End of Week 13

Friday night we ran a 30 minute run. It was warm and buggy again.

Saturday's goal was 14 miles. It was very humid, but luckily the sun didn't come out until after the run. I required more water today than I ever have on my long runs. Compared to last Saturday that was beautiful, mild weather where I drank less than 8 ounces, today I drank all four of my 8 ounce bottles and most of Craig's Gatorade. I'm just glad the run is over! From this point on I am definitely on the down hill of training!

Congratulations Eric on the new position at Indiana Wesleyan!

Yay for fall weather

Fall is here! The flowers are changing and the mums are starting to show a few blooms. This morning was beautiful. The stars were very brilliant. The temperature was under 50 degrees. I tried out my new running tights for the first time and liked the way they feel. I know I will feel comfortable being in public with them on when I'm surrounded by other runners, but I felt a little self conscious running through town.



The goal for today was 8 miles at 8:45-8:50/mile pace. My average pace was 9:02, which is 20 second faster pace than last Wednesday's 7 miles. However, the weather conditions were extreme opposites. Last week was miserable and today was perfect. I was happy with how today's workout went.

Thoughts on cancer

No running today...at least so far. We are chillin at Coffee Grounds "doing homework" and I thought I would take this chance to write about some things that have been on my mind. Since I have signed up as a charity runner for the American Cancer Society it seems like I have been more aware of the people around me that have been affected by cancer. I have several patients that have cancer and I have seen how cancer is affecting a co-worker's husband. Craig and I have had several discussions after I come home and tell him the stories of these people. When I place myself in their situation and try to think about the things that they are faced with - it comes down to two questions for me:

1.) How can people face the ugly face of cancer without God in their life? I would have to rely on the fact that somehow a cancer diagnosis is going to be used for good in some way - to credit God with a healing, to strengthen my own relationship with God, or for whatever God has in his will.

The other question is 2.) WHAT CAN I DO?!? Because cancer does not discriminate, it seems so unfair when someone gets cancer that doesn't drink or smoke or have any contributing factors. Cancer patients have to trust their doctors and have faith that they are receiving the best treatment. Personally I have concluded that one of the best ways to help with this cause is to help raise money for research. I think I would feel helpless and this is one way that I can actively play a role in doing something about it.

I had a pretty long conversation with a patient on Friday about her diagnosis of cystic adenoid cancer. It is a very rare form of cancer that is slow growing. It develops in the salivary glands and in the head and neck area. She was diagnosed 6 years ago at age 55. I asked her what her first symptoms was. She told me that she usually walked 3 to 4 miles per day and noticed that she was wheezing. She went to her doctor who said it was probably asthma and sent her to a specialist for that. She exercised immediately before her appointment with the specialist and when he listened to her lungs, she was wheezing when she inhaled and exhaled. The doctor immediately knew that it wasn't asthma. She completed more tests and was told that she had a tumor that was most likely benign and would need surgery. During the procedure they realized that there was more than one tumor and that it was cancerous. The surgery was more extensive than they had expected and she now has a permanent tracheotomy. Her voice is just a whisper. She has an amazing attitude. She does enough of her own research to know that there are cases out there that are much worse and have affected people at much younger ages. She said that she has to live the rest of her life to the fullest. There is no genetic link, no environment factors, nothing that she can contribute her cancer to that she could have prevented. She is healthy otherwise, and views that fact as a gift to help her body fight. She has chest scans every 4 months because they guess that it will move into her lungs next. She said she doesn't see the point of the scans because this form of cancer is not treatable with chemo or radiation. Even if it moves to her lungs, it can't be treated.

Right now my co-worker's husband is undergoing a new form of chemo that is giving him pretty terrible side effects. He has sores that line his entire mouth and throat. Tana told me that if he eats something cold it feels good on his mouth, but burns his throat. If he tries warm soup, it burns his mouth, but feels good on his throat. Most days he can't stand to brush his teeth and at times his diet consists solely of saltines if anything at all.

I haven't written all this to be a "debbie-downer," but just to express my realization for what cancer can do. One of the statistics that really stood out to me when I was signing up as a charity runner was: "In the United States, men have slightly less than a 1-in-2 lifetime risk of developing cancer; for women, the risk is a little more than 1 in 3." Wow.

Warm, Buggy, Lonely ramblings

Tonight was a warmish, VERY buggy, lonely run. Craig has class on Monday nights, so I ran by myself for the first time in probably close to 2 months. Ever since Craig got his bike, he has been by my side.

