while to train.

In 2006 when I ran Chicago, I had no real injuries during the training.  After the marathon I had some IT band irritation, but nothing really stopped me from running. 

In 2012 I decided to try and run the Chicago marathon again, and about half way into training I fractured a bone in my foot.  That ended that.

In 2013 after Brenda finished chemo and was feeling better I was able to successfully train for the Disney Marathon with almost no injuries, and in January of this year I ran the Disney Marathon.  I was feeling great! 

But since then, I feel like it’s been one injury after another.  After Disney in January I set my sights on another marathon in April, the Illinois Marathon in Champaing.  I wanted to see if I could go faster.

I got some tendonitis in my left pinky toe – annoying but I could still run.  A little anti-inflammatory medicine and I was fine.  A couple weeks later, about 2 weeks before the marathon, after running through the POLAR VORTEX I got runners knee.  Again, not terrible, but enough that it slowed me down and I had my worst marathon time yet.  But at least I did it.

I took some time off, a couple months, and re-habbed my knee.   I managed to run 2 half marathons at a slower pace since then, and now my knee if feeling great so I started to push a little harder in my training.  I want to see if I can get a little speed back.

Well this past week my right foot started hurting, a lot like when my left foot had the fracture 2 years ago. 

Uggg…

I went to my podiatrist immediately, and thankfully she thinks it is again just a bit of tendonitis.  She wants me to rest for a couple weeks, and come back for a check.  So I’ll take a 2 week break from running, and that’s okay.

I had kinda hoped that MAYBE I could have a personal best time at NYC and run a marathon faster than I have yet.  That would be great.  But really, I want to finish the run.  So maybe it’s not my fastest, maybe it’s even my slowest.  That would be okay. After all I am doing this for the experience and to raise money for the ACS.

In case you are wondering, because I know I was, what happens if I can’t run this year?

Well good question.  The answer is that as long as I raise the minimum amount this year I can defer my entry to the marathon and run next year instead.  I don’t want to do that, I really want to run this year, so I am going to do EVERYTHING I can to stay healthy and train smart and run the race THIS year. 

But it’s good to know, just in case, that I have a bit of a safety net.

I know you all are donating money to support those dealing with cancer, but you are also supporting me too and my quest to run the biggest marathon in the world.  I am taking this very seriously; you are putting your money where my mouth is.  And I don’t want to let anyone down.

So what is my plan for the next two weeks?  I’m gonna do my yoga for runners DVD, and I’m going to get on my bike trainer to cycle, AND for the first time in like 20 years since high school I swam laps at a pool!  It’s supposed to be great cross training exercise, and after just 25 minutes this morning I was tired.  Plus this is a 50 yard long pool.  Those lengths were MUCH longer than I'm used to.  I don't think I've ever swam a lap on a pool that big before.  See the photo below.  

I also just ordered on Amazon an "aqua jogger" belt.  It's a floation device that you were on your waist to keep you floating in the water while you try to "run."  I’m excited to try the aqua jogger out, some people have reported having great results from using one.   Plus I won't look any sillier than I already do trying to swim.  I'm not that good at it. 

 

So stay tuned.  I may not be running much but I won’t be standing still by any means.

Just 109 days until the NYC marathon!  Let’s do this!!

CLICK HERE TO DONATE 

Week 5 update

Another week, and some good progress was made towards my goal of the NYC marathon.

RUNNING

I got some solid runs in this week, which I’m pretty happy with.  I ran about 22 miles over three runs.  I had two sessions of “speedwork” running at a faster clip, and I got up to 9 miles on my long run.  I would really like to be up in the double digits at this point, but I still have plenty of time to get my stamina up.  It’s just been so much hotter and humid than I’m used to. 

On another positive note, I went back to my orthopedic doctor earlier this week, and since my knee has been feeling so good lately we both agreed that I should just keep up the physical therapy exercises I got and as long as nothing comes up I’m free to just keep on running. 

I’m probably going to be getting a new running watch in the near future.  I’ve logged a lot of miles with my current GPS enabled running watch.  If I had to guess, I’d say I’ve run over 2,500 miles with it in the last 7 years since I’ve had it.   So it’s served me well, but I’m a little excited to get a new one. 

FUNDRAISING

I’m doing pretty well I think. 

I’m currently at $1,376, which is about 22% of my goal – and just a few hundred short of the first milestone I need to reach which is $1.700 by the end of July.   

I got a couple of really great donations from a couple of cancer survivors, Renee Woodward and her father Carl.   I met Renee last year through some mutual friends playing some Ultimate Frisbee.  It’s a loose pickup game, and the same people don’t always show up.  So it’d been maybe 6 months or so since I’d seen her last – but I didn’t think much of it.  After talking with her a bit, it turns out she’d been going through breast cancer treatment. 

One of the things that scares me most about cancer is how it seems to affect anyone.  I don’t mean to come off as alarmist, but Renee is a fellow endurance athlete.  She’s in her 30s.  And yet she still got cancer.  It can happen to anyone.  I’m really glad that she did her self-exams, and it was a good reminder to us all how important it is to do these screenings regularly.   I do. 

Renee and I talked about how that’s one of the good things about the American Cancer Society – that they help promote awareness and prevention, and encourage people to check themselves.  We also talked about how they help with all types of cancers, because there are so many types, and because her father was diagnosed with prostate cancer. 

So big shout outs to Renee and Carl.   First and foremost for being warriors, and for your donations.  I really appreciate your support and as always I hope that with your support, perhaps one day we’ll live in a world without cancer.      

CLICK HERE TO DONATE