Team Training for FEB 21

It was another cold start to the training today, which consisted of an eight mile route ending up back at Byrd Park, followed by a 4 mile route. Our Shamrockers are only 4 weeks away from their race, while those of us doing Nashville are 9 weeks away. I ended up running quite a bit of the 12 miles, but also walked several miles of it in 6 minute spurts. The last 4 mile portion, I ran with Nicki, who is a great gal in addition to being a fellow lymphoma survivor and a fellow TNT marathoner. In just 4 weeks, she will have another marathon under her belt.

It never did get warm, but because of the unique route today, I took advantage of getting back at the park to drop one of my two shirts off at my car. I know I can't do that at a race, but I am glad I could this time, because both shirts were totally soaked through.

Here are some photos from training today.

Nice stone arch at Bellevue and Hermitage

Union Theological Seminary

"Take me out to the Ballgame." Connecticut the Big Indian waits in vain for peanuts and crackerjacks! No more baseball at The Diamond, now that the Braves have left town!

The Carillon at Byrd Park, built to honor the sacrifices of the World War I generation

Nicki and Coach Chuck just ahead of me on the 4 mile portion of our training route. Yes, Chuck can run faster backwards that I can run forwards.

Chris and me. When I was in school, Christopher Columbus was a hero. Today, he seems more of a villain. My guess is that the truth is he is something in between. I doubt I will ever be in the history books or have a statue, but I hope when I am pushing up daisies, my friends and family will remember me as a good person who tried to make a difference.

Nicki and Art after our 12 miles. It was great to run with her for the last 4. This Friday marks 12 years in remission for Nicki!

We are all lymphoma survivors doing Team in Training and raising money for a great cause - Art, Kristi, Nancy, and Nicki. Kristi and I are doing Nashville together, Nicki and Nancy are doing Shamrock. I am proud to be their teammate!

My Training Route in Pictures

I've done well with training this week, getting in all my miles now that I am over this cold. Sunday was a rest day, but I took a short hike. Monday I did cross-training: weights and Eliptical. Tuesday was 5 miles after work; Wednesday, up at 4:30 AM to do 6 miles; today, up at 4:45 to do 4 miles. It has been somewhat cold, and I overdressed yesterday, getting so hot after 2 miles that I walked the last 4 miles to try to cool down. It was hard, because I have not been walking that fast more than about 6-8 minutes at a time in weeks due to running more. So I think that once a week, I will only walk during training to try to get that walking speed, power, and endurance back.

Tuesday's training was after work, and there was just enough daylight to take photos of a favorite local training route. It is an out and back combined with a loop. If I do the loop once, it is 3.85 miles; do the loop twice and it becomes 5.2 miles. The route leaves my neighborhood, and goes through another neighborhood. After a total of 1.25 miles, the loop begins - through a wooded area, past a ballfield, along a trail through a park, out behind a school by a ball field, tennis courts, and a track, then back along the school to the start of the loop. Do a lap around the track and one loop, and it becomes a 4 miler. So this is a favorite course for my 4 and 5 miles training - day or night. Tuesday was a 5 milers, so I did the loop part twice. If it is dark, I aways walk on the trail part. If there is no moon, the only way to see the foot path is because there are no trees in it, so you can't really see where you are putting your feet. So in really dark conditions, not only do I have to walk the trail part, but I have to slow down a bit. For example, today was so dark during my four miles that I could not see a thing other than the outline of trees along the path, plus the roads and trails were wet from yesterday's snow and rain. So I went really slow at times - beats tripping over something in the dark or turning an ankle.

I like running and walking this because it is more interesting than just doing the same miles along neighborhood streets, and because later in the spring I can even see wildlife and other little aspects of nature for part of it.

Here is that route in pictures:

Start out in my neighborhood for about a half mile

3/4 mile through the next neighborhood, The Oaks (see any oak trees?)

The 1.35 mile loop starts by going through a wooded area on the edge of the neighborhood.

After passing a ballfield, the route goes along a path in the woods.

It climbs a bit, and passes by a little stream. Even when I traverse this in pitch darkness, I can hear the stream gurgling.

A local kid identified and labeled many of the trees along the trail as part of his Eagle Scout project.

After about 0.4 miles on this trail, I come out behind the middle school.

The path goes past a baseball fields and tennis courts...