It was a good 40 minute run. Actually my training schedule said to rest tonight, but after last week's laziness, I decided that I should run. I wore my new race shoes for the first time and they are great.

I ran into a lot of bugs tonight. I knocked them off my shirt when I was done, but when I looked in the mirror, they were stuck to my neck with sweat! GROSS! Like 10 of them!

Since I was running alone, I ran with my phone. I have a total of one song on it, but right now it my favorite song - Give Me Your Eyes by Brandon Heath. I listened to it about 5-6 times in a row during the last half of my run. My ipod was uncharged since I haven't used it in 2 months!

Great weather today

Today is a beautiful day which made for a great run this morning. I realized around mile 5 that I hadn't even taken a drink of water yet. The temps were low 60s and no humidity. I didn't use a carb gel and I can only hope that the weather is this perfect in 5 weeks.

This week didn't go exactly as planned. It was typical Indiana weather with a little influence from Gustav. Monday was HOT, Wednesday was humid with lots of rain, and by Friday it was cool and breezy! 2 of my runs got put off and then never happened. I should have run another 7 miles this week. However, judging by how my quads and knees felt on Wednesday's run, I'm pretty sure I needed some extra recovery after the 21 miles last Saturday. (Sounds good anyway!) Today we threw in an extra mile, so technically, I'm only 6 short this week!

Highlight of today's run: We saw 2 deer - one was a baby with all its little white spots. Also, we had a small water fight and I won, of course!

Low light: Apparently a "drunk man" stirred some things up with some runners on the trail ahead of us, so we got to witness most of the verbal altercation. Luckily it was only colorful language instead of any fighting. We have run into a few "shady" people on the trail over the past couple months. You really have to wonder what people's motives or intentions are when they are out and about at 6 in the morning, obviously not exercising. Craig always keeps his cell phone with him and 99.9% of the time I feel safe, especially with Craig.

7 miles

The dreaded Wednesday run...Today's goal was 7 miles at 8:45 to 8:50 pace. That didn't happen. I ran early to try to beat the heat and humidity, but it was still pretty miserable out. Actually when I ran by a corn field the air felt great, but that was only about a 1/4 mile. I know I stayed close to target pace for about the first 3 miles. I looked at my watch every time I went under a light pole. However, I felt pretty tired and sore during the last half and was closer to a 9:30 pace. We have two different loops that we regularly run during the week. One loop is 3 miles and the other is 4 miles. So for this morning's 7 miles we completed both of the loops. Suddenly today I was noticing the slightest inclines and the run felt hard. My knees were yelling and my quads were really sore. I haven't felt any soreness since about Monday from Saturday's 21 miles, but I guess I haven't fully recovered. My average pace ended up being 9:22. Most of the run was in the dark and I worried about tripping on a pot holes and a sneak attack from a dog. I'm pretty sure at one point I had a locust on my back - yuck!

GREAT news: I received 2 more donations for the American Cancer Society which helps me reach my goal! That really makes my day!!

The big 21

Besides race day, another day that I have been looking forward to since I started training was Saturday's run. I ran the longest distance that I will run before the race - 21 miles. The run went really well. I tested another form of energy/carb supplements. Sarah and Eric gave me a pack of jellies to try. They are like fruit snacks that deliver the carbs. They tasted good, but I think I still have a chunk of one in my lung. I'm not good at having my mouth full when I'm trying to breath through my mouth too. I will definitely stick with the gel.

The weather was nice and the humidity was low. We got an early start. The goal for all of my long endurance runs has been a 10:40 to 11:10 pace. I usually try to pay attention to my watch and make sure that I'm not running too fast at the beginning or too slow at the end. On my 19 mile run 2 weeks ago my average pace was 10:49. However, on the 21 mile run, I really didn't watch my pace very closely and my average pace ended up being 10:20. I don't feel like I over-exerted myself. Part of having a successful run for me also means keeping check on my attitude. If I start getting down, I know that I'm probably getting close to needing an energy gel. I felt pretty good through the run, but I still can't imagine doing 5 more miles! The race is 6 weeks from today!!

We bought my race shoes today. I still have to find out how many miles to put on them before they are considered "broken in" for the race. We went back to Pacesetters because we received a lot of help and information there before. I ended up buying the same pair of shoes that I have been training with. I considered finding a totally new pair because my arches were burning some during last part of the 21 miles. Also, my knees were pretty tired and it felt like I needed more cushioning between the ground and my foot. However, we came to the conclusion that the shoes are probably doing everything that they can do, it is just the fact that I'm running so many miles at one time.

Hope everyone enjoys their Labor Day Weekend!