Greetings, with my final Team in Training update for this season.
So, how does one get sea-sick in the desert? Perhaps from riding the "ship of the desert", a camel? Or could it be because the American desert was once covered by seas, and maybe our bodies pick up some kind of weird aura from ancient times? Well, in my case, it was nothing so interesting, but congestion from my three-week cold that caused fluid in my ears. In any event, when I got up for our Saturday morning team run / walk, I was quite sick and dizzy and very concerned if I would recover in time for the marathon 24 hours later. The team doctor said that I had to go to the emergency room for evaluation and medical clearance to be allowed to do the race. Throwing up on the marathon course is not looked upon with favor by one's co-marathoners. It was in the ER that the inner ear fluid was discovered, prescriptions were prescribed, and a medical release was obtained. My guess is that the pressure changes from flying also contributed to the vertigo, maybe by pressure on the inner ear combined with the fluid. I've had plenty of colds before and flown plenty of times before, but I've never experienced this.
So the next day, I was out there with thousands of others doing the PF Chang's Arizona Marathon, racing 26.2 miles through Phoenix, Scottsdale, and Tempe. As always, the support we got from Team in Training - coaches, staff, teammates, and cheering squads - was suburb, as was that of the race volunteers, bands, cheerleaders, and spectators. As one of my teammates said afterwards, tongue in cheek, "We are cheating when we do these marathons. No one else out there gets the support that the 'Purple People' get!" I've updated my web page with a photo and description of the event. And within a week, I will add a link there to more pictures from the marathon and my short explorations of the Sonorian Desert in Southern Arizona, so look for that soon on my web page. Here again is my TNT web site link:
http://www.active.com/donate/tntva/tntvaARitter2007
I was thrilled with my race because I set a PR (personal record) and also broke six hours for the first time. That is slow for a good runner, but is a very good walking pace (I did run about 10% of the race, especially once I realized I could break 6 hours if I kept it up). I missed my original goal of 5:55:55 by only about 50 seconds, despite a lot of setbacks with injuries and illnesses this season, and so am very pleased with the results. A couple people asked if they can still make a donation to LLS, and they can until the end of the month, but I won't be doing any more race or fund-raising updates.
I feel so grateful to have recovered fully from my adventure with lymphoma nearly six years ago, and to be able to give something back in gratitude for my good fortune and good health. Of course I can only do this because of the generosity of so many people who have donated $11,350 to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society on my behalf so far this season and over $31,600 in my three times of doing this. So until the next time I do this, thanks so much for the support of so many kinds and for the generosity.
With Gratitude and Thanks,
Art
Click here to see photos from the marathon:
http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=0EZN2jRyzZMXOA¬ag=1
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