... coming out by a track in back of the school. Do this loop once and a lap around the track, and the whole thing from my front door and back is just over 4 miles.

After passing the track and some outdoor basketball courts, I return down this path to either start the loop over again or head back towards home through the neighborhoods.

Seven Great TNT Memories

This is the second in my series of posts on celebrating being a seven year cancer survivor. My previous one was about seven amazing experiences.

In my four previous seasons doing Team in Training, three as a marathoner and one as a mentor, I have had many great memories. It is very difficult to pick out only seven of these – nearly impossible, actually – but here they are, in chronological order.

1. Raising $5,000 for my First Event in Only Five Weeks. I blogged before about my apprehension about whether I could raise $5,000 for the Anchorage Marathon in 2005. This was the minimum amount I had to raise, and it seemed like a nearly impossible amount. But I decided I had to try it, and signed up for the Summer Team. People were so generous, and I passed this amount in the first five weeks. I doubled my fundraising goal as a result, and passed that as well, ultimately raising over $11,600. Since then, I have always set my fundraising goal high, and whether I meet it or not, I give it a good run for the money.

2. The Leukemia Survivor Cheerleader in Alaska. Near mile 25 of the Anchorage Marathon on June 18, 2005, I was soaked, cold, tired. My feet had huge blisters. My legs hurt with each step. Standing in the rain was a lady with a large sign that said “Leukemia Survivor – Thank You.” I will never forget seeing her and what it meant, even as a cancer survivor, to see a fellow survivor out there cheering for us on a cool, rainy day. It might be my all time best TNT memory.

3. Crossing my First Marathon Finish Line. Very shortly after that last memory, I became a marathoner, walking 26.2 miles that day at a fast pace. It was perhaps the proudest day of my life – to come back from surviving cancer three years previously and now to complete a marathon. When I am 95 and sitting in my rocking chair (or maybe I will be training for a 10k?) I will still remember that day and smile with joy!



4. The 2006 San Diego Marathon Team from Richmond. This was a really large and fun team, and we just had a great time together out there. Many of them became first time marathoners or half-marathoners, and it was cool to share that. I had two mentees complete the half marathon, including one doing her first.


5. Meeting Mary at the TNT Tent in San Diego. My wife Mary made the trip out with me to San Diego, and we had a great time visiting the World Famous Zoo, the Wild Animal Park, touring downtown San Diego, and trying to learn how to surf. Mary made it out to the TNT finisher tent and it was great to see her after the race.


6. Learning that Elaine Finished the San Diego Marathon in 2007. In 2007, I mentored for the summer team and had participants in the Nashville, San Diego, and Anchorage Marathons. Even though I didn’t do a race, I was especially thrilled to learn that two of my mentees, Elaine and Gwenna, became first time marathoners in San Diego. Elaine was age 62, had recovered from a really tough cancer just months before starting training, and had lost her husband to leukemia 20 years before. And a lot of people told her not to do the race: she was “too old”, too soon after cancer, too difficult to raise the money. Did Elaine listen? Nope, she just went out and showed what she could do. I will always remember her calling me that night to tell me the news that she was now a marathoner – so exciting!

7. Completing the Arizona Marathon in a Personal Record to Celebrate Five Years in Remission. My time was about 5:57 and was my PR for a marathon - a pretty good time for having walked most of it. It was so special because my praticipation was to celebrate my 5 year remission just a month earlier. At the end, I was greeted by teammates Chuck and Suzanne, who waited for me after finishing their races! Chuck was a new marathoner, finishing like a day ahead of my time and just missing qualifying for Boston, and Suzanne just did her first half marathon. Do we look proud and happy?
On the same day, I learned that teammates Robbie, Theresa, and Paul had completed the Disney Marathon, and teammates Joan-E and Rachel completed the Arizona Marathon with me. All were first time marathoners, and it is great to remember them and their achievements, along with Chuck's and Suzanne's, as I write this.

For my next "Celebrating Seven" post, I will discuss seven really cool wildlife encounters I have had since surviving cancer. Like my other lists, it will be hard to get down to only seven!

Mentoring e-Mail # 15

Hi Everyone!

It is I, your Artful Mentor, with another thrilling weekly Tuesday night message. While I was out doing my five miles tonight, enjoying not having a cold this week unlike a week ago, I was trying to think of a clever little theme for this email, and you know, I don’t think I could think of a good one, believe it or not. Is your Artful Mentor slipping? Could it be that the accumulated miles have affected his brain? Could it be that he didn’t have much of a brain to begin with? Is it possible that the cold weather the last few days have slowed the synapses in his neural pathways? Yes, all of these things are possible, although I am kind of leaning towards the next to the last explanation as the most likely cause of this lack of creativity.

But wait – there is another, even more plausible explanation! And that would be (drum roll, please) that the importance of this week is so intense that it supersedes any desire for clever prose. And why, ask you, is it so important? Well, because it is the last week for you three Nashville people to make a major impact on fundraising prior to Monday’s recommitment. If you are Lexi or Leslie, already recommitted to Shamrock, you can relax and pretty much ignore this email. Oh, you were already ignoring it? Well, that is fine, too!

But for you other three, you fellow Nashvillers, this is truly an important week. I am filling out my recommitment papers this week – and it feels great to suddenly realize that this amazing experience is now barely two months away. Each of you needs to decide whether or not to recommit, and that is a decision that only you can make. If you are still short of the minimum of $900 to recommit, or even if you have reached that but are well short of the minimum, you need to be asking yourself how you will raise the additional money. Essentially, there are 10 weeks to go until the race weekend, actually a few days short of 10 weeks. So let’s say you have hit the $900 minimum for the sake of discussion, leaving $2,700 to go. That means that over the next 10 weeks, you have to raise an average of $270 a week. What are some things you can do to get there?

* Have you sent letters yet?
* Have you asked your employer for a corporate donation or a corporate sponsorship?
* Are there other companies you have an association with that you could ask for a corporate donation?
* Do any of your donors have a matching donation at work?
* Are there other emails you can send?
* Are you doing regular email updates?
* Do you have a friend or relative in another city who will fundraise for you?
* Can you do a fund raiser at work?
* Can you talk at church about what you are doing, and set up a table for donations after church?
* Have you looked at the fundraiser activity ideas sent previously and tried any of them?
* Could you try speaking at local clubs?
* Is there a professional group you can speak at?

I am going to contact each of the three of you by phone this week to see how it is going, and whether you have any concerns or questions. Or just call me if you want to reach me before I get to you. So far, I have talked with one of you, left a message for a second, and still need to reach out to one more.

If you have any concerns or doubts, please reach out to me, Jen, and/or Nicki and let’s see what we can come up with. How can we help?

I will see you at training Saturday – eventually we will get some nice spring weather for the spring team! So we can also talk then if you have concerns. I also would be glad to meet in person this week if you want, but please let me know ASAP if you wish to do that. I am busy Friday night for example.

OK, that will be it for this note. Good luck with fundraising and decisions this week.

GO TEAM!
Art

Seeing Red!

Valentine’s Day is always a special day for our team – most of us try to wear something red or pink. Our run coaches both wore shorts with red hearts on them. I would have liked to have gotten a photo, but I was a little late from putting out my water stop at “The Wall”.

We had a very special guest Saturday – Emma and her mom, Holly. Emma is loved by the whole team. February 14, 2009 marks the 8th anniversary of remission from leukemia (A.L.L.) for this little girl. She developed it when she was only 10 weeks old, and no one in her family expected this little baby to survive. I have heard Emma’s story many times over the past five years, but am always moved by it, and by the photos that Holly passed around of her baby in such misery from chemotherapy. Now Emma is a healthy girl, and a delight to see.

Our routes today were 6, 9, 13 and 18 miles. Mine was only 9, both due to later plans and to the fact that I am considering cutting back mileage to do the half marathon. My route was along Grove to the always delightful Westhampton area, then up Maple and along Patterson for a while, returning along the same route. I am now running seven minutes and walking 6.

Back at the park, I enjoyed the Valentine cookies that Nicki baked for us, and had a real treat – running into some of the Summer Team, especially Michal. She was my training buddy my first year with TNT and my walk coach last year. I miss training with her! I also saw my former mentee, Cathy, who has switched to the Summer Team to do the Anchorage Marathon. And I met a new Nashville teammate, Liz. She will be walking the half but just joined the team and so is training with the Summer Team. Victoria, one of the mentors, and Summer Coach Chuck and Coach Sarah were also there. So it was like a quick little reunion.

Here are a few photos from the day:

Art with Honored Patient Emma, both showing Valentine colors

Everyone in Richmond TNT knows exactly what is meant by “The Wall”, a popular water drop at Grove and Bunting

The Confederate Memorial Chapel on Grove near the Art Museum

Some of the Summer (mostly) Team. From left: Summer Coach Chuck, New Nashville Teammate Liz, My Walk Buddy Michal – Who is the Summer Team Walk Coach, Spring Coach Chuck (our Team Coach for Nashville), and Former Mentee and Fund-Raising Machine Cathy

Opinion Poll – Full or Half Marathon?

I need to make a final call between doing a half marathon (running 75-80%) in Nashville or doing the full marathon (running maybe 50%). Many factors are coming in that make this a difficult choice, but the biggest is simply the incredible amount of time it takes to train for a full marathon now that the miles mount up, including being totally worn out for most of every weekend starting next week. I have been thinking about this for a long time, as you might recall from my red devil – white angel story.

Please take a second to vote on my poll to the right. The question is:

Would you feel let down if I do the half marathon in Nashville instead of the full marathon?

If you made LLS a donation through my TNT campaign, check the first yes or no (I donated). If you didn’t make a donation, check the second yes or no (I didn’t donate).

Voting closes at 5PM on February 20th!

The poll is completely anonymous. However, I would love to get comments if you want to make them. You can make them anonymously as well. Just click the comment link below...

I can’t promise I will make my decision solely on how people vote, but I am interested and will take it into account!

Thanks - Art

Another Tough Training Week

I woke up Sunday morning with a cold, my second since training started. I took Sunday as a rest day, although I did walk a couple of miles in a park. Monday night, I went to water aerobics for my cross training. Tuesday evening, I ran and walked about 4 miles. So far, so good. I was keeping to my training schedule.

Yesterday, my cold was much worse, and I felt that doing 6 miles of training just wasn’t feasible, especially since I felt bad enough to miss work. That also spared my co-workers from being sneezed and coughed on all day. I slept in this morning, figuring I could do some miles at night.

Then, about 10:00 at work, I started a migraine headache, my first in just over a month. I put a sign on my door at work, – “On Sick Leave” – turned off all the lights, and lay on the floor for an hour. I also took two Excedrin Migraine, which seem to work about 1/3 of the time. Today, they and the hour off seemed to work, and I never got the pounding headache and nausea I usually get.

Bottom line – I was able to run and walk my six miles tonight – probably closer to 5.5 actually. And as a bonus, about half of it was in daylight! It was mild but extremely windy, with enough wind at times to result in minor wind chill despite the mild temperatures. At the end, I celebrated with a bowl of spicy chili and a cold Anchor Steam beer. I felt like I had earned the beer, training with both a cold and the leftovers of a migraine!

Given all that transpired, I guess I did well to only miss about 4 miles of training this week. Hopefully next week will be better.

Seven Amazing Experiences Since Surviving Cancer

This coming May officially marks seven years as a cancer survivor, since the date is noted from the date of the official diagnosis. For me, the diagnosis of Hodgkin lymphoma was made in late May, 2002, but in reality, since an X-Ray detected a large mass in the center of my chest in late April, I clearly had cancer in April, March, February, or perhaps even January. So I would guess that right about now marks seven years as a survivor.

Thus, I thought I would write some posts, one every week or so for a while, noting seven things that could not have occurred in my life had I not been fortunate enough to survive. If you are doing Team in Training, or a similar cause, or you are donating to the fight against cancer, you are helping others like me create their own memories that would not have happened otherwise. Thank you!

For my first of these "seven year posts", I will write about seven amazing experiences I have had since surviving cancer. It is very difficult to pick only seven, and even tougher to rank them, so I am presenting them in chronological order.

1. Returning to work – This first one may seem odd, but when one has been too ill to work for six months, and living on 60% of their income as disability, this is a very big deal. Don’t get me wrong – a lot of folks don’t have a job or disability, and I was very fortunate to have 60% of my income coming in. But in any event, it felt great to go back to work to my job at the time with Computer Resource Team, Inc. They treated me very well during my entire diagnosis and illness, even though I am sure it affected their bottom line. Going back to work let me feel like I was helping the company out by billing revenue again, and also was a huge step in living a normal life again.

2. Climbing Mount Tumbledown – My story about this is posted here on my hiking blog, so I won’t elaborate. But in August 2003, hiking this Maine mountain with Mary and great friends was my statement that I was not only a survivor, but I had returned to health. A year before this day, I was lying in a hospital room, incredibly sick, and now, I was standing on top of a mountain! And as a bonus, we got to celebrate the Big Five-O for one of our best friends!

3. Going to the World War II Memorial – My step-dad, Stuart, was a proud WWII vet, and even though he was getting too weak to walk a lot, it meant so much to take him to this memorial to his, and his comrades, incredible sacrifices during this horrific war. There was not a dry eye in our group – me, Mary, my sister Ann, Stuart’s friend Anne, and Stuart's daughter Joy – when Stuart turned and saluted the section of the memorial dedicated to Buna in New Guinea, where he served. And it was so touching to see other old veterans come up to him and engage in conversations – like long lost comrades being reunited with a common bond.


4. Anchorage Marathon for Team in Training – Just a week or two after the experience with the WWII Memorial, I headed off to the Land of the Midnight Sun to do my first ever marathon on June 18, 2005. It was exactly 3 years, two weeks, and two days after I had started chemotherapy. Reaching that finish line, 26.2 miles from the start, as a cancer survivor was a feeling of joy that I don’t think I can adequately describe. Here is a link to a story about it that I wrote for one of the TNT newsletters. It was perhaps the proudest day of my life!

5. Trip to Glacier, Grand Tetons, and Yellowstone National Parks – When I had cancer, we had to cancel a planned trip to Yellowstone. So when we went there in September 2005 for two weeks, it was a wonderful feeling to see places I had wanted to see all my life. We hiked all over, saw incredible scenery, and amazing wildlife. Among the later were grizzly bear, mountain goats, bighorn sheep, black bear, mule deer, bison, elk, and grey wolves. This probably goes down as my favorite vacation ever.

Bearhat Mountain in Glacier National Park

Where the Buffalo Roam - Yellowstone

Impressive Mountains - The Grand Tetons! So named by very lonely French fur trappers, as the name in French means "The Large Breasts"!

6. Being Present at the Birth of my Granddaughter – In November, 2006, Mary and I were present when our granddaughter was born. Have you ever experienced love at first sight? Well, I did when that little girl popped into the world early that morning. I got to hold her on the day of her birth. Even though she lives far away, I hope to be a big influence on her life, and am so grateful to have survived to know her.


7. Family Reunion at the Beach – My brothers and sisters and I have been scattered to the winds since we grew up. So even though we all get along, not once in about 40 years had the five us been in one place at the same time. There were several times when four of us could get together, but never five. This changed in September 2008 when we had a family reunion at Virginia Beach. A great time was had by all, and great memories created for all who were present – about 20 of us in total.

These are just seven of many wonderful moments in my life that I would not have had were I not fortunate enough to be a cancer survivor. In my next "seven things" post, I will discuss seven great TNT memories.

The Curious Seasons of TNT

Since 2005, I have been with Team in Training for five teams, including one season as a non-fundraising mentor. These include the “summer” team three times, one “winter” team, and my current team, “spring”. Ah, spring – sounds pretty nice doesn’t it? And those three summer teams sound pretty idyllic – early morning runs in the cooler start of the day, pretty summer flowers, maybe a dip in a lake afterwards.

Well, not so fast! TNT seasons are named after the approximate time of year of the events. So the “summer” teams had their events in late April to mid-June, which I always think of as spring. In fact, my first time or two, I kept referring to it as the “spring” team.

Our summer teams started training about the first of February, and often in cold and nasty weather. As the winter gave way to spring, we often saw beautiful flowers, listened to birds – and trained in heavy rain-storms. We never trained in summer weather on the summer teams, the last event being the Anchorage marathon just before the Summer Solstice.

Our “fall” teams, which I have not yet been on, essentially train through the hot Virginia summers, starting about the end of May and continuing through October. Often they start training at 6AM or even earlier on Saturdays to escape some of the heat. I would guess at the end, they get some of the nice fall weather, but one of our cornerstone “fall” events is the Rock “N” Roll Half-Marathon at Virginia Beach, held Labor Day weekend. It is almost always hotter than hell for this race, and even though everyone has a great time, fall it is not.

Then there is the “winter” team, which I was on last time for the Arizona marathon of 2008 in Phoenix. Of the teams I have been on, we actually trained through the nicest weather on the “winter” team. We started in mid-August, and went into mid-January, with a lot of fall-like weather, beautiful fall foliage, cool mornings and warm days. Of course, there was also that cold drenching rain in late December where several of us had bad colds and all of us were soaked from our heads to our toes within about a half mile. The bunch I was training with decided after 10 miles that we had had enough, cutting the final two miles off.

As for my current team, the “spring” team, we have not had much spring like weather to date. We started training in early November, and have gone right through the winter months. Five degrees one morning, so cold that our salt-laden Gator Aide turned to slush. Plenty of cold and windy weather where your core is warm and sweaty from exertion but your face and fingers are frozen. Then, the other night, it was so mild and spring-like that I did my 4 miles in the dark with just shorts and a tee-shirt. Especially since I have another cold, it was a pleasure not to be out in cold weather. And I have noticed more birds singing in the early morning, and the longer periods of daylight in the evening. These are all signs of the approaching spring, at which point my spring team will be aptly named. I think that everyone on the team looks forward to the days just ahead when mild weather is the norm, when the early flowers start to bloom.

Even though the seasons of our teams seem a little mixed up at times, the experience itself, in any weather, is joyful. I feel so blessed to be healthy enough to participate with Team in Training. Spring, summer, fall or winter, we are changing lives one mile at a time!

Mentoring e-Mail # 14

Happy Tuesday, my Fantastic Mentees!

It is I, your Artful Mentor, with, yes, one more whacky note to spur you on to great fund-raising heights! Actually, I think you are doing just fine without me spurring you on, now that I think of it.

This week is the 200th birthday of Charles Darwin, one of the developers of the Theory of Evolution, and to whom the concept of “survival of the fittest” is attributed. With my mentoring group down to five people, you five are now the fittest ones able to survive the ramblings of your Artful Mentor. We started with a cohort of eight, and one dropped out. Two fled their Artful Mentor, deciding that a marathon in the wilds of Alaska with the summer team was preferable to dealing with any more of my emails. One of them told me, as she fled in terror, that although she might run into an Alaskan Brown Bear on a remote part of the marathon trail, at least a bear wouldn’t try to email her!

Actually, neither of these two fine ladies were quite that dramatic about their reasons for leaving the Spring Team. One just wanted to switch to Alaska, and the other was injured and needed to heal before trying a long distance event. But in any event, the five of you are my mentoring survivors. Drink a toast to Charles Darwin, and to your persistence! And then, drink another toast to your teammates, Lexi and Leslie! Both have not only recommitted for Shamrock, but both have also passed their fundraising minimum. Way to go, Double-L!

Isn’t it great to finally have some spring weather for the Spring Team? I did my four miles tonight in shorts and a tee, and it felt wonderful! I have a cold, and so it feels especially good to not have freezing temperatures. I am hoping to feel well enough to be at training and to see all of your smiling faces!

I just have a few reminders for the week. First, remember to wear something red or pink to training Saturday for Valentine’s Day! I have my pink bunny ears that I wore during the Breast Cancer 5K last spring, but I think I need to find something else. Pink tights? No, don’t worry, I wouldn’t do that to you!

Second and more importantly, for the three of you joining me for Country Music, you should have gotten an email from Amber with all your recommitment paperwork. That needs to be completely filled out and returned to her by February 23rd. Whether you recommit or not has to be entirely your decision. You know what you have to do fundraising-wise. If you want to talk about fundraising, if you have questions or concerns, just give me a call. I will also try calling each of you in the next week to see if you have any questions or concerns.

One of the fundraising notes that has been going around and apparently has been successful is the one with the “Gimme Five” theme. If you haven’t tried that one yet and want an example of it, just email me and I will get you an example of it. We are coming down the home stretch now, both for fundraising and for training, so don’t let up! If you haven’t reached your minimum yet, you need to look at how much more you have to raise over the next 2.5 months, and plan how much you will raise each month to attain that goal.

I hope to see you all Saturday for our Valentine Run. As always, please let your coaches know if you won’t be there.

GO TEAM!
Art